Album Notes

"Third Shot" is a CD of original acoustic blues music and covers of such classics as John Lee Hooker's "Dimples" and Little Walter's "My Babe". It's especially appealing to listeners who enjoy three-part harmony and instrumentation featuring harmonica, slide guitar, and blues mandolin.

This third recording by BILLYBLUES has been praised for the way different musical genres, from bluegrass to rockabilly, have been woven into the distinctive blues-based sound of the CD.

BILLYBLUES' lyrics have been described as "a cut above" and this CD is no exception. The words, reproduced in the CD booklet, are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and sometimes both at the same time.

The thematically unified collection of tunes deals with romance and whiskey (not necessarily in that order). The writing features not totally tongue-in-cheek humor ("when your heart's got a real bad
headache from getting tore up and destroyed "--Hair of the Dog); memorable phrases ("I'm all up in the air in a funnel cloud of dreams "--Blown Away); and haunting imagery ("I saw my dead father and I shook his dead hand, he gave me a picture of the promised land "--High Winds and Hailstones).

Listeners have especially noted the further development of Billyblues ' vocal harmonies. "The voices come across as real," said
one reviewer. "It sounds like I could sing the whole thing, except I couldn't." All three BILLYBLUES members handle lead vocal duties and weave in three-part harmony honed by almost a decade of trio performing.

In sum, "Third Shot" should find a receptive audience in blues lovers as well as devotees of more wide-ranging Americana music. As one fan remarked, "BILLYBLUES has its own sound and the songs are
contagious. I find myself humming them at odd times, and then I head back to the CD for another shot of the real thing.