[NJ Blues Society] Young Fashioned Ways Review

Reviewed by Dennis Rozanski

Bobby Rush—the Chitlin’ Circuit’s most revered gladiator with 10,000-plus worldwide shows and still very much counting—adds a new offering atop his mountain of 400-plus credited records. Guitar ace Kenny Wayne Shepherd—whose high-powered goods have hit the road with Buddy Guy to Van Halen and the Rolling Stones to the 2025 Experience Hendrix traveling circus—also has a new record out.

Both albums are one and the same: Young Fashioned Ways.

For 48 synergistic minutes, the Rush-Shepherd alliance combines quite the best of both blues worlds, jelling right off the bat as “Who Was That” contends with tracking down a back-door man. Bobby, the session’s vocalist as well as harpist, is just as persistent in the hunt as is the song’s unrelenting cadence. Horns spray their gleaming notes over top of the vigorous march; Rush occasionally joins them by huffing on harmonica for a more downhome touch. That’s also him playing rhythm guitar to Shepherd’s lead, which solidifies all that hellbent energy into a series of slashes, spirals and squalls. A gorgeously beaten-up 1961 Stratocaster, Kenny’s signature axe, is among the pageant of Fender and Gibson beauties bellyaching across the 10 original tracks. Bonded, the two Louisiana-born headliners double the potency.

Read the full review at NorthJerseyBluesSociety.org