The Kerry Kearney Band: "The Kerry Kearney Band" (2025) CD Review

Kerry Kearney is a celebrated guitar player and songwriter working in the blues realm. He's received several awards for his playing over the years, and now has a new album out. It's a self-titled release by The Kerry Kearney Band, and it features a mix of covers and original material. The band is made up of Kerry Kearney on electric guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin and vocals; Jack Licitra on keyboards; Gerry Sorrentino on bass; Mario Staiano on drums; and Nydia "Liberty" Mata on congas and percussion. They are joined on this album by Mark Mancini on keyboards, Bill Lifford on harmonica, Camryn Quinlan on vocals, and Jeff Naimoli on percussion.

The album opens with a good blues cover, "All Your Love," the Otis Rush song. Right away it contains some strong guitar work to set the mood. This track also features a good vocal performance. "Before I met you, baby/Didn't know what I was missing." Oh yes, I think that's the way it is for a lot of us. Until we meet that one special person, we thought love was a certain thing. And that was fine, until we found out what it could be. In the middle of this track, there is a great lead on guitar. And then toward the end, suddenly there is a cool lead on harmonica. Kerry Kearney follows that with an original number, "Harder To Breathe," which also features some excellent guitar work right at the beginning. There is also some nice stuff on keys beneath that soaring guitar. Camryn Quinlan takes lead vocal duties on this one. She also co-wrote the song, with Kerry Kearney and Jack Licitra. "Minute by minute, hour by hour/Your love is slipping away from me," she sings, and grabs us immediately. That first line has power behind it, and the second has a more intimate, softer sound. She grabs us, then makes us totally feel for her, all in the span of two lines. "They say love can make you crazy/But I've already lost my mind," she sings, and the guitar responds, perhaps trying to help. And then check out that cool lead on keys. This track is certainly one of the album's highlights. And in the second half, the guitar is let loose. Wonderful.

"Walk Right Out The Door" is another original composition. This one announces itself as a fun tune, a bluesy boogie to get you moving, with some heavier moments too. "I've got new numbers/I've got a new face/I've got a new everything/I've been making space/Since I walked right out the door." This track also contains some good, mean harmonica work. "Everything is right/Since I walked right out the door." The door I want to walk out is the political one. I want to leave all that behind, never look back, never hear another political speech, never see another politician. That's followed by a cover of Warren Zevon's "Rub Me Raw," a song from the 2003 album The Wind. "Well, I know these blues are going to rub me raw/Every single cure seems to be against the law." These guys deliver a seriously good rendition, and are clearly having a good time with it. There is, of course, some inherent humor to this song, and you can hear it in the vocal delivery here at certain moments. Plus, this track features some great stuff on guitar.

"Voodoo Ways" is an original number written by Kerry Kearney and Jack Licitra, and it's another fun one. "A drumbeat and rhythm that feels so right/An owl calling out from a nearby tree/There's something in these swamps, it's an energy." Oh yes, there is some kind of great energy to this music too, along with that rhythm that feels so right. That guitar is eager to get us going, casting its own wild spell on us. This is a song that urges us to drop our troubles, and join the party out in the wild, which of course has great appeal. And speaking of good rhythms, "Bobbique Romp" opens with a delicious beat. It isn't long before the other instruments join in, and then things begin to feel like a party, all right. The harmonica confirms it.  And that lead on keys is absolutely delightful. Everything seems to tell us that life can be great, so long as it has a good rhythm going. This is an instrumentl track, apart from a few calls of "Yeah" in the second half.

Last year, Uncovering Dylan Volume 4 was released, that album containing a good rendition of "Meet Me In The Morning" by Kerry Kearney & The Kings Of Psychedelta. On this album, he delivers that song too. This track features some really cool work on both keys and guitar. Then we're more in folk territory with "West Of The Ashley," an original tune. There is a wonderfully cheerful vibe to this instrumental number. Part of that is due to the presence of mandolin. This ends up being another of my personal favorites. "Off To The Jubilee," as its title suggests, is another fun track. Here is a taste of the lyrics: "Put on that lipstick now, baby/Yeah, we're going to the jubilee/There'll be rambling and gambling/We won't be home 'til two or three." There is a great thumping rhythm, and I'm digging that bass line. Plus, there is a playfulness to the vocal performance. And, as if there were any doubt, there is also some great stuff on guitar. This is yet another of the disc's highlights, and it is over too soon. The album wraps up with "Santa's Got A Brand New Bag." But, no, it's not the one you're thinking of. This is an original number, featuring some excellent stuff on guitar and a wonderful vocal performance by Camryn Quinlan, who tells us "Santa took back all the presents we had/Santa took back all the presents we had." It's a track to add to your holiday play list this year.

CD Track List

1. All Your Love
2. Harder To Breathe
3. Walk Right Out The Door
4. Rub Me Raw
5. Voodoo Ways
6. Bobbique Romp
7. Meet Me In The Morning
8. West Of The Ashley
9. Off To The Jubilee
10. Santa's Got A Brand New Bag

The Kerry Kearney Band was released on June 20, 2025 on Paradiddle Records.