Blues and Bourbon Wednesdays: HowellDevine Release Party

Triple threat talent, Joshua Howell (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and percussion savant, Pete Devine (drums, washboard), plus veteran upright bassist, Joe Kyle Jr., deftly mix Delta and Country Blues with wildly syncopated rhythms to create a rollicking present-day sound rooted in early blues. Their music stands in stark contrast to the typical blues heard in bars these days and would more likely be shaking the floors of a Southern juke joint some 70 years ago.

There was never a question as to what to title this 2022 release from this esteemed Bay Area trio, HowellDevine. Since forming in 2011, their sound has been tagged, “shack-shakin music,” and author Dan Forte details that in his liner notes as “hypnotic… a study in dynamics, of theme and variation.”

Whether on national steel or harmonica, Howell seamlessly intertwines with the creative rhythm section of Pete Devine  and Joe Kyle, Jr. Four originals along with six of the most intriguing Piedmont, Hill Country and Delta to Chicago songs are here: from haunting to funkily cathartic. The trio recorded at Hyde Street Studios (formerly Wally Heider Studios) in San Francisco, still rich in historic character. The original acoustic designs of control rooms and live rooms remain largely untouched and sound as sweet as they did back then, a haven in what felt like an apocalypse.

Strange Time Blues is the band’s fifth release, and appears on their own DynaPhonic Records label, after multiple records on the legendary Arhoolie/Smithsonian Records and Little Village Foundation.