Musicians:

Scott Sanders - guitar, keybords & vocals
JT Finch - lead guitar & vocals
Ron Humphries - bass, guitar & vocals
Nikao Wallace - drums, percussion & vocals

Titles:

1 - Southern Experience - 4:01
2 - Good To See You - 3:26
3 - My Redneck Of The Woods - 3:12
4 - Then I Met You - 4:20
5 - Boys From The Backwoods - 3:41
6 - What She Don't Know - 2:42
7 - Keep On Movin' - 3:09
8 - Pennies In A Mason Jar - 2:56
9 - Black Train - 4:34
10 - Southern Discomfort - 3:40
11 - Different Direction - 3:25
12 - Describing You - 3:52
13 - Where We Come From - 3:42

This band comes from North Carolina and the bass player is Earl Scruggs 'cousin. And they also played for the Boozefighters'Motorcycle Club, a congregation known for their alcoholic fights and musical band choices. That's just the beginning. Then, when we listen to the records, it's even better! This fresh and spontaneous CD deserves a real chronicle. "Southern Experience" is a kind of mix between Lynyrd Skynyrd and Charlie Daniels, and plays a tribute to the South and to the southern way of life (« hard workers and honest men Live and die in Dixie style »). Musicians talk about the Marshall Tucker Band with a banjo sound and a real southern solo. "Good to see you" is a southern boogie blues with banjo and a hot Les Paul solo. "My Redneck of the Woods" is close to the new Molly Hatchet (« Down from the mountain » or « Mississippi moondog ») with a little bit of Hank Williams Junior behind the banjo sound. "Then I met you" refrain, a Country Soul ballad, brings us to the Allman territory ("Sunshine") with a Warren Haynes guitar sound. "Boys from the Backwoods", in Lynyrd Skynyrd style, is a tribute to these Southern guys. On "What she don't know", a hard song (Blackfoot/Southern Rock Allstars), JT Fitch on guitar gives us a hard guitar lesson. "Keep on movin'" looks like Point Blank, with a guitar sound Zakk Wylde style still behind the banjo. "Pennies in a Mason Jar" makes us dive in the real Country music with dobro, violin and banjo (again!), and "Black Train" on a slow country/jazz rhythm has a solo like could have played Rusty Burns. Our musicians offer us the beautiful ballad "Southern discomfort" that talk about a redneck life (father drinking, mother country singer, on the road with a band and the "Nothing to lose" philosophy of life). Guitar reminds me Dickey Betts. "Different Direction" looks like Lynyrd Skynyrd "Workin'". And then the band offers us a masterpiece, a superb Country ballad in a Dan Seals style called "Describing You", with a violin and a beautiful melodic solo. For me, that's the best song of this "Southern Experience". "Where we come from", a country southern ballad, ends that album and talk about coming back to the roots and reminds a little bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd "This ain't my America" .

Here is a real good CD that comes from our beloved South. Musicians are proud of their cultural and musical heritage. Singer has a nice voice, close to Bubba Keith and the guitar player is good enough with his Les Paul and his Warren Style inspiration. The bass/drums section is perfect. Their influences are obvious: Charlie Daniels, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker and a little bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

But take care! This band has its own touch and has produced a very strong and intense album. This CD made me feel younger! The alchemy between the musicians is close to what the seventies bands did. I just hope that this band will last enough and more than all the young but already dead Southern bands.

So, my conclusion is obvious: taste the SOUTHERN EXPERIENCE! You won't forget it! Enjoy!

Olivier Aubry