Nick & The Backbone 1999 Crackin' Under Pressure

Genre: Blues-Rock
Rate: 192 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:52:33
Size: 72,20 MB



"Crackin' Under Pressure" is a debut release of top Greek blues band "Nick & The Backbone" that definitely deserve wider exposure among blues fans anywhere. It's a vibrant, exciting collection of original material by the band's leader Nick Dounoussis who is regarded as a master of the "Stratocaster" in the best tradition of Texas blues. There's a rock edge to his material, but these are the blues taken to extreme: tough, dimamond-hard, occasionally vulnerable and sometimes surprisingly joyful. Band's debut CD shows what a crackin' tight unit they are as a result of countless gigs from small clubs to stadiums, backing some big name US bluesmen on Greek tours. Nick Dounoussis is one of the best guitarists I've heard and by that I don't mean Europe only! His playing is uncanny as he effortlessly tosses in accents and twisting phrases every which way but loose, unleashing stinging volleys of notes one minute and executing soulful bends the next. His playing evokes the likes of Texas blues masters Freddie King and Stevie Ray Vaughan and unlike the others, he doesn't try to copy them note for note, his approach is an original one.

Of special interest to blues fans is a rare appearance of the legendary Nick Gravenites who lends his vocal expertise on three tracks! "Just A Little Time" is a CD opener, an uptempo rocker with plenty of blistering guitar work which sets the tone for the whole CD, while "Blades" is a stop-time funky instrumental that will keep the fans of early Stevie Ray Vaughan happy. "Ridin' With The Blues" is an easy going shuffle with cool vocal delivery courtesy of Nick Gravenites! CD's title track is a rocking cut with evocative lyrics which reflect Nick Dounoussis' feelings on the recent Balkan wars, showing how flexible we, the humans, are. Track includes again some exceptional guitar work and cohesive band sound. Mr. Gravenites sings "You Don't Want To Mess With Me," which actually is a re-working of Jimmy Reed's "You Don't Have To Go" and is a fine shuffle too, while "Slow Down" could easily put a smile on every Texas roadhouse visitor with its rocking rhythm and good-time feeling. CD closes with Nick's poignant blues ballad "Heaven's Gate" as a fitting tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan with beautiful lyrics: "Heaven's gate please open wide, and accept this man tonight, keep him safe until we follow, to thank him for the love he shared." Add some fine guitar and you'll have one of the best SRV tributes you'll ever hear.

This is a class debut, check it out! (This review is copyright © 2001 by Vasja Ivanovski, and Blues On Stage.)



Tracklist:

01 - Just A Little Time 04:26

02 - Blades 05:42

03 - Ridin' With The Blues 03:38

04 - Crackin' Under Pressure 05:18

05 - The Dream That Is Gone 06:35

06 - Big Voices 06:03

07 - Slow Down 05:32

08 - You Don't Want To Mess With Me 05:02

09 - Can't Find A Way To Love You 04:22

10 - Heaven's Gate 05:55





Nick & The Backbone here:

On request of the artist all download-links removed

Hallo and greetings from Greece.

My name in Nick Dounoussis, founder of the Greek rock - blues band "Nick and the Backbone", who's CD "Cracking under pressure", has just recently fallen in my attention, you have uploaded on your site for digital download.

http://southernbluesrock.blogspot.com/search/label/Nick%20%2B%20The%20Backbone

First of all I'd like to express my thanks for the presentation and exposure of our band, something we really need. I would also like to express a wish though, but first let me describe some historic elements about this album.

The CD was a self-production back in 1998, with the help of a small local indie label called: "ano kato records". It was released by that label and sold about 700 copies in the local market (blues audiences in Greece are not that big), in a period of 3 years. I kept the legal rights of the songs since there was never a contract between us, but let the label keep the money earned for production expenses, studios etc. which leads us to the fact that we never made 1 Cent from that release.

Very recently I decided to upload the CD on digital retail sail sites like reverbnation for digital download under mp3 or wav format in a program that will try to have the album exposed worldwide, in an effort to make something right for this work, which, I have to tell you, was the beginning of a life's time hope and effort. Thanks to the net, it is the first time that we have a chance of wider exposure and maybe, if we are lucky enough, a small income just to justify the effort. You can find this page here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/nickdounoussis

Therefore we come to the fact that I will have to kindly ask you to prevent this download from being exposed, or if you wish, I could send you 2-3 minute previous of the songs that I have up on reverbnation as well, so you can still keep the presentation but in a way that will make us happier. This would be really helpful.

Also, we have made some changes on the cover art, since we do not have an agreement with any label any more. I can send the new cover as well.

We are still a band that lives strictly from its live shows, trying to spread the
word every day and maybe, if we could do something better through recording and managing our music on the net, we believe that there is no better time than this. All we need is a little help.

Thank you for your understanding.

Nick Dounoussis

You can get the album here: http://www.reverbnation.com/nickdounoussis