Root Doctor
Been A Long Time Coming
Classic soul and rhythm & blues with first-rate musicianship, a contemporary twist, and one of the best singers you'll ever hear.
"...[Root Doctor] fits together hand in glove."
Chicago Sun Times
...you boys be playin’ da blues mighty fine! Good luck in all and stay in the groove! Chuck Leavell, Keyboardist for Allman Brothers, Sea Level, Eric Clapton,
Rolling Stones
Lansing, Michigan-based Root Doctor recently made an excellent showing on the Living Blues radio charts with this record, and deservedly so: Been A Long Time Coming is a beautifully executed project, from the performances to the repertoire and production. Balancing traditional blues with soul and even prewar country blues material (Greg Nagy's John Hammond–inspired reading of Willie Brown's Mississippi Blues), Root Doctor emerges here as the consummate working band, worthy of any festival or club audiences' attention.
Freddie Cunningham is an authoritative blues singer whose voice wavers and perforates like a hard-nosed version of Bobby Bland. This is delightfully apparent during straight soul numbers like the Brook Benton hit Rainy Night In Georgia and a powerhouse read-through of Leo Graham's Turning Point, a strong composition made popular in 1975 by Tyrone Davis. On the latter track, as with most of the R&B material, the Sofa King Horns form a brass stronghold as robust as any performing traditional soul today.
Memorable original songs bookend the album, and the first two tracks are at once instrumentally savvy and lyrically inventive. Me And My Wife shuffles through a blues that celebrates marriage (rather than being heartbroken by it), and Michigan Roads cites new and unlikely blues highways over sly funk.
EH, Living Blues Magazine, June/July 2006
My first encounter with Root Doctor was infectious, the band dancing its way into my head. For three days I listened to the album; then I started listening again from the beginning. Root Doctor took me on a journey from their Michigan base to the Mississippi Delta, for a shuffle down the street of Chicago and even on a jaunt through Georgia, conjuring images and memories I am sure are not mine - but while submerged in the experience I am unable to decipher my reality from that of the songs. Root Doctor continually mixes it up from track to track, proving the flexibility of both the band and the genre.
The vocal stylings of Freddie Cunningham were a surprise, meaty and delicious from start to finish. Moved along by James Williams on bass and vocals, and Matt Hayes on drums, the rhythms provide a perfect place for Greg Nagy (guitar, vocals) and Jim Alfredson (Hammond B3, keyboards, vocals) to evolve and complete the sound. Fun, energetic, and soulful, their music is a promise to rhythm and blues that what is past is as close as the present: traditional does not have to be complacent.
Pip McKay - Elmore Magazine, May 2006
I was impressed with this disc the first time I heard it and my listeners apparently agree. Been getting calls for Last Two Dollars and Too Late to Try to do Right since the first time I played them on the air. Solid groove, soulful vocals and great songs. This disc has it all. Freddie Cunningham may be the best soul blues vocalist working today.
Mark Hillsman - Host of the Blues Blowout, Pirate Radio WIVI 96.1 FM
St. Thomas Virgin Islands
more reviews at www.rootdoctorband.com
Blues: Blues Vocals