Delta Moon
Hell Bound Train
(Red Parlor)
By Mark Uricheck
Elmore Magazine
Don't let the band's name fool you. Sure, Delta Moon has an ominous, Mississippi Delta vibe, but the band is more about gritty, southern-tinged storytelling and creating an atmosphere for their casual, roots-based rhythms, not simply a vehicle for deep acoustic blues.
Built on a foundation of solid blues, the band adds a fresh, expressive vision to its sound on its latest album, Hell Bound Train. These guys don't recycle the same old Albert King licks or Texas-boogie patterns, they'd rather take advantage of ideas like a thick and economical slide riff, played over a slightly off-kilter shuffle, while the gravel-throated voice of Tom Gray spills soul throughout ("True Love Lies"). They also employ haunting, tremolo-laced guitar tones within a funky grove, rippling with seductive saxophone to great effect ("Stuck in Carolina"). The pure acoustic Delta sound does rear its head, with a sparse, angelic cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Got to Move," while a gruff sense of countrified charm turns up in the rousing "Take the Back Road Home."
Distilling the blues through their ragged, Dixie-inspired songwriting and stimulating sense of musicianship, Delta Moon emerges as a standout within the Americana genre.
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