John Nemeth Memphis Grease (CD)

(Nola Blue Records) 13 titres, digisleeve

John Németh was probably the only kid in Boise who grew up listening to Chicago blues in the 1980s. In the ensuing three decades, Németh has transformed himself from a fan to a modern-soul-blues purveyor of the highest order, earning 5 nominations in 2012 and 2013 for the Blues Music Award and the BB King Entertainer of the Year Award. It's a journey that took him to San Francisco and then Oakland, followed by a move to the birthplace of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll - Memphis. He landed in the perfect place: Electraphonic Studio, the home of producer and musician Scott Bomar who composed the soundtracks for Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan and produced Cyndi Lauper's Memphis Blues.

Backed by the Bo-Keys, Bomar's group of Memphis veterans who made a name for themselves playing for the likes of Al Green, O. V. Wright, Rufus Thomas and the Bar-Keys, Németh quickly laid down thirteen tracks, which he describes as "Live in the style like I live in the style." The "style" is a deeply formed fusion of piercing, harmony-driven blues and sweet, blue-eyed soul à la The Boy Tops or Roy Head.