Chris
Russel’s Chicken Walk – Shakedown
His picture is sticky taped above my side of the bed, the bed
I share with my partner. That is how much I appreciate and respect this man.
Besides, seeing his handsome looks before I go to bed is definitely a bonus.
With his grey sleeked back hair and sideburns to match, you can’t help but to
have a few sneak peeks before bedtime.
But, there is so much more to this man but his excellent appearance.
Together with his wife he lives a sustainable and organic life out on his farm
in Melbourne outer regions. He’s love for his veggie garden and chickens make
him even more of an admirable man; ‘we
have lived on our own grown food for the last two months, you know!?’ he
once told me. Being a bartender at Cherry Bar sure does have its perks as I get
to chat with this man at least once a month.
Again, there’s even more to this man but his ability to care
for animals, vegetables and the environment. He’s a hell of an artist. He has
been so praised by his admirers he is now known for his own genre; the chrississippian music; ‘it’s a lot like the north Mississippi hill
country juke joint party blues.’
He has together with (recently departed) drummer Dean Muller
showed what this hard working blues-band is worthy of; from playing regular Blues Sunday gigs at Cherry Bar, receive
the golden boot at Meredith Festival and toured the nation with Clairy Brown and the bangin‘ rackettes and Tony Joe White. In between all the running around, the duo managed
to find time to record their second album ‘Shakedown’.
And thank God for that!
This newly released album is proof of evidence of how much
they have matured since their earlier album ‘Chris
Russel’s Chicken Walk’, which was released only 7 months ago. The sound is
rich; full of intense and stirring vocals, with a heap of gritty and muddy
guitar to match the seemingly effortless drumming by Dean. Each song was recorded in only two takes, all
live and gleaming personality and honesty. The songs comprehend structure which
embrace odd, completely silent pauses; 30 sec later recuperated by a full-on-wall
of sounds that slaps you right in the face (in an extremely good way). Listening
through Shakedown; from the first track ‘(Somebody
call the) Po’Po’ to the last, obscenely enough named 'Bad Motherfucker’ one get the sensation of having the
duo right there, doing their thing, right in front of you. The combination of
the penetrating vocals and tenacious guitar with the unforced beats from the
drums, takes one back to experiencing their live show like it was for the first
time.
Every time one sees them live, they awe one! It is like they
got a consistent growth in aspect of their music and that every gig is just
making them that much noticeably better. Therefore, I will suggest before you
do anything; do go and check out one of their gigs. To fully comprehend their
music and to be able to enjoy it to the fullest, make your track down to
experience them! It is at their live show where one can truly fully grasp who
Chris Russel and the rest of his Chicken Walkers are. After a few pints before
the first set together with a well accomplished audience, Chris Russel
transform from a regular bloke, to his alter ego; a fantastic performer who
feeds on his audience to give back a hypnotising live performance. Chris Russel
as an artist makes you feel straight at home; ‘you belong here; listening to my
music, music I made only for you.’ I swear, when they are doing ‘Pretty Little Girl’ and he gives me that
look, with those oh so seducing eyes that is surely what he is trying to tell
me.
He did say something once though, in the line of; ‘dog gone lights on the stages, I can’t see
a damn thing.’
‘Shakedown’ is one
of those albums you can play at any time of the day, happy or sad, party or
funeral, loud or quite it really does not matter as it is music with so much
honesty, guts and personality that it could either help you out on your shitty
day to make it slightly more bearable, or transform your good mood into a mood
so magnificent that might make your closest ones a little suspicious and
probably jealous.
Also, to make sure you get to experience this man in real
life; he’s got handfuls of shows in Victoria over the next couple of months
including Darebin Music Feast and Wave Rock Caravan Park.
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