Devon Allman's Honeytribe
hails from St. Louis, MO.
Torch
is the band's American debut, though a live European offering is available from the band's website. Yep, his dad's
Gregg Allman
, but
Honeytribe
has its own sound. Having grown up partly in Corpus Christi, and later in Missouri,
Devon Allman
and band's sound owes very little to
the Allman Brothers
. It's a space age
jam band
blues
outfit that has bits and pieces of
soul
in the mix but the real deep edge is
hard rock
.
Allman
is a solid guitarist and has a decent voice, but he does not possess the phrasing chops of his old man; then again, it did take
Gregg
a long time to become the kind of singer he is now.
feels like a debut album. It has many solid moments, such as the burning instrumental
"Mahalo,"
that feels like
Bob Dylan
's
"All Along the Watchtower"
played by the
Santana
band without words. The sense of drama is heightened by drummer/percussionist
Mark Oyarzabal
's taste and presence, and also by
Jack Kirkner
's Hammond B-3. The cover of
Bob Marley
"No Woman, No Cry"
is credible, but adds nothing to the original (why do so many people think that they can cover this song?) but it does feature guitar wizard
Pedro Arevalo
's tasty licks and slide.
"When I Call Home"
is one of those bluesy
ballads
that feels right inside a
's singing is what makes the tune. He is expressive, digs down deep into his belly for the lyric and lets it rip. His guitar work is beautiful and tasty but he keeps the song upfront. Again,
Kirkner
's organ is such a gorgeous tool in a tune like this, it floats and then grounds everything as well. The edgy
of tracks like the title and
"Perfect World"
don't seem to work so well in the studio. Production is a problem because these cats seem to have to crank every instrument up to ten, leaving no space in the mix. There are a number of cliches here, too, such as the
boogie
"Heaven Has No Mercy,"
which sounds like a tune your average
bar band
would play at a biker road rally. The solo acoustic guitar piece,
"511 Texas Avenue,"
is a nice relief from the bombast, and the album's closer
"Nothing to Be Sad About,"
balances the big ringing guitars with acoustic-
honky tonk
-style piano and loose, back porch vocals, showcasing all the band has to offer quite nicely. Interestingly,
guitar style owes more to
Dickey Betts
than it does late uncle
Duane
's but then,
Betts
has influenced plenty of the
generation pickers so it might just be coincidence. While
is not an overly impressive debut, it would be a mistake to write it, or the band off. There's room to grow and
is surely on the right track. ~ Thom Jurek