Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It’s a Dog Eat Dog world, or so the aggressive stance of some will have you believe. In truth we could find instead it is a more caring place than we understand, that the stories we tell are listened to with ease and interest, that art, no matter its form, is viable in equal measure and without competition.
It is in the harm caused by other people as they strive to be successful which sees the world turn, the art of the collaboration foaming at the mouth to be recognised, the muzzle straining as it keeps back the words of partnership and relationships; in the end we have become the pile in which others view the horizon from.
How refreshing it is then to find a musician who understands that sentiment and sees the struggle of not only his world, but of those around him, who seeks to show that Dog Eat Dog is not an attitude for humanity to hold on to, instead we should be looking at life as if it is bound by freedom, even if that freedom is placed in the Blues, the freedom to choose the heartache and anguish of your own belief is paramount and fulfilling.
Regardless of whether it is in the hands of the original songs created by Billy Price or across the four lush covers that the band exemplify, the album is one of sweet serenade, the kind of songs that ask a loved one to the dance floor, get to have one beautiful memorable slow dance before they ride off into the sunset in another person’s car; sure they might never come back, but you will never forget the way they made you feel for that exquisite moment.
In the Otis Rush Blues classic My Love Will Never Die, Billy Price is arguably at his very best, searing, meaningful, a trip upon a highway with no end in sight but the hope of redemption in someone else’s eyes the distant reward, and with songs such as Lose My Number, All Night Café, the excellent Toxicity, Remnants and Same Old Heartaches all combining to make this particular album a prime example of the Blues as a bounty, a treasure trove of re-established values.
Dog Eat Dog, it may be, but this world is better than that, and it takes the drive of an artist such as Billy Price to show the way.
Billy Price’s Dog Eat Dog is available to purchase now via Gulf Coast Records.
Ian D. Hall