The Brickyard Blues Band just played the Sunday afternoon show at British Beer Company in Manchester, New Hampshire. Just a few short hours ago, they delivered their mix of blues and R&B to an appreciative day time audience. Fronted by the affable Brian James, the four piece played three relatively mellow sets to a lunchtime crowd. Their subdued approach gave listeners a chance to listen closely to some of the finer moments this band conjures up in their live shows.
A quiet down tempo version of “Stray Cat Strut” found James gently teasing the melody out of his axe. The slick, pretty notes had a vulnerability to them in the easeful delivery but at the same time you could appreciate the intervals better, hearing them caressed at the more tender time signature.
Al Green’s version of “Ride On” received a golden, rich guitar phrase from James with Tom Hoctor’s saxophone blasting out shards of soulfulness over the groove. Hoctor sang lead vocal on a few numbers too. On “Private Eye,” he employed his soulful rasp to make you feel the intrigue, finessing the verses in his vocal melody line.
James’s rhythm guitar banged out swinging chords to the merciless groove on Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Cold Shot.” Hoctor turned up the heat, blowing a storm of sax notes that could knock down any creature fool enough to stand in front of them. James soon took over the melody chores, pressing out of his guitar a sweet sound that fell like a rainy drizzle, gently felt but present everywhere.
Seeing a man front a band with a guitar in his hands might make some forget that he can also be a good singer as well as a master player. Yet, James showed what he’s got when he let his handsome honey smooth vocal flow forth on Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey.” Hoctor was also a smoothie, letting his mellifluous horn line waltz around the peppy groove from bass player Rachel Green and drummer Reed Dieffenbach. James also threw in a peripatetic guitar line that walked his notes up and down the sidewalk.
James sang with a self-restrained exuberance in his voice during “In The Midnight Hour,” a nice touch that brought out some soul in those timeless words. Hoctor too contributed to the vast swing of the number with his bursting melody lines. Meanwhile, Green kept pumping out a knobby interval of low end notes to help keep the number fulsome and danceable.
“Shakey Ground” was another piece that found the rhythm section of Green and Dieffenbach rolling the groove wheel straight through, opening space for voice, guitar, and sax while bopping along with circular momentum. James sustained some high notes, playing mellow octave leads pretty as sunshine reflecting off raindrops before segueing into assertive chords, riffing his way forward into Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” The ensuing sax melody felt very Stevie in the way Hoctor blew a smooth, circular blast of twisty notes.
Brickyard Blues Band shared an original called “It Is What It Is,” complete with a fantastic bopping rhythm section that kept heads nodding, toes tapping, and hips shaking. It probably would’ve drawn dancers to the floor if there was a dance floor in front of the band stand. James coaxed some sweet notes out of his axe during the bridge. “Soul Man” was a rollicking fun number in the hands of the Brickyard Blues Band. James nailed the lead guitar notes as Hoctor expanded the sound by blasting the melodic lines through his horn. The rhythm section kept it heavy in the pocket, leaving plenty of depth for dancing feet to move to it.
Bill Wither’s “Use Me” got a build up from the rhythm team. Green thumped out a blissful line of seductive low end notes as drummer Dieffenbach kept a superhuman concentration on his drum pieces. An instrumental piece found James riffing like crazy and Hoctor unleashing some fierce horn shots and fiery melodic lines.
James quite handily stretched his vocal timbre to finesses “Rock This Town,” capturing the attitude of this faux oldies from the 1980s. Zig zagging horn lines were another treat for the ears. Hoctor really went to town during the bridge, playing a batch of melodic joy. Brickyard original, “Naughty,” the title track from their previous CD, featured a vibrant horn line that made you feel each vibration in those sax notes. Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” was a breezy, joyful, sound that made you enjoy the way each instrument was contributing to the rocking R&B sound. “Ain’t No Sunshine” got a huge bounce from its lilting rhythm. James’s soulful, mournful vocal approach and Hoctor’s expressive horn lines were extensions of the art this number has always used to get you to feel what it’s all about when there ain’t no sunshine.
The steady blues beat of “Hootchie Cootchie Man” came alive on the strength of the stomping rhythm section. Hoctor’s melodic lines were a heartfelt glide through the Delta flavored Chicago blues. His phrase was loaded with seriously meaningful depth. James played with true blues feeling too, paying out achingly good leads that concealed a rhythmic swing inside the sharpened melody.
“Unchain My Heart” was a fun combo of horn blasts, the rhythm section’s pulpy groove, and James’s easy going vocal delivery. James got even silkier on “Walkin’ The Dog.” He had a soulful desperation in his timbre and anxious presentation. The horns and rhythm section too had a jumpy angst thing going on. They all landed in the right places at the right times, yet there was a jittery energy jumping around. Dieffenbach’s drum solo was loaded with hefty smacks and tom-tom powered punches you could’ve dance to.
The party vibe of Sly And The Family Stone’s “Thank You” came to three-dimensional life with the enthusiastic vocal injections from Mr. James and the unyielding empowered sax melody from Mr. Hoctor. “Low Rider” got its cruising groove from the entire band playing in sync, adjusting the tempo to its own need. Green took a solo at this point. Full of knobby low end notes, Green was practically melodic in her plentiful offerings and generally busy approach.
Sam And Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Coming” was a thumping, grooving, horn shot-centric twist of joy. Hoctor teased extra oomph out of the melodic lines and James unleashed another of his expressive lead guitar phrases, and he got a reaction from the audience to his three-dimensional delivery. Changing gears a bit, Hoctor sang “Folsom Prison Blues” with a down and dirty gravel timbre that made the whole outlaw story feel real. Horn and guitar played the lead melodic line in tandem, and it made you feel the world just went from black and white to bright Technicolor. If that wasn’t enough to satisfy Brickyard fans, James backed the horn with sprinklings of train horn inflected melodies and a spiraling lead line that could’ve been the soundtrack to a train robbery scene in a great western film.
B.Y.B.B. closed out with the Jimi Hendrix classic “Fire.” Hoctor thickened the groove with his heartfelt blasts while James got to strut his stuff with a little Hendrix influenced lead lines. The Brickyard Blues Band can always be counted on to deliver a fun batch of blues and R&B classics with soulful delivery and a lot of charisma in their playing and singing skills. Today was no exception. British Beer Company has them in regular rotation in their area restaurants.