Blue's 'Mojolation' is a tonic

This has been a brutal winter in Richmond and with the short days some of us don’t need more reasons to be depressed. The last snow event here (Jan. 29) knocked out my electricity and heat all night. The temperature outside was in the single digits!

When the power was restored at about 7 a.m., the temperature in my pad was in the 40s. It took nearly all day to get the chill out of my old bones.

A couple of days later, when I read an email that suddenly made me laugh at some of my vexations, I decided to get to work on an art project I’d been putting off. Which led me to the best decision of the afternoon -- I put Bill Blue’s new CD, “Mojolation,” on my Bose Acoustic Wave.

It was like a tonic. The gritty music from Key West was just what I needed to invoke a productive mini mania. Ended up playing it a second time, then -- speaking of Blue -- I took a Pabst Blue Ribbon break.

As I’m writing this, my favorite cuts are “It’s Gotta Change,” “Brand New Man” and “Who Let That Stranger In?” But a couple of the others are growing on me.

Bill’s new 11-song CD is quite well produced. The sidemen do a fine job. Moreover, it’s the work of a fully formed artist who's not trying to be anything he isn't, just to put out a commercial recording. After decades of gigging in saloons, Bill may well have put together a breakthrough hit album.

Since I’ve got a political cartoon to work on, I’m letting “Mojolation” take my mind off of the damn wintry-mix-of-the-century that -- oy vey! -- is supposedly heading my way. Listening to the "Guitar Whore" cut right now.

Nice.