Artist:     Adam Holt

Album:     Kind of Blues

Label:     Zenith Records

Release Date:     5.31.2019

88

BUY DIGITAL

BUY PHYSICAL

With a background in Alabama, Adam Holt was probably always destined to be a bluesman. His ten-track album Kind of Blues holds satisfying echoes of blues alongside that deep southern-soul and southern country-rock feel, much beloved by many and perfected and primed by the late, great Gregg Allman. But Holt ain’t no simple copyist or second-rate Allman, he’s a singer, writer and guitar picker with a fine, soulful vocal edge and some truly blistering guitar chops all his own.

Originally a trumpet player, Holt switched to guitar many years ago, and in truth we all benefit from this change of heart and soul. Recorded old-school, surrounded by buddies and an analog set-up, Holt appears totally comfortable and self-assured with a near-vintage sound echoing around the mix and a delivery that never falters. With both writing and guitar credits here, Holt shows himself to be a guy with an eye and ear for a sharp lyric and a harmonic, melodic mastery that flows delightfully throughout the album. Holt includes a decent cover of Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” as a closer.

Holt has shared the billing on-stage alongside the likes of Hubert Sumlin, Bob Margolin, Willie Big Eyes Smith and even southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd, and he evidently works from a southern perspective, with songs that dig deep into the southern psyche and draw a focus from the turbulent history of his home state and the deep south generally. This is confident music that truly delivers a punch and is well worth catching.

—Iain Patience