Upon learning that the “Rev.” Jimmie Bratcher is an ordained minister, those of us who prefer our entertainment to be taken separately from our religion might become a little skeptical.  But Bratcher’s Secretly Famous provides straight-forward blues-rock with some inspired guitar, keeping the preaching down to a bare minimum and letting the music instead do the talking.
Bratcher isn’t kidding when he says he is a preacher. Many of his appearances are at churches or faith-based organizations, and he makes frequent visits to prisons across the country. But then he’ll show up at a blues festival and show off his blues-rock chops.  After playing guitar since he was 12, Bratcher can play with the best of the blues rockers.
Bratcher’s seventh album, Secretly Famous features themes – tempting women, living through hard times – typical of blues music. The religious themes that were more overt in some of Bratcher’s earlier work, including a Christmas album, are toned down. The selections begin with the funky “Jupiter & Mars,” co-written by Bratcher’s son Jason, followed by an ode to the Shure SM57 microphone, “57.”  “Feels Like Friday” is an upbeat romp, which is followed by the soft, acoustic-focused ballad “It Just Feels Right,” a love song written for Bratcher’s wife. The gritty rhythm on Bratcher’s cover of John D. Loudermilk’s “Tobacco Road” is among the highlights of the collection, along with “I Can’t Shake That Thing,” “Check Your Blues at the Door,” the playful “Bologna Sandwich Man,” and the closer, “Starting All Over Again.” The songs are all originals except for “Tobacco Road” and Donald & Richard Addrisi’s “Never My Love.”
Bratcher makes no secret about his devotion to his religion, and some of his earlier work has been pretty obviously religious-based. Secretly Famous, as Bratcher describes it, draws on his experience before he became a preacher, making for a more secular selection that may be more accessible to blues and roots music fans as interested in the music as the message. And, produced by Grammy-winning producer Jim Gaines, Secretly Famous succeeds as an enjoyable blues-rock musical collection.  Bratcher’s core band features the reverend on guitars and vocals, Craig Kew on bass, and Lester Estelle on drums, and Gaines engaged a host of background singers and keyboardist Rick Steff to fill out the studio sound.
About the author: Bill Wilcox is a roots music enthusiast recently relocated from the Washington, DC area to Philadelphia, PA and back again.