The very title
The Front Porch Sessions
suggests what
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
deliver on their sixth album: stripped-down, simple, down-home blues.
Reverend Peyton
began using the term "Front Porch Sessions" back in 2014, when he started posting live clips recorded on his front porch onto the internet, but this 2017 album was indeed cut in a studio: Farm Fresh in his native Indiana. It may have been made in a professional studio, but
delivers on the intimacy and immediacy of its title, while also sounding very, very big. Almost of this lies on
himself, who has a muscular howl that tends to overshadow the other two members of his big band, but that's by design. The
Big Band
deliver a big sound by focusing on a down-and-gritty groove, a boogie that naturally comes to the forefront on the handful of instrumentals, but is also felt when
Peyton
is bellowing his lungs out. This palpable sense of soul, combined with a strong set of songs -- there are a handful of standards, including
Furry Lewis
' "When My Baby Left Me," along with solid originals -- elevates
to the very top rank of
the Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
albums. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine