| December 2008Anybody attempting
to enter the power-trio genre invites comparisons to the greats of yesteryear: Jimi
Hendrix and the Experience, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble, Cream, and Robin Trower.
To be able to carve out one's own niche is a feat worthy of support. Ex-Nighthawks
frontman Jimmy Thackery and his group, the Drivers -- made up of Mark Stutso on drums and
Mark "Bumpy Rhodes" Bumgarner on bass -- have been forging their own path down
the power-trio road since 1991. Their latest album, Inside Tracks (their seventh
for Telarc), shows how far they’ve come as well as how well they’ve honed their
sound to stand among the titans of this genre. Thackery isn’t the fieriest guitarist
you’ll ever hear; he comes from the less-is-more school of blues/rock guitar work.
What sets Thackery and the Drivers apart is their cohesiveness as a group. Thackery wrote
all but one of the numbers on Inside Tracks, so you get a clear sense of how he
approaches group interplay. Yet when he picks a tune to cover, as he does here with Chuck
Berry’s "Promised Land," he shows he can play the familiar with a sense of
newness that will catch your attention.
Sonically, this album is about what one has come to expect
from a Telarc release. It’s offers clean, clear (though not pristine) sound with
enough rough edges to make the music sound real. One aspect where this disc differs from
the majority of the competition is the noticeable lack of compression. Telarc is not
an active participant in the Loudness Wars. Thus, when Thackery lets loose with a mighty
guitar line, as in the song "Change The Rules," it might make you jump at the
sudden change in intensity.
If you’re a fan of the power trio, give Jimmy and the
boys a try. I think you’ll find them worthy successors to the greats who preceded
them while still traveling down their own road.
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Jimmy
Thackery and the Drivers - Inside Tracks
