Bill Sheffield

BILL SHEFFIELD Got A Gig, Gotta Go American Roots Records A new album from the big Atlanta Bluesman is always a pleasure to be savoured with relish and this one is an absolute cracker. Bill’s superb fingerpicking and sliding plus his passionate vocals are all over this fine set of mostly self penned songs. The material is bluesy, rootsy and folky Americana with a dash of country and a strong spiritual element to some of the songs. Opener ‘Three Man Band’ is a rocker which goes straight for the jugular and doesn’t let go until we’ve completed a whirlwind tour of Panama City, Apalachicola and “A room full of red neck rowdies”. Phew! Incidentally our own Dave Saunders (ex Producers) plays bass and gets a co-writing credit on this song. Next up is ‘Kalamazoo’ wherein Bill sits on his back porch picking his trusty 1935 guitar and contemplates life, death, the universe and other trivial matters. ‘The Great Society’ is a tale of how money is supposed to trickle down through society but somehow never reaches those of us at the bottom of the food chain and this track features great harmonica from Jon Liebman. ‘These Four Walls’ tells of a daughter lost to Bill at the age of 4 and the stark setting of Bill’s guitar set against keening fiddle makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The thing with Bill is “it’s all about the songs” and every single word can be heard throughout this album because the production from Nashville’s Rex Schnelle is always spot on and enhances the songs. A well chosen and exquisite cover of Richard Thompson’s ‘1952 Black Vincent Lightning’ features wonderful fingerpicking and touches of mandolin which adds extra colour to this sad tale and this song forms the centrepiece of the album. Final song on this wonderful CD is the title track ‘Got A Gig, Gotta Go’ in which Bill tells his lady “Just be waiting for me with your feet up in the air. Because I’ll be coming home horny”. This is already a contender for roots album of the year. Dave Drury