This is the album I've been waiting for from Mississippi Gabe Carter. It's an intimate affair and that's one of the things I appreciate most about his sound. One of the things that really made him a stand-out at The Deep Blues Festival in Cleveland last summer was that same sense of intimacy. When Gabe sat down to play, the whole vibe of the room changed. People hushed their conversations, those who had been standing sat down on the floor. This is listening blues. It's breathes rather than blusters. It's nuanced, it carries space. Mark "Porkchop" Holder told me recently that Gabe Carter is his favorite living blues singer, which is quite a compliment in itself considering the source, and I have to agree. Carter combines the high-lonesome emotional dexterity of Bentonia, Mississippi's Jack Owens (a student of Skip James) with Junior Kimbrough's sonic slink and otherworldly sense of place, to produce a sound familiar yet unlike anyone else that i've heard playing today.
Black Woman - From Gabe's new album
Until They Drag Me Down
