James Leg Gladly Hits Below The Belt
by Sad Songs Keep the Devil Away
September 2, 2015
The baritone beast that is James Leg (aka John Wesley Myers of the Black Diamond Heavies) is back with an eternally powerful offering of hypnotic, distortion gospel-blues and cement-hearted rock-n-soul. Working his trademark Fender Rhodes piano into a tizzy backed by drums and guitar tones to wake the dead, Below The Belt feels as if Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, and Booker T and the MGs played the party that accidentally burned down Junior’s Place on April 6, 2000 in Culahoma, MS and engraved that night onto vinyl. Pulling no punches is evident from the get go with album opener “Dirty South”. Leg steers a beautifully distorted, heavily chorused Rhodes progression backed by a crafty drumbeat with a lyrical delivery reminiscent of the dark lord himself. Add in some choice piano fills and you just started off the purest rock record of 2015.