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"Down Any Road"
reviews

From
STEVE ROTHERO
host of the renowned
Harborough Acoustic Sessions

Kevin Buxton is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who mixes folk, blues
and rock to create his own distinct style. On “Down Any Road”, musical
support is provided by Kontra Band, and the songs are set against a
backdrop of acoustic guitars, with tonal colour provided by keyboards
and flute, and driven along by innovative and tasteful percussion.

If “singer-songwriter” conjures up mellow acoustic sounds and
introspective lyrics, think again. These songs are powerful and
well-observed, and deal with some unusual subjects; by turns they are
moving, thought-provoking and unsettling. Highlights on the album are
“Still Life With Guitar”, observations on a gig by an over-the-hill
musician; “Watcher of the Sky” and “Long Distance Call”, two songs
dealing with unexplained bizarre behaviour; and the final pairing of
Robert Johnson’s “Me & The Devil Blues” and
Kevin’s “The Devil, Robert Johnson & Me”.

The latter is described by Kevin as a “fantasy blues ballad”. With its
unrelenting rhythm and chilling lyrics, it speculates on the mysterious
death of the famous blues singer and his fate in the afterlife. I said
unsettling, didn’t I? And all delivered in a style reminiscent of
Dylan’s Street Legal period. Classy stuff.

Apart from these Dylanesque touches, Kevin’s style has no obvious
influences from other songwriters. But for some reference points, think
of Loudon Wainwright in his more serious moments, some of Mark
Knopfler’s more literate material, and, most of all, the observational
skills and incisive language of Richard Thompson.

But above all, Kevin Buxton is a songwriter with his own style and
agenda. “Down Any Road” is like a breath of fresh air.

 

From
"OVERPLAY"

From the Charlie Daniels Band and “The Devil Came Down To Georgia”
to Tenacious D’s “Tribute”, there’s long been a fascination with the idea
of musicians bartering with Beelzebub to a) keep their soul, b) sell
their soul for the secret of the blues or c) see if they can get a better price
for their soul than the going rate on eBay. And by the sound of
"Down Any Road”, it looks like Satan’s stopped by Kettering recently.

The cornerstones of this ten-tracker from Kevin and the group of
co-conspirators that make up Kontra Band are the closing duo of tunes,
both revolving around Robert Johnson’s infamous transaction at the
crossroads. But although “Me & The Devil Blues” and “The Devil, Robert
Johnson And Me” cover a similar subject, they effectively bookend the
spread of music here. The former is a cover of one of Johnson’s own
tunes – sung with pared-down passion by Kontra Band guitarist
Al Tait – while the latter is an altogether more modern take on the blues.
Spiralling guitar riffs and a strangely automated, courtly rhythm (not
to mention Kevin’s own brooding vocal) take us somewhere near the eerie
backwaters of Nick Cave or Jack White’s darker moments.

In fact this is an album full of unexpected turns. The soft Dylanisms
of “Yesterday’s Blues” lead through to the gently accessible folk of
“Where The Wind Blows” and “The Beating Of A Broken Heart”, then down
into the dustbowl drama of “One Step Away From The Blues”. On the more
urban side, “Still Life With Guitar” swells with the glowing synths and
vulnerability of Peter Gabriel’s early solo records, “Watcher Of The
Sky” is Dire Straits-slick, and “Another Day Without You” does
Thin Lizzy with a slide guitar in a muscular display of grown-up pop.

While none of these tunes trump the final two tracks, their variety,
depth and exceptional playing ensures they’re always worthy of your attention.
Rock music as we know it may have begun with the blues, but Kevin Buxton
& Kontra Band prove that there are still plenty of places for it to go.
www.overplay.co.uk

 

From
ALAN PEARCE
writing for the magazine
"BLUES MATTERS"

Led by Kevin Buxton, who also wrote all the songs here apart from Robert Johnson's
'Me And The Devil Blues', this is a four piece band that also includes one or two
guest musicians. Interesting combinations of instruments are listed, including
flute, viola, mandolin and cajon, which leads you to expect interesting
sounds and mixes, so let's get this ten track acoustic CD in the player.
Easy opening track with gentle feel 'Yesterday's Blues' is a good, catchy song.
There's an insightful 'Where The Wind Blows' - how to get the best out of
something is to "spit in the wind and follow on behind" - interesting
and thoughtful, as are the rest of Kevin's lyrics. Here is a nice
little band that will make you listen to them if you catch them playing.
They have a good easy sound, skilful instrumentation, good lyrics.
The lyric of 'Still Life With Guitar' made me think of Breads'
'Guitar Man', very different in sound but ah, so nice and tinged with
that same sadness. 'Watcher Of The Sky' is sparse but very effective
and features well placed drum parts, very striking in its build this
song, but still easy going. 'One Step Away From The Blues' carries
a lyric on how close we can get to the Blues feeling but not quite,
lovely gentle acoustic guitar, again sparsely played but effective.
The final song is 'The Devil, Robert Johnson And Me' and indeed adds
a third party to the scheme of things, intriguing thoughts. Nice album.
They play around the Kettering area in Northants, have fun doing what
they do and regularly pull a good crowd there. If you are a promoter in
that area and like quality music without headaches then you
would be well advised to book this band.
www.bluesmatters.com

 

From
"FATEA"

It's not that long ago we reviewed Kevin Buxton & Kontra Band's previous
cut, "Through Any Window". Well Kevin's moved on, he's out of the small
country lanes and village pubs and onto wide highways and honky-tonks.
"Down Any Road" sees Kevin and the band planting their flag firmly in
the blues camp. The song list plays homage to the great Robert Johnson,
"The Devil, Robert Johnson And Me", as well as covering one of his
songs. Buxton has taken another step on the road to success.
http://www.fatea.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm