By Erwin Zijleman
There are currently so many records that I can not listen to everything that comes in here. If I'm already listening to a record, this album usually does not get much more than a few minutes to impress and to make an impression, the album just has to fit my mood of that moment. Just when I was ready for a nice and strong roots rock without too many pretensions and fuss, Full Tilt Boogie of James Scott Bullard passed by. A record that probably would not have noticed me at any other time made an impression and since then the new album of the musician from South Carolina has only become tastier and more irresistible. The name James Scott Bullard became familiar to me and deep digging gave me an EP on which Stephanie Fagan was to be heard as a guest singer. That tasted like that at the time and that more is there now (and was already there because James Scott Bullard has been recording records for almost 15 years). In his own web store, Full Tilt Boogie is described as follows: "If Waylon Jennings had a pet eagle, named Evel Knievel, who liked to sit on furniture with a guitar, carried two revolvers in a tiny shoulder holster under each wing, had a homemade Smokey & The Bandit tattoo on it's chest, a Skynyrd tattoo on it's middle talon, Keith Richards 'blood in it's veins, Johnny Rotten's cocked eye and John Oates' mustache, that MIGHT come close to a description of James Scott Bullard's new record, Full Tilt Boogie. " It is a description that says a lot about the music of the musician from South Carolina. James Scott Bullard is of the 'rough bolster, white pit' type. He grew up with the traditional country of the South of the United States, but also embraced the Southern Rock from these regions. Full Tilt Boogie is full of up-tempo songs that combine influences from country rock, blues rock and Southern rock, combining a traditionally sounding roots sound with wonderfully teasing guitars. Especially the guitar work on the new James Scott Bullard album is very nice, but also the American voice is very appealing. The same goes for the nice songs in the audience, which also tell beautiful stories about the seamy side of American society. Full Tilt Boogie has two legs in American roots music, but occasionally reminds me of the early records of R.E.M., which were much more rootsier than the most successful records of the band. All in all a nice plate. A very nice plate even.