Smoke and fire!
John Terry | Kansas City, Mo | 07/25/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Smokin Joe serves up meaty slabs of tasty Texas blues while Bnois' guitar provides the seasoning that spices up the meal. Bnois also supplues the smokin "I'm a man" vocals". Together they make up one of the best blues duos working today. Their second release for Blind Pig takes up where "Roadhouse Research" left off. Joe still is heavily influenced by early employer Freddie King and fires off salvo after salvo of red hot guitar riffs. Bnois sings of deceiful women and the joys of being from the Lone Star state. There's nothing groundbreaking here and Bnois and Joe may not even be the best at what they do. They just work well together and their albums get your south side shaking. Recommended if you like fun music tailor made for cranking."
Smoking Joe brings it all together!
KIWRadioFREEblues | Omaha, Ne | 12/24/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"July 14, 2004
Artist: Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King
Title: Show Me the Money
Rating: Good
I have been familiar with Kubek's career for more than a decade now including listening to most of his releases during this period. While his guitar playing has always been above average his albums have been less than inspired. I frequently thought that Kubek's willingness to give King microphone time was a bad career move. As the human body ages eventually the voice loses its clout. So my expectations for Kubek's latest were quite low.
As a live performer Kubek usually leaves `it all on stage' but, like many recording artists, he was unable to translate that onto the Compact Disc. Well listen up blues fans because Smokin' Joe's latest, Show Me the Money, is well worth your ear time. Slicker, grittier, and with a recharged sense of melody Kubek's latest is probably more rock than trad but the heavy blues flavour remains the same.
Historically artists of Kubek's magnitude have released albums with the intent of selling them off the stage. On his latest Kubek release, if he can muster the marketing, radio airplay, and tour his tail off, Kubek & King deserve to see sales in stores.
In a `One to Ten World Where Five is Average' this is a solid seven and worth your examination"
Blues Review
Blues Man | 07/30/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you like Texas Blues with a sort of "gritty" sound, you'll like this CD. This CD didn't grab my like button right off the bat but after listening to it a couple times through and began to really enjoy the majority of the tracks."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1