Product Description
TOMISLAV GOLUBAN & CROOKED EYE TOMMY
Nashville Road
Overton Music
It’s hard to figure out why they called this project Nashville Road. The pairing of Croatian harpist/vocalist Tomislav Goluban and West Coast guitarist Crooked Eye Tommy Marsh provides some hard-driving blues-rock, but the disc doesn’t go anywhere near Nashville, sound-wise, even though it was recorded in Music City.
Goluban is a powerful presence, blowing as hard as James Cotton, splattering reeds all over the studio on the opener, “Hard Run.” Marsh backs him with frenzied guitar licks that skitter and jump around like an electrocuted chicken. The pace doesn’t let up much throughout the disc for these dedicated train wreckers. “I may not be your rock star, but I will be your rock dawg,” March proclaims on “Rock Dog,” backing up that boast with relentless chooglin’ guitar while Goluban saws holes in the melody with his harp.
Goluban’s nickname is Little Pigeon, but the sounds he puts out vocally and instrumentally are more suited for a much bigger flier with a larger wingspan. His raspy vocals for “Up Is Down” sound like they belong to a top of the line predator confronting an adversary threatening to knock him down. Although they alternate vocal duties, Goluban is the author of all the songs on the record. It’s a shaken up song bag, rooted in blues but leaving the gate open for some sizzling boogie-woogie and hard rock to wander in from time to time.
Despite the title, “Hip Hop Shake” has nothing to do with hip hop, but more of an old school boogie excursion with Goluban relentlessly stalking the groove with Cotton-style harp gusto, wearing out a bucketload of reeds with his powerhouse blowdowns. With its hard-core second line strut, “Hard Candy” could hang out in New Orleans with ease, Goluban at the head of the parade howlin’ like a Mardi Gras Indian big chief on Super Sunday. Goluban sneaks into church for the gospel-inflected “Keep On Movin’ On,” but quickly moves down the aisle and out the door looking for a blooze joint to blow down despite organist Eric Robert’s churchy organ trills trying to drag him back in.
Fans of Nashville sounds need to look elsewhere for gratification, but for blues fans, this Croatian–West Coast fusion is a feast fit for any occasion.
– Grant Britt