all performance dates now at
click on the CD image above
GBB could be one of the sleeper hits of the year.
LZ Love has one of the best voices in Austin, and
teamed with Lightning Red's acoustic guitar,
it's applied with great care and thought.
LZ Love's debut, Higher Ground, was her calling card into Austin's languishing R&B scene,
and her new live Gut Bucket Blues disc is the thank-you. Recorded with her longtime guitarist,
the estimable Lightning Red, GBB collects nine mostly original tracks with Willie Dixon
("Wang Dang Doodle") and Jimmy Reed ("Baby, What You Want Me to Do") thrown in for good measure.
Love has one of the best voices in Austin, and teamed with Lightning Red's acoustic guitar,
it's applied with great care and thought.
This platter could be one of the sleeper hits of the year.
- Austin Chronicle 2007
Daisy's Red Ryder BB Gunshots
LZ Love & Lightning Red, Gutbucket Blues:
Ms. Love sings with such a deep soulful spirit,
Lightning Red accompanies with a fine Texas country blues style.
8.5 shots
- Austin Daze Magazine 2007
The down-home Texas sound of traditional, acoustic blues has been revived and reinterpreted in recent months by local artists
like Ray Cashman (Texassippi Stomp, 219 Records, 2007), Ben Bowen King (Sidewalk Saints, Talking Taco Music, 2006), and now
LZ Love and Lightning Red. With Gut Bucket Blues, this Austin-based powerhouse duo delivers a big sound on an
all-acoustic, eclectic nine song set of both original and classic material.
Both LZ Love and Lightning Red are Chicago-born artists who have established a powerful presence on Austin’s music scene.
Red has been a steady force in Austin after moving here from the Windy City in 1975. He grew up on a healthy diet of Junior
Wells, Buddy Guy, Albert King, and Paul Butterfield, and combines the electric grit of urban Chicago blues with the
unplugged, back porch pickin’ of Delta blues. He is a master of both acoustic and slide guitar.
Love, a songwriter and vocalist who was already belting out gospel tunes in her church choir at the age of five,
left Chicago at an early age and grew up in California. She had some success in the 1990s as a dance music artist in the U.K.
, and in the early 2000s she turned her considerable vocal talent to blues and gospel, making waves in the San Francisco Bay
Area before relocating to Austin. One of her most stunning performances was delivered at Antone’s Nightclub on May 24, 2006,
the day after Clifford passed. Those lucky enough to make it into the packed club that night were treated to her
jaw-dropping a cappella rendition of “Amazing Grace,” a beautiful tribute to one of the champions of local Austin music and
a fine display of Love’s vocal prowess and commanding stage presence.
Gut Bucket Blues is the first full-length album Love and Red have recorded together. The highlight of the record is the
Lightning Red-penned instrumental “Backyard Boogie,” featuring Red playing bottleneck slide on what sounds like a
National Steel guitar. Love backs him with some expert minimalist tackita-tap-tackita percussion. Like all great blues
boogies, “Backyard Boogie” struts along the one-chord in a dark, trance-like groove. I can’t wait to see this one performed
live.
Love and Red experiment with an acoustic treatment of Willie Dixon’s classic Chicago number “Wang Dang Doodle,” first made
famous by the great Koko Taylor with her 1966 recording on Chess Records. Love performs the song with confidence and passion,
and Red’s sense of timing and style give a welcome new spin on this quintessential blues tune. Another fine cover is Jimmy
Reed’s “Baby, What You Want Me to Do.” While Red is a much stronger guitar player than vocalist, his vocal duet with Love on
this cut is spot-on and his guitar accompaniment just shines.
Red's guitar playing never fails to impress. He brings out the slide for another beautiful instrumental on the
quick-paced “Cotton Pickin,” a sweet tune with a bit of a gospel flare. Love gets a little funky on “Something Good,” and
offers a message about, well, love on the deep, moody “Been Lovely.”
Fans of both acoustic and electric blues will find something to love in Gut Bucket Blues.
- Roger Gatchet, May 2007 - www.austinsound.net
Roger “Smokehouse Brown” Gatchet hosts Blues at Sunrise every Wednesday from 7-9 AM on KVRX 91.7 FM
July 12 2007
LZ Love & Lightning Red perform live on KUT Radio 90.1FM, Austin, Texas
After topping the European dance charts over ten years ago, a promising future in music has blossomed for local gospel-blues
belter LZ Love. Her right hand man, Lightnin’ Red has established a name of his own as a Texas country blues
guitarist. They collaborate for a duo acoustic set on one of this year’s sleepers, Gut Bucket Blues. Hear the pair Thursday
at 2:05 p.m. on Music with
Jay Trachtenberg.
— Jay Trachtenberg
LZ Love & Lightning Red
click here for Mp3 clips
Roger of Austin Artistz Booking has a birthday bash at the Oasis on Lake Travis.
Malford Milligan performed and LZ Love was the featured vocalist.
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