Devon Allman's Honeytribe Space Age Blues  E-mail this product to a friend Tweet

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It’s considered bad form to say “I told you so,” but when it comes to Devon Allman, Hittin’ the Note was ahead of the curve, to say the least.  Going all the way back to his Official Bootleg CD, HTN has been banging the drum for Devon and his band Honeytribe, and with their latest CD Space Age Blues, they have taken a quantum leap forward with the best record of their career.

For this release, Honeytribe has been pared down to a lean, mean power trio.  Longtime bassist George Potsos is still holding down the bottom end, with new drummer Gabriel Strange on drums.  The stripped-down sound means more room for Devon’s bluesy vocals and ripping guitar, and he delivers on this disc.  From the funky strut of “Could Get Dangerous” that opens the album, his soulful swagger comes through on every song.

In addition to the 10 originals featured on Space Age Blues, you have to check out the nifty reinvention of Stevie Wonder’s classic “Sir Duke.”  It’s always tricky to take a great song by an iconic artist like Stevie and make it your own, but that is what Devon has done here.  As Mr. Wonder would say, you can feel it all over, people!

While Allman’s strong vocals are the centerpiece of the album, there are a couple of great instrumentals where the band just lets the music speak for itself.  “Bleu Est La Vide” is a subtle acoustic jam, at times evoking the beautiful “Little Martha” by Devon’s uncle Duane.  The CD closing track is a dreamy, psychedelic Middle Eastern-flavored track called “Insh’allah” that transports you to another world and really gives the musicians room to show what they can do.

The overall result is Honeytribe’s most diverse release to date, covering a wide variety of musical styles while still retaining their own sound.  Someday we will look back at Space Age Blues as their “breakthrough” album.