Randall Of Nazareth

That’s Randall Huth of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, to be exact, one-third of heavy blues rock trio Pearls and Brass, who released last year’s rightfully smoking The Indian Tower. Huth’s debut solo album is neither heavy nor even electric but it does suggest past acoustic blues masters from the Deep South, with Huth giving these eight tunes his own folk twist. "Safety in the Sand” and especially "Climbing Trees” evoke Jimmy Page’s fretwork — and maybe the musical directions he should’ve gone — on Led Zeppelin’s III. "It’s Nice to Know” borrows chords from Neil Young, circa Hawks & Doves, while "Forever Left Turns” gravitates toward the darker On the Beach. Huth’s years belie his youthful voice in the graceful "Ballad of a Sorry Lonely Breaking Man,” and he even ekes out deft Middle Eastern tones with exotic percussion in "The Way.” Randall of Nazareth is humid, soulful blues best played by a crackling campfire and an old hound dog, and the "Nazareth” part makes one realise that this uber-talented singer-songwriter surprisingly doesn’t hail from anywhere near Mississippi blues country.