Blackstone Valley Sinners - Blackstone Valley Sinners

RYAN:

Months ago, my friends asked me to go see this show …Slim Cessna and the Blackstone Valley Sinners at Trinity Brewhouse. We all headed downstairs and wandering around the club was this guy who must have been 9 and a half feet tall wearing a Cowboy hat and a sweet western suit…with a gold tooth (I think). He looked so familiar but I could not place him.

Rewind 4 or so years. I was on tour with my band across this fine country of ours. We were playing a show one night in Denver, Colorado. Now, I have a pretty shitty memory, but I think we were either opening for, or playing against some guy Slim Cessna. I had no idea what his deal was but I thought his name was rad.

So here I was at Trinity when it all made sense to me. This gentleman giant at Trinity was the very same Slim Cessna that I had seen in Denver. So weird. He was now living in Pawtucket or something, and was playing music with Judy and Rich (Gilbert of Zulus/ Frank Black fame) as the Blackstone Valley Sinners. Trinity is a terrible place to see a show, but damn these guys were frikkin amazing. There were at least 3 songs talking about Satan, so I was of course psyched. Oh, by the way, these were country songs about Satan.

That’s right. Country. Not your run-of-the mill stuff. For starters, there is some sort of old school drum machine. The sounds are really raw, like old rap 808s. On top of that are Rich’s insane guitar playing, Judy’s steady bass and Slim’s acoustic guitar and super spooky vocals. Oh, and Satan.

I was hooked immediately. I have been to every show that I can find ever since and love it every time. Wait…this is a cd review…I almost forgot.

So the cd is pretty good. The songs are still as excellent as ever but I have 2 complaints. The first is that there is a great song from their set that is missing. I am guessing that the title is “Last Song I Sing About Satan”. It might be a cover, I do not know. No biggie. The second issue I have is with the production. It is really clean and tame, and almost too country for me. I wanted that rawness and intensity that I have become used to at their live shows. Other than those 2 beefs, the CD is solid. One major highlight for me is their song “Blackstone Valley Sinner”. Brings a tear to my eye.

If you can make your way to a BVS show, do so. You will not regret it. If you love it, go ask them for a CD. For 10 bucks you get some quality Satan and some quality country.