Mask up, plug in and rock out to some stripped-down sound. That is the recipe for victory on”View That mild,” the brand new solo record by Rick Holmstrom, that was Mavis Staples’ guitarist and bandleader for the previous 13 decades.
After the stunt wiped out Staples’ 2020 excursion program, Holmstrom regrouped — so to speak — and constructed a power trio at a studio near his house in Venice, California.
The happy result is a 12-song place constructed on garage ring basics that showcases Holmstrom’s enormous guitar language. Not that he is a showboat — his solos are not so much high-flying as suspended, especially from the blues and Chuck Berry, with a great deal of vibrato, twang and reverb.
One of Holmstrom’s very notable, inventive acting is because a rhythm guitarist in service of the singing.
There is considerable selection to Holmstrom’s authentic substance. “Waiting Too Long” chugs such as the El Camino he sings , while”Look Me In the Eye” rides a sock hop beat, along with the swinging”Come Together” is bracketed with a slow, sweet tune. Holmstrom sings about disorder in dyspeptic, dystopian instances before a curious child inspires the uplifting finale,”Happy Eye.”
When it finishes in comments, listeners can supply their own: excellent things.
