James Leg’s latest solo effort “Blood on the Keys” is flat out amazing
By Marc Michael
I have written a lot of words about music in the last few years. Taken as a whole, I’ve done more writing about music than all the writing I did in high school and college combined, including the papers I wrote for other people (yes, I did that—it was college and I needed the money.)
In committing that much electronic ink to digital paper I have developed some recurring observations that, despite their repetition, are only used when absolutely appropriate. Often I admonish you, dear music lover, to see one band or another now, during their rise to the top, so that one day you can say, “I saw them when.”
This week’s feature is about a man named John Myers, known professionally as James Leg, and kids…I saw him when.
I saw him when he was with the Black Diamond Heavies. I saw him when he was one of the hottest keyboard players in the area. I saw him when he was in demand for damn near everyone’s project and when he threw in for a few gigs with Porkchop Holder and Dave Brown at the Lizard Lounge.
I can’t say precisely what sort of “hero’s journey” he embarked on since the last time I saw him, but I do know that he left as one of the best and is returning as something so far beyond that, I don’t know how to express it without being accused of hyperbole.
He’ll be headed home soon after an extensive six-month tour of Europe, just in time for the release of his newest solo album, “Blood on the Keys,” and this album is ten gallons of liquid fire in a five-gallon bucket. His vocal style is so much like a particular famous piano player/songwriter I mention too often, it’s uncanny, but it’s just as much Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Dr. John. Leg puts the guts in guttural and the gravel in your craw, but the vocals are barely even the surface of this amazing album. – READ THE FEATURE HERE