"Black Cat Oil" Review in BCR (France)

Delta Moon

Black Cat Oil

ZYX Music

By Joel Bizon

BCR

(Translated from French) 

Well, we are progressing from the blues of previous years.  We are moving toward a more current and modern blues with the band Delta Moon and a production entitled Cat Black Oil, which comes to us with a dozen songs with various influences. It is still in the Afro-American but mingled with the southern rock and country blues, and on a few ballads takes on more current pop accents. Since they met back in 1990 in a record store in Atlanta, two lovers of the slide guitar, Tom Gray and Mark Johnson, have won tons of fans around the world. Started as a duo, their musical adventure has lasted a long time with a turnover of other musicians.

Their first record date was 2002, and the following year Delta Moon won the Memphis Blues Challenge. Their first two line-ups included the female singer Gina Leigh, who was soon replaced by Kristin Markiton. Today the bassist Franher Joseph and Tom Gray stick to the vocals, Darren Stanley holds the sticks with Franher Joseph on the bass. Tom as a composer also plays the keyboard, and steel guitar. For their seventh round, the fantastic four always take us deep into the heart of the dear South of the USA, where the down home Mississippi blues meets with the Memphis blues, while leaving a moaning wind of pop rock on their stew. We all know that these two master guitarists really are truly innovative. They like to infuse their repertoire with innovative rhythms, and that is still the case here. This self-produced Black Cat Oil was recorded by Jeff Bakos and mastered by Chris Griffin. It is a good-quality breath of fresh air, where inspired musicians bring us to a jam of blues and southern rock. A sincere and honest musical style which I find some common ground with the swamp blues, and where the south side is not absent. An album that ranges between the Allman Brothers and North Mississippi All Stars.