Seasick Steve: Man From Another Time

More deft picking, sliding and stomping seems to be the only 3 ingredients needed to maintain his unique blues sound. As a big fan of last years , I Started Out With Nothing and Still Got Most Of It Left, I was delighted to hear a whole bunch more of the same.

Steve Wold sticks with his distinctive rough working class American blues that served him so well on last years breakthrough album and fascinated all those like me watching his rise to stardom courtesy of Mr Jools Holland.

The album kicks off with “Diddley Bo” played on, yes, you’ve guessed it, his one stringed Diddley Bow. A simple construction made from a wire a broom and a couple of cans with an output that defies its basic design.

“Big Green and Yeller” is a song that resonates well with me. As my dad worked for Cornwall Farmers and many of my school friends where farmers son’s, I frequently argued the superiority of a good John Deere over a Massey Ferguson, David Brown or Ford.

Seasick Steve: I started Out With Nothing and I Still Got Most Of It Left

I love the way the album opens with Steve’s southern hickey monotone accent declaring that he wrote the first song about nothing. His occasional narration and hazy introductions to tracks are reminiscent of Syd Barrett’s solo albums however it’s his bluesy guitars and homemade instruments that really sell this album. Steve Wold uses his personalised instruments to create his own take on the southern delta blues. This includes his “One Stringed Diddley Bow” and the “Mississippi Drum Machine”, a wooden box to stomp on to provide your own percussion. The songs are all beautiful blues numbers that feature quick picking and emphasis the importance of the gaps between those long sliding notes. Think of “Hats of to (Roy Harper)” from Zeppelin III and you’ll get a pretty good idea.