John Ellis is a unique artist: a founding father of influential punk heroes THE VIBRATORS – whom he still rejoins occasionally, last time on 2021’s "Mars Casino" – he eagerly embraced the other end of cultural spectrum by joining Peters Gabriel and Hammill onstage and in the studio before returning to his roots in a more progressive environment as a member of THE STRANGLERS. But while the guitarist carries on working, on his own and with VdGG veterans Judge Smith and David Jackson, as both guitarist and photographer, what Ellis hasn’t really manifested, at least explicitly, earlier is his love for classic blues – and now John’s is remedying this by releasing an entire album dedicated to the Delta idiom.
Laid down at his desktop studio as demo tracks for the players who’ll be joining the master onstage for an acoustic project “Resonation: A New View Of The Blues” and titled accordingly, “Resonation: Demonstrating The Blues” – that’s scheduled to appear for download and streaming, yet not physically, on May 21st – contains a dozen classic cuts. And while pieces like “Sitting On Top Of The World” are well-known, “Adam and Eve In The Garden Of Eden” from Bogus Ben Covington’s repertoire shows Ellis’ deep knowledge of the genre, and if John’s own “Where Is The Shephard” is a tribute to gospel, “Hard Drive Papa” – his other new track – brings it all to here and now. The results sound funny and fantastic at the same time.
Resonation:
Demonstrating The Blues
1. Let’s Work Together
2. Future Blues
3. Diving Duck Blues
4. You Gotta Move
5. I Hear You Knocking
6. Sitting On Top Of The World
7. Adam and Eve In The Garden Of Eden
8. One Kind Favour
9. Motherless Children
10. Where Is The Shephard
11. Hard Drive Papa
12. Bright Lights Big City
