Wayne Nicholson

Gin House

Grindstone

Singer-songwriter, producer and frontman Wayne Nicholson is the blues voice of Canada’s East Coast. He has fronted Horse and the Oakley Band and is out with his seventh solo effort, Gin House, recorded on his home turf in Nova Scotia. This writer covered his 2020 effort with John Campbelljohn on the same label for another outlet. Nicholson’s gruff, weathered, force of nature vocals fits perfectly for these mostly blues-rock burners in an album bookended by the hardly recognizable takes on Nina Simone’s “Gin House Blues.” Gleaning the supporting cast, the ubiquitous Canadian bluesman Steve Mariner (harp) and his sidekick guitarist Tony Diteodoro (Tony D.) are aboard as well as longtime guitarist, producer, and writing partner James Logan. Together Nicholson and Logan wrote six of these eleven with Diteodoro the co-writer on one. Aside from the bookends, two familiar tunes grace the setlist, Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do” and one not written by but associated with Muddy Waters, “Forty Days and Forty Nights.” The rest of the musicians are veterans from the Nova Scotia scene – bassist Bruce Dixon, drummer Neil Robertson, keyboardist Kim Dunn, Bill Stephenson on grand piano, and Lisa MacDougal on background vocals.

Let’s take the bookends first. The first, infused with Mariner’s harp, is a raveup while “Gin House (reprise)” is rendered at a much slower tempo, just a piano duet between Stephenson and Nicholson, as raw as it gets. Album standout, “Shucking Corn with Muddy Waters” recounts a bizarre dream that Nicholson had with the band delivering a swampy vibe, Mariner wailing hard, and Nicholson inserting a few well-worn Muddy riffs for authentic effect. “Trust Turns to Dust” is a rollicking tune featuring Dunn’s barrelhouse piano and riffing, crunchy guitars.  Another standout is “The Night Train Is Coming,” (“the night train is coming, taking me to hell”) casting light on PTSD with Dunn’s piano intro and Tony D. guitar punctuating Nicholson’s emotive vocal letting us know that it’s best seek help when the warning signs emerge. Nicholson is equally at ease with ballad fare, as depicted on “Not My Angel” and the aching “Invisible Blue,” yet another example of how Nicholson not only understands pain but can convey it with the deepest feeling.  Bruce Dixon wields a fat, robust electric bass on “Blue Funk,” and indicator of Nicholson and band’s ability to render different styles.

While Nicholson faithfully treats such well known tunes as Reed’s “Honest I Do” and Muddy’s “ Forty Days and Forty Nights,” they seem to serve mostly as filler here. After all, with so many strong originals, adding a few more may have been a wiser choice. Nonetheless, Nicholson is a singer more folks need to hear. He’s the real deal and has some terrific gems on this outing.

• Jim Hynes

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