Ticket to Chicago
Australian Dave Hole plays like a caffeinated Elmore James, zinging a steel slide over his fretboard with so much hard-edged energy that he's drawn the praise of not only blues listeners, but also fans like Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. This 1997 release is his first album recorded in Chicago, with the support of Windy City blues MVPs: keyboardist Tony Zamagni, bassist Johnny B. Gayden, drummer Ray Allison, and others. That's what Hole needed to anchor his performances, which in the past have seemed more facile and speed-crazed than heartfelt. Even his wildest slide exhortations sound rooted over this band's powerhouse grooves. Hole's more yeller than singer, but that's what his exuberant lyrics--he wrote all 14 songs--demand. This is breathless blues for the approaching millennium.--Ted Drozdowski