{"id":52261,"date":"2016-06-29T07:57:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T12:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=52261"},"modified":"2016-06-29T07:57:05","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T12:57:05","slug":"jesse-damon-southern-highway-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2016\/jesse-damon-southern-highway-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesse Damon | Southern Highway"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"JESSEThe overall tendency of many seasoned Rock musicians is to go back to their roots \u2013 which in practice usually becomes the (in)famous tendency to go Country at some point in their careers. Some attempts at doing so are worthwhile artistically. Others are nothing but jumping on a Nashville-friendly bandwagon \u2013 something which Bon Jovi\u2019s done their fair share of not so long ago. But there\u2019s alternative to both, it seems \u2013 offered by Silent Rage\u2019s Jesse Damon on his new solo album Southern Highway<\/em>.<\/p>\n

One thing has to be said loud and clear about Southern Highway<\/em>: in spite of its apparently suggestive title, it\u2019s not a straight-forwardly Blues album soaked in gritty sound of the American South. It simply doesn\u2019t go that deep aesthetically. With tracks such as \u201cYou Got Me Rockin,\u201d you may even wonder what all the bluesy, back-to-the-roots hype was about as the uptempo, guitar-driven piece embroidered with a catchy chorus is more Melodic Rock than anything else. Aware that a drastic change of sound and style would have discouraged his longtime listeners rather than encourage the new ones, Damon is careful if not picky in his stylistic choices. Exploration of the musical heritage of the South is generally a fine path to tread, but too much of a good thing\u2026 you say it. <\/p>\n

Balance is, however, always a way to go, and Southern Highway<\/em> reflects it well. It can\u2019t be said that the Americana flavor is nowhere to be found on the album. The Honky-tonk, boogie vibe to \u201cFoolish To Me\u201d or \u201cWho\u2019s Your Daddy,\u201d the gritty groove of the title track, the spacious, Skynyrd-ish feel to \u201cLet It Slide\u201d\u2026 or the ominous tone in Jesse Damon\u2019s voice as he tells a story of the eponymous \u201cDevil Down The Road.\u201d Still, it\u2019s more or less Melodic Hard Rock with a handful of bluesy undertones than the actual journey to the very heart the Mississippi Delta (a famous bargain with the devil included). Southern Highway is a conglomerate of different musical influences, and incorporates as much of blues and country elements as of the \u201880s rock with its big choruses and juicy guitar licks. Songs such as \u201cBackstabbin\u2019 Lover\u201d are testimony to this fact \u2013 a slightly different arrangement would have made the aforesaid piece a fine bonus addition to a reissue of any Silent Rage \u201880s album. <\/p>\n

With its rootsy element introduced carefully alongside catchy melodies, Southern Highway<\/em> is a varied and enjoyable album. By certain \u2013 yet measured \u2013 borrowings and incorporations, Jesse Damon escaped the piteous fate of releasing \u201cyet another\u201d Modern Melodic Rock replica we\u2019d dread to give a spin. The record\u2019s a fairly honest account of the artist\u2019s diverse influences and fascinations with different musical genres, Americana included, instead. Southern Highway also remains straightforward and honest in its storytelling aspect, being anything but the lyrical exercise in subtlety. But better check it out yourself how this marriage of Melodic Rock and bluesy undertones works in practice \u2013 no matter which genre you\u2019d normally prefer.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Rock, Country Rock, Blues<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJesse Damon \u2013 vocals, guitar, bass guitar
\nKurt Markham \u2013 drums
\nChris Tanori \u2013 bass guitar<\/p>\n

Tracklist:
\n1.\tWho’s Your Daddy
\n2.\tYou Got Me Rockin’
\n3.\tLet It Slide
\n4.\tFoolish To Me
\n5.\tSouthern Highway
\n6.\tDevil Down The Road
\n7.\tBackstabbin’ Lover
\n8.\tStarting Right Now
\n9.\tOutta My Mind
\n10.\tJust Another Fool<\/p>\n

Label: On Fire Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/jessedamon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Sr. Columnist — The overall tendency of many seasoned Rock musicians is to go back to their roots \u2013 which in practice usually becomes the (in)famous tendency to go Country at […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":52262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13652],"tags":[8730,2317,10067,1645,2901,12430,1644,12370],"class_list":{"0":"post-52261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2016","8":"tag-blues","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-country-rock","11":"tag-jesse-damon","12":"tag-melodic-rock","13":"tag-on-fire-records","14":"tag-silent-rage","15":"tag-southern-highway"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}