Blues with Bite
San Francisco outfit dishes out album of truly tasty blues

By Mike Thomas
Pacific Sun

Funny thing about the blues. When even a modestly competent blues outfit finds it's groove in a nightclub, getting into the music's intense emotions, raw energy and everyman spirit is like falling off a log. To paraphrase Chuck Berry, "You just have to dance!" Or at least tap your toes with cautious, Caucasian abandon. But on record it's a different deal. Most blues tunes stick to a highly predictable structures and what goes down like comfort food in a live situation often tastes like second-rate-left-overs when served over your home stereo. Distinctive blues recordings depend heavily on savory X-factors, grease-drippin' intangibles that fill every familiar crevice with flavor.

Getting hungry? I've got just the thing. Three Piece and a Biscuit (Mile Marker Music), the debut full-length CD from San Francisco's One More Mile, oozes grit and gravy. Dedicated students of the rough-cut "West Side Sound" that came barreling out of Chicago in the early 1950's, the shiv-sharp trio blends reverence and restlessness in complementary measures. Hip to the notion that you can keep the tradition alive in your own uncompromising terms, the band spikes it's authentic tributes to Windy City forefathers such as Buddy Guy, Jimmy Dawkins and Magic Sam with chunky contemporary nuggets of soul, funk and surf. No-frills drummer Lee Thompson and bassist/vocalist "Jersey" Jim Nestor, an expressive growler of the highest order, drop anchor while guitarist Craig Kloor slashes, darts and overtops with piercing array of angular Stratocaster licks. (Think Jimmie Vaughn.) In a realm where volume and velocity too often rule, Kloor makes a compelling case for taste and tone.

On the album's track list, time-tested battle wagons like Freddie King's "San-Ho-Zay" and Nick Gravenities's "Born In Chicago" rub broad shoulders with lesser known gems-in-the-rough such as the rollicking "I Wonder Why" and the Simmering "Sad and Blues," a pair of Dawkins compositions. All told, there ain't a bad biscuit in the batch. For information about the band, call 510-245-9071 or go to www.onemoremile.com.