East Syracuse guitarist Mark Cloutier and his band mates in the Double Barrel Blues Band can play way ahead, to Oct. 3.
Two weekends ago, they played the Lake George Winter Blues Blast. And, they lived up to that title. Cloutier says they played "to a packed house and sealed our Oct. 3 date for the fall Lake Placid fest."
Cloutier says he's exchanged messages with Richard Chalk, W.C. Handy Award winner and owner of Texas-based label Top Cat Records. "He tipped our band off to a radio DJ who has a great blues radio program in Norway." Bjorn Wiksaas, who also books a blues fest in Norway, seems to have DBBB on his radar. "Thought that was cool," Cloutier says, adding that he's heard from a radio DJ in Spain who requested the band's CD, and that he's sent a package out after hearing feelers from the fest in Seattle.
"Things are looking up," Cloutier says.
East Syracuse guitarist Mark Cloutier sent over the link for the Roots Time review of his Double Barrel Blues Band.
The contact info for the site discloses that it comes from Belgium. Double Barrel is truly international.
Cloutier's web-friend Marcie translated the review for him and came up with this:
Potent and viral Men with guitars strapped around their neck are always somehow impressive, even more when they act like a cohence act in a recording enviroment ! What you hear at this album of the DBBB from New York is rough edged and delicate in a row ! The band is build around Mark Cloutier, who's getting wide recoqnition for his fabulous guitar work amongst as well listeners and press ! When he still played in the Dirt Pool Band he made name as a 4 star guitarist ! Drummer Garnet Grimm has a long history in the New York club circuit and is solid as a rock !
In the DBBB Band his guitar is central point ! In "Tin Pan Alley" for example, he knows to impress with a driving dynamic performance without going over the top ! Same with John Harts slide playing, great feel in it ! The guitarists are that good, that it seems if they we're had class with B.B. King, Freddy King, Hubert Sumlin and Jimy Hendrix as teachers cq professors ! On the album It is mostly energetic potent blues, but there are a few laidback ones to !
The intimate instrumental "So Beautifull" would suit a baptization procedure in Church perfectly !
Except for all the borrowed and rearanged stuff, merely a combination of Traditional Blues, Blues Rock and Rockabilly,
which evolves in a typical 'Wang Dang Doodle" sound of the better side, there are 4 own compositions aboard !
Especially "Flippin & Flapping" is most enjoyable through the combination of neat guitars and the supportive bass of "Bolly Satterly" ! And "If You find I'm gone" has a "Lets go Jogging" vibe ! The DBBB is that kind of a band that you have to see on stage ! Satisfaction quaranteed....Same with the album....the cohence in song selection has a nice and neat swing and there's a great bluesy vibe from first to last song !
Nice in either language.
