Nova Scotia based delta bluesman Morgan Davis had a full house, probably his biggest Lethbridge audience yet, at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Oct. 17.
Unfortunately only half of them were paying attention, which is a shame as in addition to being a fantastic guitarist, the Detroit born musician is also an amazing storyteller.
He played a lot of songs from his brand new CD “ I Got My Own,” though I missed them. But I arrived in the middle of a hot version of “Reefer Smoking Man” which included an extended jam and a diatribe about legalizing marijuana.
He ended his first set with “Why Do People Act Like That” and took a break.
His second set featured original music, excellent guitar playing and Dr. John style gravelly vocals and blues classics and obscurities and lots of stories as people started paying attention.
He played an excellent version of Muddy Waters’ “Can’t be Satisfied, which he prefaced with a story about muddy Waters himself teaching it to him in his hotel room in 1971.
“ I’ve been trying to get it right ever since,” Davis quipped. He played tasteful slide guitar throughout, especially on the Robert Johnson chestnut “32-20 blues.”
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor