Reckless and Blue — “Seven Deadly Gins” — Self-Release
Blues music has long thirsted after the pleasures and pains of love at the heart of its emotional essence.
Sometimes, though, love and the blues create a thirst for more – like the heady musical cocktail of Seven Deadly Gins, the sparkling new album served up by the Colorado band Reckless and Blue. The group’s searing blues style has made them winners of the Colorado Blues Society’s 2026 Blues Challenge, headed for January’s International Blues Challenge.
The seasoned veterans of Reckless and Blue were pulled together by George Williams in 2017, when he returned to the Denver area after three decades of travel, and sharpening his talents as a classical guitar student, band member, singer and songwriter. Seven Deadly Gins is a follow to the band’s debut album, Can’t Give Me the Blues, in 2021.
The Reckless quintet regulars include Williams on guitar and vocals, Allen Anderson on keyboards, Tom Dillard on bass, Steve Gaskin on drums, and sultry vocalist Shaunda Fry, notable as a latecomer to the group two years ago, and who didn’t begin her singing career until she turned 50. The ten songs here were written or co-written by Williams, who shares the vocals with Fry, often trading verses in the same song, adding a passionate he-said, she-said lovers’ interaction.
The opener, Come Back, cuts loose with a percussive intro and Williams on cigar box guitar, with co-writer Fry pleading for her lover’s return: “You know I miss you, baby, but now you’re gone / I know you love me, please just come back home.” Fry fuels her next plea for lost love with the libation of the title track, Seven Deadly Gins: “I’ve been drinking gin like never before / Since my baby walked out the door,” with rolling organ riffs from Anderson.
The torchy Triflin’ Blues features Williams and Fry trading soulful verses of mutual torment, mirroring each other’s pain: “Now baby stop – don’t you walk out that door / If you leave this time – I won’t be here when you get back home.” Williams’ vocals romp over the honky-tonk rhythms of Don’t Expect Me, as he warns his lover that he’s gone: “Seems like you got what you had comin’ / You ain’t getting no more of my lovin’.” Fry and Williams pair up again in the gently rocking Burnin’ Daylight, each driving hard to get together again: “I’m comin’ home baby, wait and see / I’m comin’ home, just you and me.”
Can’t Give Me The Blues is another slow-burning scorcher, with Williams and Fry exploring their mutual pain: “You can’t give me the blues / I’ve had the blues for a long long time.” Anderson cranks up the boogie-woogie piano on Shimmy Shakin’ Blues, a rollicking dance track that gives both singers a chance to kick up their vocal legs: “Woke up this morning with a beat in my shoes / Gonna shimmy shake away these shimmy shaking blues.”
The drinking lamp is lit again on the mournful duet If The Blues Was Whiskey (an original, not the 1935 Bumble Bee Slim version): “If the blues was whiskey, I’d stay drunk all the time.” A rocking organ intro from Anderson opens Williams’ solo turn and then follows him while he looks for love on Hey Pretty Baby: “Hey pretty baby, won’t you look my way / Talk to me woman, you will want to hear what I say.” The closer is the haunting, slow-rocking Stormy Night In Denver, with an aching, lovelorn vocal from Fry, with backup vocals from Annie Phillips and Ernie Martinez, plus a splash of horns from Jeff Miguel on sax and Derek Banach on trumpet: “In this rainy night, I’m lost in pain / Longing for my man, so so far away.”
Reckless and Blue’s spirited Seven Deadly Gins arrives as a welcome tonic for love and the blues – no matter how you pour it.
Here’s a live version of the song “Come Back” from the album:
Tracks:
01. Come Back
02. Seven Deadly Gins
03. Triflin’ Blues
04. Don’t Expect Me
05. Burnin’ Daylight
06. Can’t Give Me The Blues
07. Shimmy Shakin’ Blues
08. If The Blues Was Whiskey
09. Hey Pretty Baby
10. Stormy Night In Denver
Blues Roadhouse 