There are times when you wonder about the benefits of living in the past as a lifestyle choice as, these days, the past seems to be a better place to be than the here and now. Don’t worry as that’s the philosophical meandering over - for this paragraph anyway – and on we go to an album by The Rusty Wright Band that demonstrates, at the very least, that the blues are timeless.
Interspersed, as it is, with reminiscences of life on the road and reflections on the effect of the plague on the music business, some might even regard “Live From The End Of The World!” as something of an ironic concept album. After all, you can’t have a live album without an audience and those are few and far between these days and bands like this clearly bloom on the stage. Actually, when I think about it, you can have a live album without an audience if you worship the use of technology but The Rusty Wright Band aren’t the sort of musicians likely to go further on down that particular potholed road.
So, to the music. In between the good natured band banter are the kind of songs that give the blues its good name and perennial appeal. The kind of songs that makes a Friday night so much better than any other night of the week. As an example, the ironically named title track successfully highlights the spiritual benefits of a long life on the road whilst making you want to be in the same room as a band whose musical abilities are never less than obvious. Yet, it isn’t the musicianship that impresses the most here. Some might think that it should, but it isn’t. It is that sense of purpose that only bands that with a true love for the music possess and you know it when you hear it.
I hope that fortune favours The Rusty Wright Band but, in the meantime, I shall be cranking the volume up on “Live From The End Of The World!” and hoping that tomorrow will indeed be as good as yesterday.