The tale of Danny Bryant was one of living ‘on the edge’, burning candles at both ends and in the middle, abusing his body, the classic ‘live fast, Die young’. All that changed only a couple of years ago when he came to the realisation that he was dying of alcohol abuse and either changed his life or died pretty quickly. Thankfully, he took a different path and cleaned up his act to the extent that, today, he is pretty well unrecognizable from the Danny Bryant of only a few years back. And his music is benefitting from it too.
Danny Bryant’s Blues has always been intense. There were, and are, fires burning in Danny Bryant. Anger and passion, deep emotions and feelings of loss. All this comes out in the most powerful and deeply impassioned Blues that any artist is putting out. Personally, I get it and love to listen to Danny singing and playing his heart out. And on ‘Nothing Left Behind’ the depth and strength of the man is played out in all its glory.
Opener ‘Tougher Now’ is a blaster. Big funky riff, huge Jamie Pipe organ and Bryant proclaiming for all he is worth. Bryant may have shed the kilos, but his ability to write and play a banger of a tune hasn’t changed.
‘Not Like The Others’ is equally powerful, great funky breaks behind Bryant’s vocals.
Then ‘Enemy Inside’. The most personal of statements. Danny’s voice almost pleading over a slow, piano led, backing. Building and intense, ringing guitar and clear drumbeat. But always Brayant’s impassioned vocal. A chilling and quite superb number.
The rest of the album continues with big songs, all of them sounding as though they will be killer live numbers. ‘Swagger’ sounding just like the title suggests, ‘Redemption’ slow and deliberate and illustrating Danny’s fight back against his demons, ‘Three Times As hard’ powerful and dark stunning guitar breaks and solo against a screaming organ and pounding drumbeat. ‘Nothing Man’, the most tuneful number on the album but with the most downbeat lyrics on the album.
There isn’t a weak number on the album. It is all intensely personal and, in many cases, triumphant. Played superbly and full of a man reenergized and recovered. He has a superb band behind him – Mark Raner on guitars, Jamie Pipe on organ & piano, Artjom Feldtser on bass and Alexander Hinz on drums, with Raner also co-producing with Bryant.
I have been following Danny since his early days with the Red Eye Band. Watching his playing and singing develop, his songwriting growing from weak Blues to finding his voice as he looks deep within himself. Much in common with his mentor, Walter Trout, but finding his own way and now emerging from darkness and on the edge of death to produce an album of real highs and almost no lows.
