The cycle began in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. Old Southern blues men and early rock ‘n rollers laid down the foundation of American music. The youngsters from England soaked up these earlier blues and rockabilly rhythms and the 60’s were flooded with a British wave of American influenced rock ‘n roll. Southern boys in the 70’s like Lynyrd Skynyrd incorporated the British rock sound into their brand of Southern rock. And now, Elias T. Hoth takes his shot at interpreting music from the past and launches his version of UK Southern rock with his smokin’ debut album, “Let Sleepin’ Demons Lie.”
I have to admit that if I didn’t know that Elias was from the UK, I would swear he’s traveled the dust covered back roads and floated through the Mississippi swamps of down south. Through songs like “Mississippi Burnin’”, “Mobile Alabama”, “Ozark Alabama Please”, and “Louisiana Train”, Elias paints the picture of the Deep South in my mind. Styles range from blistering in your face rock ‘n roll and intense Southern rock to Deep South blues and blues rock. I sure hope that the song “Roll Down Dirdy” is poetic license and not a real life story, Elias! That is a gender bending situation most guys do not want to be in, I can guarantee!!
This album is one slick produced piece of work. There is definitely something here for every type of music lover. Elias’s vocal performance is balls to the wall. Sam Barnett’s guitar style is superb and he sure can play the blues. His leads are, for sure, the stand out of the whole album. With the rock solid rhythm section of Simon Robertshaw on bass and Danny Law on drums, Elias has a firm foundation to build a Southern rock tradition.
Elias T. Hoth, also, has a live DVD called “Let Sleepin’ Demons Live” available. It includes performance footage of all the album tracks and a CD of all the live tracks. This is something I need to check out and I think you should, too! Elias T. Hoth has produced a stunning debut album. Yet another English boy influenced by Southern music. The cycle continues…
Review by Keith Stefanec
