Album Review: Alex Bevan & David Young – Boomer! by Bear
Alex Bevan has always been a storyteller. Just listen to “Grand River Lullaby” about lost love, “Rodeo Rider” about a man looking for his future, “Have A Laugh On Cleveland Blues” about our city and it’s woes and of course “Skinny” about every guy it seems that ever walked into a bar but with his new album “Boomer” he and his collaborator David J. Young take us on a 14 song journey through the eyes of two aging musicians trying to get the old band from their youth together.
“Boomer!” takes these two characters in the songs back to another time but I noticed while listening that those memories they sing about can be related to very easily. The highlight of the album is “Garage”, a swamp boogie rockin’ song if I ever heard one. “Mr. Stress” a tribute to local blues legend, the late Bill Miller, would have made Bill proud especially with Colin Dussault wailing on the harp.
It’s nice to hear Alex with a full band to really flesh out the songs and he did bring in a great crop of musicians to help out including Dussault, Tommy Dobeck, Bill Watson, David Krauss, Alan Greene, Rachel Brown and Scott Alan.
This is one of Alex’s best albums in years. I hope he continues to explore this direction in future albums.
Rating: 8 out of 10
