Geoff Arsenault

Hired Hand

 Self-released

Canadian drummer/percussionist and singer/songwriter Geoff Arsenault,  is one of the most in-demand drummers not only in his country but internationally as well. Hired Hand is his third solo recording, following Ain’t No Fiction and Voodoo Baby Rattle. As Arsenault attests, his drumming and groove is deeply rooted in the blues and New Orleans music. He says, “I think songs can be a clear line of ideas and feelings to social issues, cultural differences and happenings. Like a perfect poem. They can make people think about human nature. The good and the bad. I’d like my music to reach people in a positive way. Tell a story. Make them move and groove.”This album comes almost two decades after 2006’s Voodoo Baby Rattle as Arsenault has obviously been sitting with these songs  or some time. His voice is beyond gruff, yet often his mumble is indecipherable. While described as somewhere between Tony Joe White, Willie P. Bennett, and JJ Cale, my ears go to Long John Baldry and even hints of Tom Waits. Yes, Arsenault’s voice is that guttural, smoky, and haunting.

The album got its impetus from Arsenault’s meeting with Glenn Patscha, formerly of Ollabelle and noted keyboardist for Rosanne Cash and Bonnie Raitt. Patscha produced, and John D.S. Adams recorded, mixed, and engineered these twelve originals from Arsenault. The connections that Patscha and Arsenault have made are staggering, as the credits read like a who’s who of Canadian and/or Canadian-born roots musicians. They are Colin Linden, Matt Andersen, Ray Bonneville, Joey Landreth, and Kevin Breit for starters. Non-Canadian Amy Helm contributes too. All told, there are 13 in the credits. So, while Arsenault may be a hired hand as a drummer, he turns to many hired hands here himself.

A touch of his wit is on display in the stomping opener “9 Steps to Gumbo” (“make it hot”) with Patscha on an array of keyboards, as he is throughout the album.  This also features slide guitarist Landreth who appears on two other tracks. Toward the end, he slips into Guitar Slim’s “Hip Shake,” most famously associated with The Rolling Stones, and goes out with a growl.”Bangkok Dogs and Long-Tail Boats” is a bit abstract but grooves along nicely with Arsenault’s penchant for lots of toms in his drumming and a piercing slide from Landreth.  The motoring “Bullet Won’t Stop” features guitar from Breit and harmonica from Bonneville while he pares down to a trio for the haunting “Pearl River,” taking up an electrified acoustic guitar and playing alongside Breit and Patscha’s keyboard arsenal. Sometimes the groove is so similar that it times these can sound like one continuous track. Case in point is “Pearl River” and “Angel’s Share Or The Devil’s Take.” The latter features a otherworldly guitar solo from Linden while Matt Andersen and Chris Kirby make one their two contributions on background vocals.

“The Great Divide” is mostly a stripped-down ballad as compared to the preceding fare. Patscha’s Ollabelle band mate, Amy Helm joins for the harmony vocal. Patscha’s B3 goes in some spacey directions, perhaps in deference to his mentor, the late Garth Hudson. This mode stretches into the duet with Patscha on “Rio.”  His natural percussive groove returns for “I Ain’t Locked Down” with Linden, Andersen, and Kirby returning for the engaging refrain “I ain’t locked down, I’m ready to go.”  Remarkably Patscha sits out on the title track, a quiet acoustic track with Tom Easley on acoustic bass, Landreth on slide, and Arsenault on hand percussion. Standout “Already Gone” has one of the most infectious grooves as it gallops along with Easley’s sturdy bassline and punctuation from Linden and Patscha, who delivers uncanny keyboard work throughout, especially on the B3.  “Grave Digger” follows suit and the closer “Cajun Soul” delivers on that swampy soul as David Mansfield joins on fiddle and Patscha wields the accordion.

Arsenault’s Hired Hand is like a trip into the swamp on a dark night. It takes you into his spooky world and the relentless groove just sticks like sweat on your skin.

– Jim Hynes

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