Little Axe - Bought For A Dollar, Sold For A Dime (Real World)

Most people’s idea of blues music involves a bunch of middle-aged men murdering ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ in a pub that only sells real ale, and nothing else! Skip McDonald aka Little Axe is something different.

He takes the genre of the blues and fuses it with dub, reggae and lots of soul. We’re talking blues 2.0 – remixed and rebooted for a 21st century audience. His latest offering has plenty of funky soul and, at times, feels more like a classic Isaac Hayes LP than a straight blues album. On ‘Soul Of A Man’ Little Axe is the fiery blues singer, warning the audience of what happens when you stray too far from the crossroads.

If you’re expecting endless boring guitar solos, then you are going to be disappointed. It’s not one of those records. There’s a strong gospel element too. The moving ‘Another Friend Gone’ takes elements of the spiritual song ‘How Great Thou Art’ and creates a moving song about loss. It’s one of the stand-out tracks in a strong and highly original album. The blues has always been commercial suicide for any budding performer, but Little Axe keeps it cool and keeps it real.