James "Buddy" Rogers -- "My Guitar's My Only Friend"

Vancouver native James "Buddy" Rogers began playing in public when he was 11 years old. By the time he was 15 his band Texas Storm was well-known all over Canada opening for headliners. He spent 5 years touring all over the US and Canada with BB King's bassist Russell Jackson. In 2000 he formed his own band. Now he is 37 and this is his debut release.   

The cd is produced by Tom Lavin. The songs are all originals by Rogers/Lavin. The band is James "Buddy" Rogers on lead guitar and vocals, Bill Hix and Ivan Duben on drums, Bill Runge and Tony Marryatt on bass, Mike Kalanj on Hammond organ, and Tom Lavin on rhythm and bass guitar. 

Rogers' guitar and vocals sound like Robert Cray, which is a high compliment. With every song here Rogers shows he has a ton of talent. There are a variety of styles on display--from the Albert King-style opening song "My Guitar's My Only Friend" to the party song "Let's Get Loose" to traditional blues songs "I'm On The Road Again,” “Disappearing Baby Blues,” “Sweet Little Girl,” and “Blame It On The Blues.” "Guitar Sue" sounds like it was written 40 years ago, maybe a lost Chuck Berry song? But no, everything here is new--it just sounds like these songs should have been around for a long time. That's how well-written it is. The whole band plays top-notch throughout, and the whole cd has that great "Loan it out & people will like it" thing going on. Maybe my favorite song is the instrumental closer “Buddy’s Walk," which gives Rogers a chance to just play his guitar--and he plays it great. On the jewel box of my copy of this cd is a note that says "All are fine for airplay."   

James "Buddy" Rogers is a real triple threat--strong on guitar and vocals and songwriting. I'm looking forward to whatever he does next.  

You can buy this cd at http://www.jamesbuddyrogers.com/

This is post # 200 on the Sunday Night Blues Project. I'm proud of that, and I'd like to thank you for reading these reviews.