By John Tierney
The Ripcords have been ripping it up on stages around here for a while now and have become one of the region’s best live acts. The kind of music that makes you want to drink from a long neck bottle and for one blessed night just rip it up along side them. It’s pretty hard to feel bad when the Ripcords are on stage. Their mixture of Blues, Latin, Tex-Mex and other ingredients results in a musical bouillabaisse that feeds the soul.
What makes them stand out is the musicianship of the players, the word “tight” is thrown around in music a lot. Too much. But these guys are tight!
The Ripcords recent release Unmasked, recorded live at Syracuse’s Sub Cat Studios show the band in exceptional form, featuring Rex Lyons and Irv Lyons on guitar and vocals, bassist Jay Gould, Steve Palumbo on Drums and Tom Witkowski on Keys along with the Boneyard Horns (Jeff Stockham, Nick Fields, Dunham Hall, Rick Huyge & Bill Palange) are an all-star team of accomplished players in CNY and beyond.
“Take a Chance on Romance” a cover of the Billy Joe Shaver Tex-Mex classic is one of those cover songs that outperforms the original. A late-night song of romance and courting that will have you looking for the tequila and the blender on a hot summer night.
“Knee Deep in the Blues” features a boogie woogie barrel house piano run worthy of The Killer himself, a slamming blues jumper that will make you want to tip over the table.
Truly beautiful is the romantic original “Last Dance” a wistful, longing song for the end of the night that features a fanatic sax solo that lets the song soar like it was meant to.
Look, there isn’t a bad song on the album and taken as a follow up the earlier The Ripcords Live at Subcat Studioswhat we have here is maybe a resume as we look ahead to warmer months soon. The days when music moves outside to our festivals and outdoor venues. The Ripcords are a party and as the dark couple years we have all gone through have given us the blues, maybe it’s time to get up off the couch and get up on your feet. It’s going to be a great summer and I for one am looking forward to the next time I get to see The Ripcords. See you there?
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