Robert Finley is releasing his fourth album “Black Bayou”, but still there are a lot of people unfamiliar with him and his unusual backstory. In fact, Finley didn’t even take up music full time until he was in his sixties. This on the face of it doesn’t seem like the most opportune time in his life to pursue a new music career. Finley had played in local clubs, dance halls and churches for decades. However, he focused most of his attention on his job as a carpenter. Then he was diagnosed with Glaucoma, which eventually left him blind. His big break happened in 2015 when, at the suggestion of a friend, he attended the King Biscuit Blues Festival. He talked his way into playing guitar on a side stage. After his riveting performance, everyone wanted to know who he was. He then toured regionally and in 2016 released his first album, “Age don’t mean a thing”, to critical acclaim. Along the way he met and became friends with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Auerbach eventually signed him to his own Easy Eye Sound label. The rest, as they say, is history.
“Black Bayou” is his best and most eclectic album yet. In fact, I think I need to create two new genres of music to describe these songs, Swamp Blues and Swamp Soul. Recently I did a review of an album that draws on Flannery O’Connor to tell its stories. I mention this, because these songs too are haunted by Southern Gothic imagery. Take for example the last song on the album “Alligator Bait. It is a talking blues number that tells a true story from his youth. When he was a child, his grandfather took him into the bayou, and used the youngster as bait to catch an alligator. Like I said, Southern Gothic. All of the songs on this album are stories with shadows in the background, that create an atmosphere that is different from his other albums.
Finley again recorded “Black Bayou” at Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville. It’s the fourth time they have worked together, although for this record they did things a little differently. They didn’t write songs beforehand but conceived everything in the studio. This immediacy is what gives the album its atmosphere. They go straight from creation to recording. There was no time to lose the emotions behind these stories. Auerbach assembled a top notch band for the project. The band included drummers Patrick Carney (The Black Keys) and Jeffrey Clemens (G. Love & Special Sauce), bassist Eric Deaton, and legendary Hill Country blues guitarist Kenny Brown along with vocalists Christy Johnson and LaQuindrelyn McMahon, who just happen to be Finley’s daughter and granddaughter.
This is an album not to be missed. Finley turns 70 in February, but his talents are in youthful form.
About the author: Chip and his family live in Birmingham, AL. Roll Tide!