Newsflash! EP Review of Three Jacks and a Jill

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Kick Henry Jackassowski
This guy put up a nice little review of the EP we recorded in my basement :grin: Tracks are available in the member clips area if you haven't checked it out already. :thu:


http://bluesunderground.blogspot.com/2011/03/cd-review-nancy-mckeen-bluez-machine.html
CD Review - The Nancy McKeen Bluez Machine "Three Jacks And A Jill" (EP)


Even before the release of their EP "Three Jacks And A Jill", The Nancy McKeen Bluez Machine already had a lot of goods things going for it, first and foremost being their great lead singer, Nancy McKeen. Described as a "fiery red-head with powerful pipes", a description that is certainly easy to understand, especially after you hear her belt out the blues, Nancy McKeen and the rest of her band which includes, Mark McFeely (Guitar/Percussion), Bob Giacometti (Bass/Percussion), and Pat Rush (Drums) are a Quartet that have been making quite a name for themselves, since they first formed in 2009. In that relatively short period of time, they have managed to be noticed by a lot of the greats and have gotten the opportunity to open for "Johnny Winter, Gary Hoey, Rory Block, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, The Jamie McLean Band, The Dirty Pearls and national recording artist, Shannon Curfman". Also to their credit, thus far, were appearances at The Wheeling Heritage BluesFest and The Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival. All in all, a rather nice start to any bands young resume.

"Three Jacks And A Jill" consists of 5 tracks, all originals written by the bands Bass Player/Percussionist Bob Giacometti and written, I am sure, with Nancy's talent as a vocalist in mind, especially the last Track, "Slow Burn", which I found to be a really interesting number with just Nancy McKeen accompanied by some light percussion in the back ground. Actually the first few moments of the song reminded of the opening to Alice Cooper's Black Juju and if you were to tone back that beat a bit, you would have a pretty good idea of the beat throughout "Slow Burn".

In addition to the four members of The Nancy McKeen Bluez Machine, there is also a guest performer on Track 3, "Eleven", by the name of Dave Hixon who's forte' is his wonderful harmonica work, which absolutely shines on this slow soulful tune, intermingling between Nancy McKeen's rich vocals and Mark McFeely's superb guitar work. "Eleven", is the longest and for me the best track on "Three Jacks And A Jill".

"Three Jacks And A Jill" came across to me as a very well produced, well thought out, and well performed EP, which has certainly left me, as all good EP's should, with the feeling of wanting to hear more in the future from this well seasoned, well oiled band.

Being influenced by such greats as Susan Tedeschi, Janis Joplin, Etta James, Al Green, and Grace Slick, to name a few, Nancy has certainly seemed to have learned well, how to deliver a powerful musical message, which for now, thankfully centers on the Blues.

Congrats all, on this fine first glimpse of what will hopefully be much more to come.

Review by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)

Additional Info Including Link To Samples Available Here... http://www.bluesundergroundnetwork.com/Nancy_McKeen_Bluz_Machine_CD.html
 
My stepmother played in a swing band in the 50's with two other women and a guy... They were called "Three dots and a dash". :embarrassed:


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Great review. I'm surprised that Mark didn't call you out on the guest harmonica player, though. :embarrassed:
 
The harp guy is a pretty nice guy. He has his own local band that he plays guitar in, but stops out if he has a night off to play with us on that one song. Not your typical harp player.
 
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