Have Blues Will Travel

Smokin' Joe Kubek | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Alligator Records
• ASIN: B003E3ZKYQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,729 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Dallas Observer

"An electric blast of twelve-bar heaven...they blow the roof off."

"A great combination...Kubek's powerful, big-as-Texas guitar gets down and dirty. King delivers sharp and potent guitar and warm, soulful vocals."

"Raucous, high-energy Texas roadhouse blues-rock. Blistering guitar solos, irresistible shuffles and subtle ballads."

Product Description

With Have Blues, Will Travel, Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King take another giant step forward. Kubek and King wrote or co-wrote all twelve songs, and, along with their road-tested rhythm section, they ignite a blues fire with enough heat to fuel an all-night party. The chemistry between Kubek's blistering fretwork and King's savvy vocals and unpredictable, multifaceted guitar work creates a roadhouse blend of muscular blues-rock, hip-shaking shuffles and slow-burning blues that is simply impossible to resist. Each song is infused with deep, from-the-heart musicianship, carefully crafted, true-to-life lyrics and delivered with the occasional wry smile. King calls Have Blues, Will Travel the best record the band has ever made.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Their best album yet!, June 5, 2010

By 

Denis (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Have Blues Will Travel (Audio CD)

Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King really hit home with this brand new album, and they manage to do it in the manner that stands apart from their previous efforts. Blood Brothers, their preceding album, was excellent in its own right, but it stuck close to their honed formula of Texas bar blues. On this CD, they took it up a notch. Or two.

Joe and Bnois came up with some nice new grooves, which are catchy and fun, and all the songs feature extremely solid rhythm section that lets the guys break loose and do their thing. Compositionally, there is definitely less chord recycling than I've heard on their other albums, and while few do it better than Smokin' Joe, it's still good for them to chart a new path, get some new flavor flowing - and they do it here.

Joe himself told me that they way it worked was they sat down in his living room with Bnois and just kept working on these together until they liked what they got, and it took them about a year to put the album together. Listening to this CD, it definitely shows that they took their time to get things right, not cut any corners. You have to pay close attention to the lyrics because they did an outstanding job, and every song tells its own story in a unique and clever way. Song themes are thoroughly modern, from love over cyberspace to love affairs gone one-sided to unanswered love to blowing your payday money on yourself to domestic vendetta to fake women.

This time around, Joe and Bnois also focused more on emotionally charged songs, and they deliver them in a way that will tug on your heartstrings and make you feel the hair on your head stand up. Remarkably, those same songs are also VERY catchy, and hopefully will make it to the radio!

I also feel that Joe and Bnois are sort of going back to their roots with this CD, as their playing feels refreshed and more inspired. "R U 4 Real?" is a slow blues scorcher, where Bnois sings funny lyrics and Joe cooks up scorching solos. I was lucky to see them play this song live... After the intro, Joe shouted "play it loud!", and they smoked it, brought the house down, had everybody screaming "play the blues!!!"

Smokin' Joe is one of the few remarkable rock/blues guitarists in the world, and it is sure to satisfy the craving for electric guitar solos in spades. And of course all this wouldn't be what it is without Bnois King, who brings his silky yet rich singing voice that can both make you laugh and make you feel the pain. He is an excellent guitarist himself, who is COMPLETELY different from Joe in sound, style, and chords. Their chemistry is only getting better and better, it seems!

If you like blues-rock or rock, you owe it to yourself to buy this CD. This is not blues for purists, but people who are into modern blues and Texas bar blues I think will love it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Texas blues at its best, May 27, 2010

By 

J. Cosby "guerrilla" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Have Blues, Will Travel (MP3 Download)

I wasn't sure what to expect after their classic Blood Brothers album, but this is no letdown. Smokin' Joe and Bnois continue to produce the best Texas blues since the days of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Smokin' Joe may be the the best blues guitarist of our time, and the unique tandem with Bnois' jazzy voice are unparalleled.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blues Rock, September 7, 2010

By 

frittercritter - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Have Blues Will Travel (Audio CD)

Great CD this belongs in your CD Blues/rock collection. A must have. powerful lyrics and great guitar sounds.