Brandon Isaak "Bluesman's Plea"

 There comes a time in your life, if you are very lucky, that you get the opportunity to realize that you are doing exactly what you were meant to do, Brandon Isaak, I believe has finally reached that stage in his life, and his amazing new debut release, "Bluesman's Plea" proves that to the rest of us.

Brandon Isaak has been an important part of the Canadian music scene, for a fair number of years now, most notably as the Frontman, as well as the main Guitarist and Songwriter for the hugely popular award winning Canadian Jump Style Blues Band, The Twisters. Brandon has also had the good fortune, over the years, to perform with a host of greats, such as, Corey Harris, Guy Davis, Taj Mahal, Colin Linden, Serena Ryder, The Sojourners and Jim Byrnes as well as electric greats like… Jeff Healey, Joe Louis Walker, Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, and Chicago Blues Diva Zora Young just to name a few." Brandon Isaak has also recently performed as an acoustic duo with Harpdog Brown, for which he used the moniker Yukon Slim.

Brandon Isaak's songwriting skills garnered the limelight in 2010 and 2011, with him being nominated for a 2010 Maple Blues Award in the category of Song Writer Of The Year and he was chosen for the Canadian Song Quest 2011 in which he was one of 13 Canadian songwriters whom were picked to write a song about their Province.

Brandon Isaak's Solo career began innocently enough, when "in the summer of 2010 he was asked to do a Solo performance. It was the first one he ever done. Brandon shone!" It is the pure intimacy of that show that comes across loud and clear on "Bluesman's Plea", with a wonderful feeling of oneness Brandon manages to bring to his audience whether live or when listening to his album. Brandon draws you into his performances and offers up to us all, a more genuine feeling of how the blues should be played and heard.

"Bluesman's Plea" consists of 14 diverse Tracks, all of which are originals written by Brandon Isaak. The songs showcase a number of styles including Ragtime, Delta Blues, Piedmont, Gospel, Swing, and a touch of Country. Brandon describes the songs as being "true stories of love, life, and death". In addition to Vocals, Brandon Isaak also plays Guitar, Bass, Harmonica, and Foot Percussion and is joined by his well known brother Chris Isaak, whom plays Drums and does the Background Vocals on "Bluesman's Plea". Chris Isaak also Engineered and Produced "Bluesman's Plea" which was recorded at Blue-Star Studios in Whitehorse, Yukon.

"Bluesman's Plea" had a lot of favorites on it for me, but narrowing it down, I chose Track 2 the Gospel tinged "You Gotta Pray", Track 4 "Hard Workin' Woman", with Brandon's great Guitar work and the wonderful back beat courtesy of Chris Isaak, and Track 5 "Tell Me Why", with the mournful howl of Brandon's Harmonica playing.

When it came to "Bluesman's Plea", it was truly about the 3 Greats, Great Vocals, Great Musicianship, and Great Songwriting. "Bluesman's Plea" had all this and more and should have no problem keeping Brandon Isaak in the limelight for all those 3 qualities, especially his Songwriting.

"Bluesman's Plea" is an extraordinarily good album for a Debut release, and one in which I hope follows many more, as a solo artist.

Review by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)

 

Listen To Samples Here...

Additional Artist Info Here... http://brandonisaak.ca/home.cfm