Debbie Bond — “Live at the Song Theatrer” — Blues Root Productions
It’s been a long and winding blues road for Debbie Bond, from her first solo guitar performance in Sierra Leone, West Africa, at age 13, to her present-day deep blues musical life in her sweet home Alabama,
Since moving to Alabama and joining forces with legendary bluesman Johnny Shines in the early1980s until his death a decade later, Bond has immersed herself in the raw power of the blues, and absorbed the influences of Alabama’s famed Muscle Shoals sound. She’s an award-winning blues activist and founder of the Alabama Blues Project, dedicated to promoting and preserving the state’s blues heritage. As if that isn’t enough, Bond also makes memorable music with her band: British-born husband “Radiator” Rick Asherson on keyboards and harp, Marcus Lee on drums, Sam Williams on sax, and Bond adding vocals and her own guitar work.
This album, “Live at the Song Theatre,” was recorded live at the intimate Song Theatre in Columbiana, Ala., and shows off the joyful lyrical and musical interplay of Bond, Asherson and their bandmates on nine of their original songs, with three smartly done covers. This concert performance works the magic of all live blues shows, bringing fresh vitality to the essence of Bond’s music. Bond and Asherson write gorgeous love songs, often with a personal twist, and they tackle social issues with straight-ahead sensitivity. And they do it all with great music.
They open here with “That Thing Called Love,” the title track from an earlier album, an eloquent ode to that thing called love: “Love is a power, you just can’t explain / A mystery and magic, so simple and plain.” Bond’s vocal is supple and soulful, with elegant sax from Sam Williams. “Road Song” shifts into a tough road-warrior vibe, with Asherson echoing the vocals and soaring on harp: “This old road don’t own me / Still got a long way to go.”
“Watch Out for Your Heart” is a torchy blues layered over sensuous sax: “He’ll tell you that he loves you / Swear his love is true / But don’t you turn your back on him / I know what he’ll do.”
The upbeat R&B feel of “Let Me Be” is stirring search for personal freedom: “The path to freedom / Ain’t down this road / Got to leave you far behind / Lighten up my load.” Bond’s stirring vocal turn highlights her version of “Some Kind of Wonderful,” while a Motown vibe and raunchy sax complete the thought: “Me and my baby were so tight / Don’t you know that he is / He’s some kind of wonderful?” The anthemic “Winds of Change” is a larger look at life: “Don’t you feel the winds of change / blowin’ in the wrong direction.” The ageless philosophy of Delbert McClinton’s “Been Around a Long Time” gets a fresh look from Bond, with Asherville’s backup vocals, sharp harp filigrees and tasty honky-tonk piano: “I ain’t old, but I’ve been around a long time.” Bond offers an achingly soulful version of “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down,” the Ann Peebles staple from 1972: “You’ve been playing playboy / A little bit too long / Gonna tear your playhouse down.”
Asherson takes the lead on the rollicking New Orleans gumbo of “Going Back,” with Bond on backup, and the band kicking up its Big Easy heels: “We’re gonna dance all night long / To a zydeco beat and a two-stepping Cajun song.” Bond steps out next on the profoundly thoughtful “Nothing But The Blues,” and the contradictions of life: “You claim you’re killing for peace, to set people free / But people are dying is all we can see.” The whimsical, bluesy shuffle of “Wishbone” spotlights Asherson wailing on harp, as Bond laments her emotional condition: “Don’t take extra vision it’s plain to see / Got a wishbone where my back bone should be.” The set closer, the title track from Bond’s 2021 album, is “Blues Without Borders,” an appropriately heartfelt plea for peace, love and understanding, as valid now as it was then: “The whole round world’s in trouble, got to find our common ground / Come together people or we won’t even be around.”
Debbie Bond’s sparkling “Live at the Song Theatre” is testimony that there are many joyful miles ahead on her long and winding musical road through the land of the blues.
Here’s “Winds of Change” from the album:
Blues Roadhouse 