o say that Ray DeTone's music is "in the vein of Jeff Beck and Eric Johnson" as his press materials state, would only serve to tell part of the story.
Sure, the mostly instrumental "Once More With
Feeling" features twisted time signatures, inventive melodies and, of course, lots of top-flight shredding on tracks such as the
jumpy "Ray's Stew", the frenetic "Thirteen What?!" and the soulful "Slow Grind", but wait...there's more.
On "Country Thang", DeTone utilizes Commander Cody's "Hot Rod Lincoln" riff to launch into some electrified chicken pickin', sounding not at all unlike Steve Morse.
The CD's lone vocal track, the dark "Up On The Wire", showcases DeTone's solid grasp on phrasing and harmony with his respectable (debut!) vocal performance.
On the other side of all the hub-bubis the acoustic
"Sitting Pretty", showcasing some nice fingerpicking work, while
the set's closer, "Sad To Say Farewell", ends just as its gorgeous progression makes it full circle.
Not only has DeTone deftly handled his own bass
playing on all but two tracks and all drum programming, he has also done an excellant job on the technical side of the glass for
this fine self-production.
Ray De Tone is a guitarist's guitarist and proof is
in "Once More With Feeling". High points include the aforementioned "Thirteen What?!", "Ray's Stew" and "Ben's Boogie".
o say that Ray DeTone's music is "in the vein of Jeff Beck and Eric Johnson" as his press materials state, would only serve to tell part of the story.