Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Over the years, Chicago-based gospel blues veteran Glenn Kaiser has developed a penchant for building "found object" guitars and diddly bows - in other words, instruments made from cigar boxes, biscuit tins, chunks of wood and the like - and this release sees a number of Kaiser classics reinterpreted for this medium. As you would expect, this is a rough and ready affair but this suits both the chosen material and Kaiser's earthy vocals down to the ground. From a playing sense, each songs sees Kaiser wrestle and win against each of his homemade instruments to pull off some gallant performances with an eerie interpretation of the traditional "This Train" and a raucous wah wah-infested take on Elvis' "All Shook Up" working especially well - showing both ends of the spectrum in terms of what the man can do with his Heath Robinson inventions. Elsewhere, new songs such as "Love Bomb" and "News For The Blues" sit nicely next to old Kaiser/Mansfield favourites like the title track and the conscience-pricking "What You Did". Joe Filisko pops up on blues harp from time to time to augment the delightfully sparse proceedings whilst Kaiser ends this hugely enjoyable labour of love release with a vocal performance that has to be heard to be believed on the old spiritual "I'll Fly Away".

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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