Excellent musicianship and an unpolished, good time, approach has made ‘Sons of the Delta’, Mark Cole and Rick Edwards, a highly respected duo. Even Kent DuChaine says they’ve got ‘that sound’ just right. ‘One for the Road’ captures all the spontaneity and vigour that is a hallmark of their live shows. Almost all the tracks are original, with a mix of electric and acoustic numbers showcasing their skills through a variety of blues/Americana styles. I was particularly taken with ‘Poor Boy’, a traditional number played on a diddley bow – a home made one string guitar – in this case made by Mark utilising a couple of nails, a length of wire and his garage wall. The result is a very authentic sound indeed. Then there’s the Cajun influenced ‘One Sunny Day’, the driving rhythm and slide of ‘I’m going out’, the vocal gymnastics on ‘I asked her for water’ ….. this is a first rate CD, full of interest and an uncompromising feel good factor from start to finish.

Here’s a new duo to me from the Gloucester area. On opening the Cd you find a nice bright sleeve of 12 pages with lyrics, photos and info all neatly done along with an introduction to the popular ‘Blues Matters!’ magazine. The outer covers of the sleeve look like an oil painting of a trailer park, an effect used on an original photo, moody stuff. Now the music……you always wonder what will this be like when you’ve never heard an act before and I have to tell you that the intro to this disc immediately put me at rest and got my feet tapping away to “Skinnybone”. I must tell you that all the tracks are self composed by the duo but in the main Mark Cole with Rick Edwards adding his bit. I can already well imagine a satisfying night out watching these guys who must cook up quite a storm live! There’s a nice feel to their presentation, not in yer face but come on in and pull up a chair style [with real tinges of the Severn Delta]. The sound is stripped bare and chugs along with neat rhythm and you just cannot help wanting to join in, it is easy to listen to and in these days when a fair chunk of Blues is in yer face this is a welcome relief indeed. “Velcro Hold” is a moody electric piece with slide that holds back and helps create a frustrated feel that suit the lyric which suggests she uses Voodoo to keep her man. “Walking Along” is a clever little ditty, “Key To Your Door” features mandolin, Cajun accordion and resonator guitar and is a plea to a woman, “Poor Boy” shows instruments used as: vocals, diddley bow, hammer, nails and wire??......fascinated? Well yes!! Lots of noises then tuning the wire, a clever intro if ever there was one to a real original song. “Global Conspiracy Blues” brings in their favoured Stompbox and good ‘ole style sound while “I’m Going Out” features two electric slide guitars chugging away and brings the main album to a close, but wait here are the bonus live tracks…….. finishing with a live “Big Lots of Nothin”…….yes indeed a very satisfying album boys, well done, I wish you much success with this, think I’ll have “one for the road”