Blue Million: “Blue Million”
PERFORMER: Blue Million (www.alansongs.com).
CD: “Blue Million”
In various incarnations (Stanley Louis Band, Off the Wall, Blue Million, Cheap Beats, and solo), Alan Griffith has been a constant on the Kanawha Valley music scene since the mid-’80s. And while his style has changed over the years from British and indie rock ’n’ roll to a pared-down format that draws on equal parts Dylan, Ramblin’ Jack and the Replacements, anyone who knows Griffith knows his music comes straight from his Boone County soul.
The current Blue Million reunites Griffith with longtime drummer Andy Lewis with newcomer “J” Hill on bass and vocals. Musically, the results are, by turns, minor-keyed story songs that keenly reflect the life and mood of a West Virginia lifer (“Next Year,” “Tall Ray”), Dylanesque talking blues (“Adam Bit the Apple”) and rockers that invoke the grand, open chords of Keith Richards (“Waiting For a Melody”).
A prolific songwriter and nervous perfectionist, Griffith has labored for years to make recordings that sound live and fresh. To that end, he turned to engineering and producing his songs some years back. His latest comes closer to that goal than anything he’s done to date. Along the way, Griffith turns in a Neil Young-styled guitar solo on “New Year.” “County Sheriff” is a gritty, Hooker ’n’ Heat-styled boogie. “Will You Think of Me” is both swaggering and sentimental, while “Catch U” has a good, old-fashioned pop hook.
A dark murkiness comes through loud and clear — but not at the expense of quality. There’s a hint of distortion on the bass guitar and just enough slop in the solos to give you the feeling of sitting in the Corner Pocket with Mamie serving up the beers.
IN CLUBS: Catch Blue Million on Feb. 16 at Clyde’s 19th Hole in Madison.
AUDIO: Hear “Waiting for a Melody” off the new Blue Million CD
VIDEO: Watch Alan Griffith perform “Will You Think of Me” at Gatecrasher blog
— By Michael Lipton
February 19th, 2008 at 11:16 am
[…] Boone County folk rocker Alan Griffith brings his band Blue Million to Taylor Books on Capitol Street Friday at 8 p.m. The band just released a new CD, which you can find at Budget Tapes, and which did earned a favorable review from Michael Lipton here at the Gazz. One of the tunes was “Song of the Day” at the SoundCheck gazzblog — click here to hear it. This should be a free show, which fits right in with our budget. […]
March 12th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
[…] Blue Million has been around in a few different incarnations for a couple of decades now. Always lead by the talented songwriter/guitarist/harmonica master Alan Griffith, the band now includes Alan’s longtime drummer Andy Lewis and newcomer Jay Hill on bass guitar. Blue Million has a new CD out, which you can find at Budget Tapes and Records and at Taylor Books. You can read a review here. Taylor Books was also the location where we recorded Blue Million performing “I’m Gonna Catch You” for this episode of RFC. […]