Release date: Aug. 24, 2024
Self-Release
By Marty Gunther
Gerry Hundt is an anachronism in the modern world, a gifted multi-instrumentalist who’s been a tight fit in the Nick Moss, Corey Dennison and Kilborn Alley bands. But he’s a talent with a love for old-time music who jumps effortlessly between formats and between ensembles large and small when not dazzling audiences as a one-man band.
You might not know what to expect when he takes the stage. But one thing’s for certain: you’ll know it’ll be good.
That’s the case with this CD, which serves up a definite change-of-pace after Gerry joined forces with harp master Ronnie Shellist and golden-throated Andrew Duncanson as The Dig 3 for the 2022 album Damn the Rent, which came with a true-blue, gutbucket sound that would have fit comfortably in the ’50s.
A true musical chameleon, Hundt changes his musical spots consistently in this set, which infuses a healthy mix of Chicago blues, surf, rock, country and jazz into a toe-tapping, azure stew that dissects multiple eras. Recorded live in studio, it was captured in Differdange, Luxembourg, in 2023 by Tom Gatti while Hundt was in the midst of a European tour. Gerry co-produced with drummer Tom Lehnert, alongside bassist Daniel Fastro.
The original instrumental “Beer Run” lopes out of the gate to open, propelled by Hundt’s sweet, dazzling call-and-response on guitar and a percussive, rock-steady beat. It flows into “Our Love Will Last,” a gentle, contemporary blues that’s delivered from the standpoint of a family man who worries about everything: the future for his kids and friends, money and the weather. But he has no doubt that his lady will always be at his side.
The sprightly “Blame It on the Blues” follows, but it’s not the Ma Rainey hit from the ’20s. This one was penned by the late and beloved Bob Carter, the drummer in an early iteration of the Nick Moss Band, not to mention his work with many more artists. A light, but swinging shuffle, it bemoans the protagonist being laid off, getting drunk and sleeping it off in jail, only to return home to find that his baby has put up the house for sale. Friends tell him it’s his own fault, but he blames it on the blues. Hundt drives home the message with stellar fretwork throughout.
The Dig 3’s “Coconut Curry Dance” changes the mood with a Caribbean feel and the message that love will endure as long as the couple are on the dance floor. An uptempo boogie beat, and Hundt’s furious guitar riffing, reinvents the familiar “Cry for Me,” a 1957 hit for Elmore James. The band then launches into the original number “Broke Down.” It’s a slow-and-steady pleaser, featuring Hundt’s mournful harp intro, that deals with the lonesomeness the singer feels when his car breaks down at sunset between Memphis and Chicago with no help in sight a long, long way from home. And it would have fit comfortably in the ’50s, too.
The pace and mood change as Hundt breathes new life into “Bring It With You When You Come,” which first hit the charts for Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers in the ’20s. His rapid-fire, single-note attack on mandolin and rich vocals are accented by Lehnert’s brush work on the skins to deliver a feel that would have made the originator smile.
The feel continues with the original, mandolin-driven hokum number, “Whiskey Makes Me Mean,” which opens with Gerry inviting everyone to a party, insisting a good time’s ahead. He insists they’re going to drink the house dry. But he cautions he has a problem with booze and is sometimes reminded to “keep his business clean.”
The Dig 3’s bluesy, loping “All the Love That I Got” is up next, which moves the feel to the ’60s. It’s a solid lead-in to an update of Chicagoan L.C. McKinley’s 1959 hit, “Sharpest Man in Town” before Fenton Robinson’s familiar “You Don’t Know What Love Is” brings the action to a close.
Don’t waste your time trying to pin down this album. Just give a listen and enjoy. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable mix of stylings that span 100 years, delivered by a talented and versatile old soul.
For more information, go to: https://gerryhundt.com/
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About the Author: The blues came calling for Marty Gunther in the 1960s, when he witnessed Muddy Waters, Mississippi John Hurt, B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf perform at the Newport festivals in his native Rhode Island. A longtime Chicagoan who's now based out of Ohio, he's a professional journalist and harp player who studied under Sugar Blue before co-founding the Nucklebusters, a band that's filled clubs in south Florida since the '80s.