Music Saved My Soul
Independent
4 out of 5 stars
Music Saved My Soul, the new self-released album by local guitar extraordinaire Jon Ridnell aka. “Blackdog” is a groove heavy record with phat horns and lush percussion throughout.
Music Saved My Soul is a live recording from a show last March at Nederland’s own First Street Pub and righteously captures the high energy of a Blackdog performance. Ridnell’s fiery guitar playing, paired with the horn lines, creates a thick texture of harmony above a solid foundation of groove, saturated with percussion that is sure to please any music lover.
The title and opening nine-minute, 37 second track on this recording, has a very heavy Latin groove that is almost trance inducing. The rest of the seven track record continues with a diverse array of genres, from reggae (“Groove Injector”) to the hip-hop-esque “Soul Freedom,” to the funked up “Foggy Mountain Jam” finale.
Music Saved My Soul is a real ass-shaking, foot-stomping romp that delivers quite the punch, and epitomizes the caliber of musicians that Nederland can boast on any given night of the week. — Chibo Acevedo
