[Harp-L] Harmonica CD review: Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts "Call My Name" (long)

["William Lifford, CP" <william.lifford@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Harp-L’ers,

I have spent the past few days listening to Ryan Hartt & the Blue 
Hearts’ new album, “Call My Name.” I really liked the entire album and 
thought I’d post a review here.

The first thing I noticed about the album is the overall sound of it; it 
is gorgeous, with attention to tone and groove everywhere. The 
production on the disc is fantastic... it was recorded in a friend’s 
barn in Deep River, CT, with the recording engineered by guitarist Eric 
Ducoff and bassist Jeff Berg. The rhythm section, Jeff Berg on bass and 
Nick Toscano on drums, sound like one entity throughout the entire 
album. The harp and guitar sounds throughout the album are excellent. I 
would have loved to know about the gear on used on each of the songs 
(note to Ryan—put that in your next album’s liner notes).

The first track, ‘Anti-Blues Pill’, starts with a vintage cool crackly 
old record-sound to it before busting into the rest of the song. It’s a 
funky blues in E with killer guitar and a real nice harp solo. When 
listening to this track, it’s best to crank up the vintage record part 
so that the modern-sounding part knocks you senseless when it kicks in. 
At least that’s how I listen to it.

The second song ‘Love at First Sight’ shows a Fabulous Thunderbirds 
influence, especially with the super-twangy guitar riffs that punctuate 
the vocals and harp parts. Ryan plays some nice tongue-split octaves on 
this and it sounds great.

Third on the album is ‘One More Night’, which has an early-rock-n’-roll 
feel. I loved the harp solo on this one (second position in G), 
particularly the octave parts in the second half. The entire solo 
follows the song’s groove well and works well as a whole, not as a 
collection of licks. The song suits Ryan’s voice well and I think the 
best signing and best harp playing of the album is on this track.

Jeff Berg, the bassist, wrote track 4, ‘When It Rains’. The song 
juxtaposes some filthy-toned slide guitar with Eric Ducoff’s rhythm 
work. My only criticism of the song is that I wanted even more of the 
slide guitar; the tone is perfect and beautiful. Jeff sings this one and 
he does a good job.

When I first saw the title of the fifth song (and the album) was “Call 
My Name”, I thought perhaps the song would be a blues braggadocio-type 
thing along the lines of “I’m A Man”… not even close. This song reminds 
me of Sam and Dave and has a nice R&B groove throughout. Ryan sings well 
here and there are nice harmonies on the vocal (I think it’s the 
bassist, Jeff); the whole song grooves nicely and it’s a suitable title 
track for the album.

‘Kaboom’ is a ska-groove harp instrumental played on a natural minor 
harp and it sounds great. It’s nice to hear a harp instrumental in a 
different groove, and with a different feel to the harp playing. This 
track was previously released on YouTube so many of you will have heard 
it already.

I can’t write any more without taking time to talk about the Blue 
Hearts’ guitarist, Eric Ducoff. I think he’s the best blues guitarist on 
this coast, hands down. I’ve loved his playing on all three of Ryan and 
Eric’s albums and he does not disappoint here. Eric sounds like Junior 
Watson and Rick Holmstrom took turns impregnating all the top blueswomen 
and they blended all the resulting blues bastard children into one 
thoroughly mean guitar-playing mo’fo. I could easily see him becoming a 
“go-to” studio guy the way Junior Watson and Rusty Zinn are used by 
numerous top blues frontmen for their recordings. I don’t know if that’s 
a possibility for Eric (I think he has a day job), but Eric Ducoff is a 
pro blues musician for sure and I’d cut off my arm to record with him.

Back to the music. Track 10, ‘New Love, Old Love Part 2’ starts with a 
sick, filthy-toned guitar riff. The guitar solo is killer, both tone and 
playing-wise. I loved this tune and the way the guitar rhythm drives 
this song. One of my favorites on the album, this one kicks major ass.

The last song, ‘Dartboard’, is a funny send-up of all the shitty gigs 
most of us have played… standing in front of a dartboard, no stage, 
people pissed that you’re blocking the way to the ladies’ room, and the 
club owner saying they’re making Fridays into Reggae Night, so no more 
blues! The lyrics are very well written and most gigging musicians will 
identify with many of the clever lines in this tune; it’s a good way to 
finish out the album.

There is a twelfth hidden track, but it’s just some noodling and horsing 
around in the studio. The addition of this track is my only other 
criticism of the album; I say this mainly because the hidden track on 
Ryan’s first album is awesome. The hidden tune is a recording of some 
jam session and it is really funky, with a loose feel and a great piano 
part . It’s more of a song that, with a little bit of work, could have 
been fleshed out into a complete song (and one that would have kicked 
ass, in fact). So, in the battle of the hidden tracks, Ryan’s first 
album wins easily over Track 12.

Overall, Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts’ “Call My Name” is easily worth 
the fifteen bucks and I found the whole album really enjoyable. The 
sound and production of the album are amazing, the songs are well 
written and sound great. Ryan’s singing, playing, and harp tone are 
toneful and solid, and Eric Ducoff’s guitar work is phenomenal. His 
guitar tones are killer and his playing is off-the-charts amazing. If 
you have enjoyed Ryan’s first two albums, you will dig “Call My Name” 
and appreciate the growth and development of this thoroughly kick-ass 
Connecticut blues band.

Bill Lifford



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William Lifford, CP Progressive O&P, Inc. 1111 Willis Avenue Albertson, 
NY 11507 516-338-8585 www.progoandp.com