We are always afraid, we always have a kind of fear to find again an old friend we didn't meet for a long time ! Will he be like before, will we have the same good vibes ? I got this fear when I heard about this new Dru Lombar band record, when I learned that there was a Grinderswitch reformation, this legendary southern band, that was as good as the Marshall Tucker Band and that gave up because of the lack of commercial reconnaissance. It's been a long time since these guys (except with Dr Hector…) were out of the job, and they didn't give us anything good to listen to…
People that were afraid can be now happy ! Everything is the same, nothing has changed. Hot and powerful Dru voice, good and sometimes gospel vocals ( "Ghost Train From Georgia", "Help Me Lord"), a good and powerful guitar, Dixie spirit still alive ("Dixie Flyer"), heavy songs ("Two Wheel Ride"), and don't forget Eddie Stone arrival in the band, that seems to have found a right way to go and play (after playing twice with Doc Hollyday, solo projects, and now Grinderswitch). There is a nice duo with Miranda Louise on the heavy "Close Enough For Love For Me". So, nothing's missing… quite because, we must admit, that there are not too much country feelings like we used to have in the former Grinderswitch. There is nothing to do, except to accept Dru Lombar choice. However it's not too bad because "Ghost Train From Georgia" is a good and really pleasant album to listen to, with old country-blues moments, a darker musical atmosphere, like in the deep South…Dru Lombar gives us a country white blues, moving, that tells us a lot about southern rock roots, for southern die-hard fans like us… It is a great comeback, a big event of this year (with Winters Brothers) with the new bands Ghost Riders and Tishamingo !
Jean-Claude Pinteaux