Larry Garner

Once Upon the Blues

RUF 1044

With his second release for Ruf Records, Larry Garner raises the bar for contemporary songwriters and storytellers. Life as a Bluesman on the road has given Larry a unique perspective of the world we live in and, regardless of the subject, Larry has the ability to elicit a "been there" or a "seen that" from most all of us.

He takes off in a humorous vein with Slower Traffic Keep Right and Virus Blues. He can deal with our human frailties too, as in A Real Gambling Woman or Kleptoe (Kleptoemaniac). The front page of our daily newspaper is a great source of material as well; give a good listen to Edward Had A Shotgun and If She Tells You No for a musical editorial commentary. Nothing But Life is an acoustic answer to the age old question, what is the Blues? With lyrics like this, Larry Garner's reputation as a songwriter extraordinare will continue to rise. The dozen original tunes make Once Upon The Blues anything but a fairy tale. This is a look at us in real time. Larry has shaken the dust off the Blues and brought it right up to date.

This is a disc you will be glad you made part of your collection.

Larry Lisk

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