As role models for young musicians go, Tom Waits is a pretty good man to follow, but John Wesley Myers' clear admiration of the guy gets to be a bit much on Every Damn Time, the debut album from his band, the Black Diamond Heavies. Here Myers sounds like he spent the better part of a year locked up in a closet with a copy of Small Change, mastering every nuance of Waits' raspy croak, and though Myers conjures up no small amount of soul along the way, the similarity in their vocal sty   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

Nashville's Black Diamond Heavies spent a lot of time on the road after the release of their first album, 2007's Every Damn Time, and you can hear the lessons of dozens of sweatbox gigs on their second full-length set, 2008's A Touch of Someone Else's Class. While James Leg (aka John Wesley Myers) on vocals and keys and Van Campbell on drums sounded tight and fiery the first time around, on their sophomore LP they sound tougher, harder, and practically incendiary; the duo's blues gestur   [ read more ]

CD $15.18