The Guitar Label (label)
03 August 2008 (released)
03 August 2009
If you’re like me and love the slide guitar commonly found on Captain Beefheart, the gravel-grind voice of Howlin’ Wolf, the satisfying twang of John Lee Hooker’s guitar... well, you get the image, then Marcus Bonfanti is bringing back the best of blues in his debut album Hard Times.
With a gratuitous amount of tape saturation, a warm and silky electric guitar, screaming harmonica and vocals that rumble even Tom Waits’ skull, Bonfanti plunges into his soul using the classic blues to deliver a powerful set of songs. Opener 'Diamonds in the Rust' is an uplifting tune with emphasis on his unique vocals, 'Not Meant for this World' is a slower, smooth ballad and 'The Girl I Knew' displays some rapid finger work on his guitar. Title track 'Hard Times' has Bonfanti howling like the Wolf himself and I could go on for a long time describing how rich this album is stylistically, but you must hear it for yourselves.
With blues being one of my favourite genres it’s invigorating to see it’s still in production, especially to hear it being played so well by an extremely talented musician.
