After just one listen to Shawn Pittman’s Edge of The World (DeltaGroove, 5/17/11) I was immediately impressed with the band and Shawn’s selection of obscure blues covers. Luckily the folks at DeltaGroove had sent a physical disc which meant liner notes allowing me to fact check! First, there wasn’t a band. Shawn had played everything except saxophone (Jonathan Doyle). Second, he had co-written 11 of the 13 tracks. And finally as if that wasn’t enough Pittman produced and engineered the disc perfectly capturing the tone and atmosphere of those early blues recordings. Pittman has played with some of the best including Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, Preston Hubbard, Gene Taylor and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. If those names mean anything to you you’ll have a pretty good idea what to expect. Sean described Edge of the World as ” the music I want to hear”. A mix of Texas blues, swamp blues and 1950’s rhythm and blues Edge of The World is the best blues album I’ve heard this year and a truly amazing one man project.
RIYL: Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Howlin’ Wolf and Excello Records
