Catfish Keith’s finger-picking and slide guitar, as well as his innovative style of foot-stomping deep Delta blues and roots music has captured audiences around the world for nearly 50 years. Catfish won the 2022, 2021, and 2019 Blues Blast Music Awards for best Acoustic Blues Album. He was inducted into the IA Blues Hall of Fame in 2008 .
Still I Long To Roam is the perfect album to pop a cork, hang out on the deck, and tell time to just kiss your ass. There are many outstanding guitarists out there but only a select few can capture the essence and the pulse of the Mississippi Delta. The music of Catfish Keith pulsates with that special rhythmic quality that is the heartbeat of the Delta. The music is great fun , the guitar work is spellbinding , and Catfish Keith's arrangements are nothing short of masterful.
Catfish Keith produces music that comes deep from the depths of spirits long gone; reflecting triumphs and struggles in life; by love found and love lost; reflecting the railroads , fields , and slaughterhouses where the musicians once worked by day . His music is a cultural mosaic . Maybe there's something in the water!
Highlights include Catfish Keith's two originals: "I'm a Wanderer, Fare Thee Well" and "Cherry Red," inspired by Mance Lipscomb and Skip James. His acoustic version of New Orleans piano master Professor Longhair's "Go To The Mardis Gras" is a stellar a one-take jam out.
His covers include "Red Spring Poker" from the Mississippi Sheiks; "Cool Drink of Water," by blues master Tommy Johnson, "He'll Understand and Say Well Done," one of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's early gospel gems ; and Memphis musician Frank Stokes recording from a century ago, "Stomp That Thing." He also provides a spot-on rendition of Blind Willie Johnson's song about World War I that rings true to this very day "When the War was On."
Unfortunately Catfish Keith has been under the radar for many blues fans. Do yourself a favor and seek out " "Still I Long To Roam ". Get yourself acquainted with a true American icon .
Label: Fish Tail Records
Produced by: Penny Cahill and Catfish Keith
Released: 2022
Web: CatFishKeith.com
Review by John Muller
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