Most one-man bands are one-trick ponies. One riff, one sound, one
gimmick, one bucket, whatever. Not Scott H. Biram. The man can and will
throw down some feral, amped-up Delta blues just as easily as a stone
cold country weeper that'll get the girls all dewy-eyed with faith and
desire, or even a heavy metal field holler—with the emphasis on holler.
He can and will hold an audience rapt when he sings from the bottom of
his boots about what it takes to get saved and how he'll end up blowing
the deal.Austin TX's self-proclaimed Dirty Old One-Man Band's
third album for Bloodshot is profane and tender, alluring and
frightening, and while such intensely polarizing forces would tear a
lesser man apart, Scott appears to revel in the tug of war. With his
'59 Gibson hollow body, mouth harp and electrified stomp board, his
muddied water gospel is sly enough to charm the devil, and the hip
shake boogie irresistible enough to get the Man upstairs to come down
and share a bottle of the brown with him. Performed, recorded
and produced by Scott hisself, with the notable exception of the rave
up "I Feel So Good" done with blues punk duo the Black Diamond Heavies, Something's Wrong/Lost Forever
is a record rife with testifying and torment. The grungy strut of "Time
Flies" and the Waylon-worthy lament in "Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still
Blue" shows that real pathos lurks beneath the brim of Scott's trucker
cap, while the two-step rant of "Judgment Day" has him at his wide-eyed
best. Check out the way he draws a line in piss and whiskey from the
sweaty heaviness of the Delta to dudes throwing devil horns at a metal
concert in "Hard Time," or the eerie, on-his-knees lament sung with
maximum distortion on "Go Down Ol' Hannah." Just him and his maker.A
compulsive tourer, a Scott H. Biram sermon/concert/throwdown is not
hard to find. Take heed, though, one dose and you’ll want to drink out
of the same well that he has. Scott H. Biram is not a one-man band, but
Scott H. Biram is a band that’s one man.(From Bloodshot Records)