EXCELLENT BLUES ROCK-AND MORE!
author: RONALD POKATILOFF
BETTER THAN JOHNNY WINTER! It's loud and raw, but a little weak on the bass side. Best cuts are: COWBOY HAT BLUES, A STEP AWAY, HELP ME DR. JOHN, and THINKING SINGLE. But all the tracks are good. CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' is the hit song, and A STEP AWAY is like Buddy Holly.
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TOTALLY ROCKIN' FOOT STOMPIN' BLUES!!!!
author: Lisa
A TOTAL Blues/ rock EXPLOSION just erupted in my CD player!
Cowboy Hat Blues is Stevie meets Hendrix/ meets ACE! It
is AMAZING!!! Haven't heard ANYTHING like it since SRV!!
I will be playing the hell outa' this CD for a long time! A must for my car, for that early morning drive to work pick
me up, and the fix for my 5:00 drive home!
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West Coast Boy Rocks
author: Atlanta Magazine
There are people who make music for money, and all their energies are
focused on the bottom line. Others make music because it's what they do.
The
music of the latter group is genuinely more interesting, and heartfelt,
than
the former. Bay area rocker Ace Andres makes music seemingly because its
what his soul tells him to do, and the result is 11 tracks of furious
guitar-based rock that might not be the newest kid on the block, but
certainly is one of the more rockin'.
Ace owes a debt to Texas- surprisingly he lives in California (surprising
that anyone lives in Cali, but that's a topic for another day...) but his
sound is pure Z.Z Top/SRV. Fuzzed guitars-lots of 'em-and howled vocals
harkens back to the days of the '70's when straight-ahead guitar rock like
this ruled the planet. You might wonder how many wah-wah pedals died to
make
this record (and that can be a good thing...) It's easy to imagine Andres
onstage in some roadhouse bar, playing his originals and tossing in a
quick
"Mississippi Queen" in between. He slows it down for "Playing To Win",
capturing a more mellow sound, ala Stevie Ray Vaughn in his more subdued
moods. Closing it all up is a cover of "California Dreamin'" featuring
latter-day Mama's and the Papa's vocalist Jill Gibson that takes the
folkie
pop anthem into hard rock territory. Cowboy Hat Blues might not get
heralded as the next new thing, but for fans of music that hits ya in the
face while you have a beer in hand, it will suit just fine.
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The Real Thing
author: Zane Stanford
I've had the chance to see Ace perform live, and "Cowboy Hat Blues" is just a taste of the talent this fine musician has to offer. His genre casually emcompasses Rock/Blues/country and to a degree Jazz. It doesn't take long to hear the influences of Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray and Jimi Hendrix. The songs have blazing guitar riffs yet socially redeeming lyrics. A couple of his songs have a very melodic sound to them that reminds you of a young Todd Rundgren. But what makes this album great is the energy that is sown into the hard driving rythms, screaming lead guitars and Howling vocals. This artist has a big future.
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