Uneven, but interesting

Reviewed July 2009

After four CDs as the namesake and frontman of the Shane Dwight Band, former Bay Area guitarist/singer/singwriter Dwight has relocated to Nashville and gone solo. The blues-rocker has also signed to a new label and simultaenously released two new discs, "Gimme Back My Money" and "Shane Dwight Plays the Blues."

Dwight is a West Coast style blues player, who eschews slide, doesn't mind using a wah-wah, and specializes in slick, fluid lines with occasional flashes of ear-catching fretboard speed. His vocals don't match the guitar work, but aren't bad; he growls with conviction and projects a bluesman's world-weary perspective when needed, and can also sing a pop song well.

"Gimme Back My Money" is an entirely studio-produced effort and represents the more polished and finished of the two discs. The music here is mostly made by Dwight and keyboardist/drummer Jim Hawthorne, and the focus seems to be more on the songs and less on the boogieing. The title tune is a catchy pop tune that almost crosses over to alt-country, and "What You Need" rocks with conviction – power chords driving home its message about prescription drugs. Most of the tunes on this disc are straight rock and pop numbers, like "Break My Heart Anyway," an infectious, uptempo highlight with no solo and excellent, keyboard-driven arrangement. "Done With You" is funky, with plenty of wah-wah in the rhythm – and Dwight wisely quits pumping the pedal for the blazing solo. The disc dips into the blues for "You're Gonna Want Me" and "Ode to Albert," the first a rather standard shuffle featuring some rather restrained playing by Dwight, with "Ode" a lengthy slow-blues instrumental that gives him a chance to play plenty of clean, blue notes without hamming it up.

The second disc, "Plays the Blues," is puzzling. This 10-tune collection is a mix of half studio songs, half live; the live songs are done by the Shane Dwight Band lineup, the studio cuts by the same crew that put together "Money." The first five studio tunes are all blues-rock tunes, including a repeat appearance of "You're Gonna Want Me." These all feature superior guitar work by Dwight, especially "Standing," but none are memorable except the funky "Have Some of That." The demo-rough production on these cuts (except the repeated cut) gives a feeling that they may have been out-takes.

The final five cuts are live recordings and feature Dwight in a five-piece band playing hard blues rock, and he is in his element. "High Time I Got Mine" gives him a chance to show a Johnny Winter influence as he weaves patterns of notes into the fabric of the beat. "Ode to Albert" is repeated live, with Danny Hull's overplayed saxophone bulldozing things. The show closer is "Boogie King," this time with Dwight working the crowd with some metal-style goofing in the middle of an otherwise hot solo – he even throws in a few bars of "Fur Elise" after he drops the descending scale from "Malaguena" and a few others. Guess you had to be there.

Shane Dwight can play guitar very well, and is a good enough songwriter and singer that "Gimme Back My Money" is a satisfying disc. "Plays the Blues" is interesting for blues riff enthusiasts, and these two discs should broaden his audience with that demographic.

Review by Frank Kocher, a longtime San Diego resident, musician, music collector and frequent contributor to The San Diego Troubadour.