I was introduced to the music of The Cadillac Kings by my blues buddy Nico Bravenboer, who frequently has them on his playlist in his radioshow ‘Bluezy’ on Radio Ridderkerk. They also played in 2005 on his annual blues festival, where they made quite an impression.
The band was founded in 2000 and, after ‘Lou Ann’ (2001) and ‘Highway 17’ (2004), ‘Trouble In Store’ is their third CD. The musicians of this English band on this CD are Gary Potts (harmonica, vocals), Mike Thomas (vocals, slide guitar), Mike Adcock (piano, accordion), Mal Barclay (guitar), Roy Webber (drums, vocals) and T.C. Copp (upright bass). According to the info the band delivers a unique brand of blues, boogie, jive & swing and after listening to this CD I must say, that this description does them justice. Occasionally added is a little bit of New Orleans R&B and the result is a diversified and cheerful disk. Fifteen original songs, most of them written by Mike Thomas, authentic sounding music with modern, contemporary lyrics, about for instance. plastic surgery (‘Mr. Nip & Tuck), the male menopause (‘Around The Block’) or junk food (‘Fries With That’) etc. and that all of with a healthy dose of that typical British humour. Some things sound a bit familiar and can be traced back to existing songs (for instance ‘She’s My Sugar Rush’ sounds a lot like Lazy Lester’s ‘Sugar Coated Love’), but they have enough own input, so it doesn’t really bother me. The swinging opener ‘Too Blue’, the fine New Orleans swing in ‘Digging That Hole’ or the title track ‘Trouble In Store’, a slow blues, like the fore mentioned songs, all little jewels. The only disturbing thing on this CD is the drumbeat in the song ‘Less Is More’. Personally I think this firm beat is out of place in this song and indeed, less is more. To hear Mike Thomas’s slide guitar we had to wait till the last song and if it’s up to me I like to hear it on one or two more songs next time. This is a fine CD, made by musicians, who know what they are doing and obviously like doing it. Good music for every party and I’m sure that live they also will do a hell of a job.