Product Description
RELEASE DATE 07.10.2026 - HARRELL DAVENPORT - YOUNG RELL
HARRELL “YOUNG RELL” DAVENPORT
Young Rell
Little Village
When I first saw Harrell “Young Rell” Davenport in November 2024, he was a shy, 17-year-old playing with Benny Turner, Trudy Lynn, and Lil’ Jimmy Reed at the Lucerne Blues Festival. There he mostly stood on the side until his turn to solo or, in one show, perform two harmonica/guitar songs.
In the next 18 months, I’ve seen him five times, but nothing prepared me for his explosive solo performances on the 2026 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. During the week, he not only handled two shows, but he also joined Billy Branch on-stage for a rousing, no holds barred command of the theater. I have witnessed the meteoric growth in his confidence, stage presence, vocal assuredness, and joyful aura, but especially his ability to connect with their audiences in the moment.
His eponymous debut captures everything I’ve witnessed and so much more. As the youngest member of the new “blues wave” of Black blues guitarists, Davenport, like the others, comes to the blues world as a fully developed artist. He is proficient in songwriting (ten of the 12 songs are originals), expressing those originals in a committed vocal style with its roots in the Black church, and possessing a guitar mastery that doesn’t rely on out blues-rocking the blues-rockers, but honors the genre’s early trailblazers in a uniquely personalized way.
Recorded at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios, the debut is a cluster of blues styles, deeply rooted vocals, and compelling guitar riffs. The album opens with “Tomorrow,” meaty, traditional Rosa’s Lounge blues shuffle featuring Davenport’s educated Bell, Cotton, and Branch harmonica. “I Be Tryin’” centers Davenport’s expressive voice tellin’ of his “keep on keepin’ on” attitude. His love song promise on “I’ll Keep It Hot For You” is augmented by his single string guitar work. While “Spinning” is a double shot of traditional Chicago soul. Swing’s your thing? “Richland Swing” shows off Davenport’s understanding of ‘40s ballroom energy. Like a 19-year old James Cotton, Davenport jumps on tables with “Nite Creepin’,” his juke joint jumper, harp blowout.
But it’s his most personal songs that elicit compassion. The confessional ballad “Fatherless Child” reverses the standard motherless child theme so Davenport can confess his childhood loneliness of an absent father. As he questions his role in this terrible desertion, his resiliency to rise above circumstances is a poignant reminder of the many in our land suffering similar losses.
Likewise “Hurt People, Hurt People,” with an “It Hurts Me Too” groove, provides Davenport the voice to capture the concerns of many who’ve experienced that pain. And in these times of global uncertainty, Dylan’s “Masters Of War” offers a perfect message that was as relevant to my ‘60s anti-war generation as it is to the concerns of today’s youth.
In the last three years, Little Village partnering with Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios has copped two Best Emerging Artist wins at the Blues Music Awards. Young Rell is perfectly poised to take the 2027 honors.
– Art Tipaldi