Sloe Gin's appeal

You may consider this a bit of a continuation of the thread Joe started about surfing the net for Sloe Gin, as that thread had wandered a bit I thought I might start a new one as my perspective may be somewhat different than many of you. You may notice that this is my first post, while far from being my first visit to the forum, Joe's original question and particularly his confusion over the reaction the the CD prompted me to post.

I would say that for the vast majority of Joe's career, I have never been much more than simply "aware" of him and what he does. I remember when Bloodline got started, I thought it was perhaps a gimmick with some potential behind it, I never bought the album. As his career progressed I got the impression, albeit wrong, that he was firmly in the SRV camp, I never bought an album. As Joe's reputation grew, he became frequently cited on The Gear Page, enough so that I was casually curious.

Because of Joe's taping policy I was able to download a couple high quality shows to sample from DaD. The richness of the Les Paul was immediately pleasing and seemed to give Joe a far more unique voice on the guitar than could be found on the Strat. In listening to the more recent shows with the new band and new material I felt like I had found something fresh, I bought Sloe Gin the day it came out. The album's material has what I like in his playing, nuance. Jimmy Page always used the phrase chiaroscuro or light and dark to describe Zeppelin's approach. Sloe Gin reminds me very much of one of those epic albums kevin's touch may have something to do with that as well. I love the way the material I heard live has grown in breadth and depth with the marvelous production. The album has the qualities of melody and timbre which will keep it sounding fresh and listenable for years to come. It is the first disc in a long time that I insist my friends go out and buy, it is a record you can listen to any time, not just when you want to "rock out", it feels complete.

When the next studio album comes out, I want to be surprised, I am ready, I'm a fan.