“I didn’t want this record to be dark or dreary,” said Kenny Wayne Shepherd of this his latest album, Dirt On My Diamnods. “There’s not a lot of incredibly heart-wrenching or difficult subject matter… My goal is always to make music that makes people feel good, regardless of what it’s about.” Well, it succeeds in its goal. Rootsy blues, raw in places, sophisticated elsewhere, rocking when it needs but tender too at times.

Dragging its ass nonchalantly our way, with a wonderfully raw live drum sound, is ‘Dirt On My Diamonds’, wherein Shepherd claims nothing’s perfect and he rather likes it that way, with barely a trace of sexual innuendo. Horns prove effective musical partners here as they do on the following ‘Sweet & Low’ where the pace picks up just a tad, aided by a scrawny riff that pulls way above its weight, whereas the wah-wah guitar solo knows exactly who’s boss here in this tale of a man stalking down his woman across the breadth of the USA.

Fat-assed and slinky in the verses, flag-waving in euphoria come the choruses is ‘Best Of Times’ and while it’s about making it through hard times you can’t help but find humour in it too. If Dave Lee Roth were to do a country rock album the way Steve Tyler did, it’s easy to imagine him covering this. The soul-crusted ‘You Can’t Love Me’ by contrast has no asides, with a pure intent that rides along gently on sweet chinking guitar chords and a heart-warming organ. Horns rise to the occasion once more on the deep-throated delivery of ‘Man On A Mission’ with its emotive R ‘n B groove with what sound like congas playing in the background while a guitar solo that comes out of nowhere casually and romances the hell out of you.

While there’s a slight Southern rock an’ gravel blues swing to ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ it remains pretty faithful rendition to the original Elton John number, with the lead guitar that buzzes away in the background throughout eventually taking centre stage near the end. It’s followed smartly by stomping blues but with a Rocks-era Aerosmith attitude in ‘Bad Intentions’ where a corrosive distorted solo is cranked out just because Shepherd can.

Short on songs, but all well-crafted, ‘Ease On My Mind’ sees the album to its conclusion – Running at just under seven minutes this slow blues features many a guitar lick, and all put to good use, when five minutes in he actually gets serious as begins to wail out in solo you just know you need to check out his back catalogue.

Outside the rain has stopped its week long downpour, and this album suits my cold but sunny view.

• Reviewed by Paul H Birch.

• Dirt On My Diamonds Volume 1 is released via Provogue/Mascot Label Group and is available here.

Track List:

1. Dirt On My Diamonds
2. Sweet & Low
3. Best Of Times
4. You Can’t Love Me
5. Man On A Mission
6. Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting
7. Bad Intentions
8. Ease On My Mind