1 	Kokomo	5:34
2 	Lonely Leavin' Town	5:55
3 	Big Road	4:13
4 	Frankie	3:43
5 	Shake Your Hips	8:23
6 	Casey Jones	3:59
7 	Voodoo Blues	3:38
8 	Stop & Listen	3:03
9 	Guilty	2:25
10 	Gimme That (Somethin' Special)	6:37

Erin Harpe - vocals, guitars, percussion, washboard 
Jim Countryman - bass, ukulele 
Kendall Divoll - drums
Matt “Charles” Prozialek - harmonica
Michael Casavant - accordion, organ

Erin Harpe grew up with the Washington D.C. acoustic blues scene, and her latest VizzTone album with the Delta Swingers, Big Road, is a raucous collection of electrified delta blues that evolved from her youthful interests. This Boston-based band gigs constantly, and they took time out after this year’s International Blues Challenge to lay down some tracks. This disc was cut live in the studio, with just a few overdubs, so they could preserve their stage energy for eternity. The results are very good and they made it to the semi-finals of the IBC, so it was a pretty good month for the band!

Harpe is a guitarist and vocalist who was raised in a musical family, as her father is visual artist and guitarist Neil Harpe. It is apparent that the apple did not fall far from the tree: Erin has her own distinctive style with authentic vocals and a marvelous guitar technique, including very good finger-picking. This has not gone unnoticed, and she was asked to put together an excellent DVD lesson for Stan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop, Women of the Country Blues Guitar.

The disc starts out with Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Kokomo,” and the band turns this hill-country classis into an electrified chunk of delta-inspired rock. Harpe’s voice is hearty with plenty of character, and her slide guitar work is very respectable. The backline of Countryman and Divoll keep things moving, while Prozialek’s harmonica provides a sweet counterpoint to the guitar leads. This is followed up by a beautiful original, “Lonely Leavin’ Town,” which has a more stripped down and laid back feel, which allows the harmonica a little more room in the mix. Casavant sets the mood on this one with his organ and there is a marvelous groove to this tune, plus a melody that stays in the mind long after the song has ended.

The other Harpe-penned tunes are well written, too. “Voodoo Blues” is an upbeat piece of rockabilly with a New Orleans feel, and it features squeezebox from Casavant, a classic blues bass line from Countryman and plenty of honking harp from Prozialek. His harmonica tone carries over to “Stop & Listen,” a fast boogie that is led by Divoll’s snare. Erin carries both the rhythm and lead guitar parts, and her vocals are phrased perfectly so that they become like another one of the instruments, which is a an alluring effect. The last of the originals is “Gimme That,” a song that Erin first recorded with Countryman in her old band, Lovewhip, and this semi-psychedelic fusion jam proves to be a fascinating and fun coda.

The covers are a neat collection of songs from the delta and elsewhere, and one of the standouts is the title track. Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road” has the same spirit as the original, but this time it is delivered with reworked lyrics and a country blues feel. Another winner is Mississippi John Hurt’s 1928 classic, “Frankie,” which is stripped back to acoustic guitar and harmonica, allowing the listener to hear Erin sing the tragic story of two lovers. Erin also does a soulful acoustic take of Randy Newman’s “Guilty,” which was first recorded by Bonny Raitt in 1973, and the simplicity of this track is a lovely contrast to the high energy that Harpe exhibits for the rest of the album.

Big Road from Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers is a very cool piece of work, and if you are a fan of modern electric roots and blues, you will find a lot to enjoy here. The band has successfully avoided the “sophomore slump,” and if you want to see them in person they have a lot of shows to choose from in the Northeast before the end of the year. Give their new album a listen and try to make it out to one of their gigs – it will definitely be a blast! ---Rex Bartholomew, bluesblastmagazine.com

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01. Jingle Bell Blues
02. Merry Christmas
03. The Night Before Christmas
04. At The Christmas Ball
05. Merry Christmas (Here I Come)
06. The Christmas Swing
07. Christmas Is A-Comin'
08. Drink And Get Drunk
09. Run Run Rudolph
10. Auld Lang Syne

Erin Harpe – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
Jim Countryman – electric bass
Matt "Charles" Prozialeck – harmonica and percussion
Chris Anzalone – drums and percussion 

The first, glowing review has come in of our new holiday album "The Christmas Swing", from our friend Aj Wachtel! Thanks for the nice words Aj! Check it out:

"This music is for the listener who would rather celebrate the holidays with their friends and family drinking at the bar with a live band instead of enjoying the yuletide with the solitude and warmth of their own cozily lit living room fireplace; contemplating good times past. This is drinking music driven by the dynamo Erin Harpe and her Memphis Minnie inspired rural blues guitar finger picking and great, great voice.

Erin plays all the guitars including the slide guitar; and sings all the vocals and can also be heard on the washboard. Jim Countryman is on bass, snaps and claps, Matt 'Charles' Prozialeck blows electric and acoustic harmonicas, and Chris Anzalone is stationed behind the kit. They are tight, first-rate and powerful: a groove band with plenty of hooks; and their inspired individual performances make their first X-mas album really rocking; with red-hot music that will make your holidays even more fun. The CD features Erin's two songs and her own arrangements of traditionals and tunes by Chuck Berry, Bessie Smith, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Leadbelly. Check out the trad opening cut 'Jingle Bell Blues,' Erin's uptempo 'The Night Before Christmas' that showcases both her guitar playing and her voice, 'At The Christmas Ball' with great piano by John Juxo, Leadbelly's uptempo 'Christmas Is A-Coming' with the nice harmonica, Chuck's classic 'Run Run Rudolph' where it's a real treat to hear Erin cover Berry's two string leads, The title track, 'The Christmas Swing' written by Erin and Rosy Rosenblatt who also plays harp on the cut. It's a reworking of their 2011 hit 'The Delta Swing' And finally, the closer 'Auld Lang Syne' where she sings along with her kazoo. She also plays her kazoo on the only non-holiday track on the album 'Drink And Get Drunk,' by Bo Carter which again features her stunning singing; I just love when she harmonizes with herself, and I really dig her talented blues and r&b group. Erin says: 'this is a holiday album for music fans who really don't like Christmas music:' and she's absolutely right on that account. Support your local music and buy this great stocking stuffer CD right now!" ---erinharpe.com

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