Norman Transcript
June 25, 2010

Les Copeland heard a Mississippi Fred McDowell record when he was a kid and was instantly hooked.

It didn’t matter that his British Columbia home was over 2,500 miles from the heart of Delta Blues, he received the spirit and learned to play guitar.

This new album with guest appearances by David “Honeyboy” Edwards (guitar) and Michael Frank (blues harp) is a quirky gem. Copeland’s vocals have a fragile quality that lend a genuine pathos to songs about “Long Lost Love” and being unable to punch one’s way out of a “Wet Paper Bag.”

Best known as a bottleneck guitar virtuoso, his instrumental tribute to an American great on “Ry Cooder” and jazzy “Ginseng Girl” are steel string clinics. “How’s That Drummer” is about how guys are often playfully cruel with each other.

Honeyboy loves getting frequent digs in about a percussionist who swiped Copeland’s second wife.

“He’s living in my house/ while I’m living in an apartment downtown,” is how that drummer is.

Ominous vocals, stray cat harmonica and slashing guitar on the title track sound like Beelzebub is right outside insistently rapping on the door.

Don’t let the devil inside, but do invite Copeland’s music into your ears.

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