When Five Horse Johnson formed back in 1995, referring to themselves as a “blues band,” a few brows might well have been furrowed. But this is a band that has always understood that the blues isn’t a formula – it’s a way of looking at the world. Their take on the “blooze” is as a dirty, sensual thing, enhanced with a healthy dose of humour. Now some two decades and seven albums into their career – with eighth Jake Leg Boogie, set to drop late this June on Small Stone, they have created a niche of their own, a genuine love and respect for traditional blues and classic rock leading them to likewise become one of the most loved and respected bands in the heavy rock underground. Always a freight train live, they’ve toured the US (with Clutch and Halfway To Gone) and Europe extensively (including the festival circuit), gathering fans, friends, and drinking partners all over the Western World.
Singer Eric Oblander says “This time around we channelled a little more Hendrix and Funkadelic as much as the usual bluesy Aerosmith insanity. All the songs are a bit more stripped down, and have a deep-pocket groove”. Interestingly, nowhere in the press release can I find any mention of the one band these guys reminded me of immediately, namely Molly Hatchet. True, there is more blues and less boogie than the southern guys, but Eric has a very similar gravelly approach as Danny Joe Brown, their slide guitar approach is very much in the same area as what they were doing in the late Seventies/early Eighties, and it just has a very similar feel.
Now, there are some people who feel that Molly have always been a poor man’s Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I can assure you that they have released some mighty fine albums and songs, so when I say that Five Horse Johnson remind me of them that is a huge positive. If they can create this amount of down and dirty rough emotion in a studio, I can’t even imagine how good these guys will be in concert: this is essential to anyone who wants their music to have depth and passion. Blues rock and roll with some serious boogie rarely comes any better than this.
