JAMES LEG
''BELOW THE BELT''
SEPTEMBER 4 2015
36:46
1 Dirty South (Bob Reuter) 03:05
2 Casa De Fuego (James Leg) 03:22
3 Up Above My Head (Sister Rosetta Tharpe) 02:30
4 Drink It Away (Larry Doug Bales) 03:58
5 October 3rd (James Leg) 03:26
6 Glass Jaw (James Leg) 03:37
7 Can't Stop Thinkin' About It (Mick Collins) 03:46
8 A Forest (Robert Smith) 04:56
9 Disappearing (Mark Holder) 04:43
10 What More (James Leg) 03:19
Matt Ayers/Drums
Brenn Beck/Drums
Paul Brumm/Bass Guitar, Bass (Upright)
Jim Diamond/Bass Guitar
Dwight Dyer/Guitar
Fredrick Joe Evans Iv/Guitar
Beth Harris/Vocals (Background)
Andrew Higley/French Horn, Trumpet
The Hot Brown Boys/Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Andy Jody/Drums
Kane Kitchen/Bass Guitar
Kristen Kreft/Vocals (Background)
James Leg/Bass Guitar, Fender Rhodes, Organ (Hammond), Percussion, Piano, Vocals
Sylvia Mitchell/Viola, Violin
Leo Murcia/Trombone
Johnny Walker/Guitar, Harmonica
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REVIEW
S. Victor Aaron, somethingelsereviews.com
John Wesley Myers — who goes by James Leg on stage — straddles the dangerous space between salvation and damnation, and it’s that danger that fuels his unique brand of raucous, rock and blues. Below The Belt — due September 4, 2015 by Alive Natural Sound Records — follows close behind in the footsteps of his feisty, triumphant debut from 2011, Solitary Pleasures. Once again, the keyboardist, vocalist and leader of the punk blues band the Black Diamond Heavies paints a portrait of a man with a gruff exterior and beneath it, a complex interior.
Leg certainly knows how to get a congregation going; we got a taste of that with a stand-up-and-clap-your-hands encounter with Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above My Head.” His gospel piano continues to preach on the mid-tempo shuffles “Drink It Away” and “October 3rd” even as Leg sings about decidedly secular things.
That heavy blues-rock where he’s made most of his reputation appears on the swaggering “Dirty South”, “Glass Jaw” and the bottom-heavy boogie “Can’t Stop Thinking About It.” He puts so much demon into his electric piano that the amp sounds ready to cry uncle and the metal guitar is barely needed. It’s a perfect match for his whiskey-soaked growl, sounding somewhere between Tom Waits and the Cookie Monster.
Leg has more than two gears, however, and his mastery of diverse styles only hinted at on Solitary are all the more obvious on Belt. He melds Southern rock and mariachi on “Casa De Fuego,” his thick slab of organ dominating alongside Mexican brass. He covers a song from The Cure, “Forest,” and the throbbing bass over a New Wave beat seems a world away from Leg’s musical playground until his fuzz tones and that nasty snarl show up.
Even those diversions probably couldn’t prepare listeners for a suddenly melodic turn at the end of the album. Smooth out the vocal and “Disappearing” could almost pass for a Ben Folds song. “What More” is honest to goodness soul rock grounded by his tasteful piano and a little B3; it’s even a bit sentimental, complete with horns, female backing vocals and a jazzy blues lead guitar.
There’s a lot more to James Leg than meets the eye. On Below The Belt, the music is satisfying to the soul whether he’s in his usual element or not.
**********
BIOGRAPHY
Mark Deming
Blues-wailing keyboard man James Leg is best known as the lead singer and organ and piano pumper with the heavy blues rock band the Black Diamond Heavies; he's also a solo artist who pursues his own career during the group's downtime. James Leg was born John Wesley Myers and hails from Port Arthur, Texas. Myers' father was a preacher, and at a young age John and his family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the youngster learned piano and played during his father's services. When John was 15, he attended a tent revivalist's sermon on the evils of secular music, and the young man who had been raised on gospel got a taste of some forbidden sounds, including the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC. John soon wanted to know more about the darker pleasures of the music he was supposed to avoid, and before long he was obsessed with blues and hard rock. By 2005, Myers had joined the final lineup of the Alabama-based punk blues band the Immortal Lee County Killers, and appeared on their 2005 album These Bones Will Rise to Love You. He had already launched the Black Diamond Heavies as a side project in 2003, self-releasing their debut album that year, and when the Immortal Lee County Killers broke up in 2007, Myers made the Heavies his main gig and began using the stage name James Leg. the Black Diamond Heavies released three albums between 2007 and 2009, and toured extensively, while Leg guested on albums by the Buffalo Killers and Left Lane Cruiser, and cut a collaborative album with the latter in 2012, Painkillers. In 2011, Leg made his solo debut with the album Solitary Pleasure, and September 2015 saw the release of his second solo effort, Below the Belt.
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WEBSITE
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TO THE TOP
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''BELOW THE BELT''
SEPTEMBER 4 2015
36:46
1 Dirty South (Bob Reuter) 03:05
2 Casa De Fuego (James Leg) 03:22
3 Up Above My Head (Sister Rosetta Tharpe) 02:30
4 Drink It Away (Larry Doug Bales) 03:58
5 October 3rd (James Leg) 03:26
6 Glass Jaw (James Leg) 03:37
7 Can't Stop Thinkin' About It (Mick Collins) 03:46
8 A Forest (Robert Smith) 04:56
9 Disappearing (Mark Holder) 04:43
10 What More (James Leg) 03:19
Matt Ayers/Drums
Brenn Beck/Drums
Paul Brumm/Bass Guitar, Bass (Upright)
Jim Diamond/Bass Guitar
Dwight Dyer/Guitar
Fredrick Joe Evans Iv/Guitar
Beth Harris/Vocals (Background)
Andrew Higley/French Horn, Trumpet
The Hot Brown Boys/Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Andy Jody/Drums
Kane Kitchen/Bass Guitar
Kristen Kreft/Vocals (Background)
James Leg/Bass Guitar, Fender Rhodes, Organ (Hammond), Percussion, Piano, Vocals
Sylvia Mitchell/Viola, Violin
Leo Murcia/Trombone
Johnny Walker/Guitar, Harmonica
**********
REVIEW
S. Victor Aaron, somethingelsereviews.com
John Wesley Myers — who goes by James Leg on stage — straddles the dangerous space between salvation and damnation, and it’s that danger that fuels his unique brand of raucous, rock and blues. Below The Belt — due September 4, 2015 by Alive Natural Sound Records — follows close behind in the footsteps of his feisty, triumphant debut from 2011, Solitary Pleasures. Once again, the keyboardist, vocalist and leader of the punk blues band the Black Diamond Heavies paints a portrait of a man with a gruff exterior and beneath it, a complex interior.
Leg certainly knows how to get a congregation going; we got a taste of that with a stand-up-and-clap-your-hands encounter with Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above My Head.” His gospel piano continues to preach on the mid-tempo shuffles “Drink It Away” and “October 3rd” even as Leg sings about decidedly secular things.
That heavy blues-rock where he’s made most of his reputation appears on the swaggering “Dirty South”, “Glass Jaw” and the bottom-heavy boogie “Can’t Stop Thinking About It.” He puts so much demon into his electric piano that the amp sounds ready to cry uncle and the metal guitar is barely needed. It’s a perfect match for his whiskey-soaked growl, sounding somewhere between Tom Waits and the Cookie Monster.
Leg has more than two gears, however, and his mastery of diverse styles only hinted at on Solitary are all the more obvious on Belt. He melds Southern rock and mariachi on “Casa De Fuego,” his thick slab of organ dominating alongside Mexican brass. He covers a song from The Cure, “Forest,” and the throbbing bass over a New Wave beat seems a world away from Leg’s musical playground until his fuzz tones and that nasty snarl show up.
Even those diversions probably couldn’t prepare listeners for a suddenly melodic turn at the end of the album. Smooth out the vocal and “Disappearing” could almost pass for a Ben Folds song. “What More” is honest to goodness soul rock grounded by his tasteful piano and a little B3; it’s even a bit sentimental, complete with horns, female backing vocals and a jazzy blues lead guitar.
There’s a lot more to James Leg than meets the eye. On Below The Belt, the music is satisfying to the soul whether he’s in his usual element or not.
**********
BIOGRAPHY
Mark Deming
Blues-wailing keyboard man James Leg is best known as the lead singer and organ and piano pumper with the heavy blues rock band the Black Diamond Heavies; he's also a solo artist who pursues his own career during the group's downtime. James Leg was born John Wesley Myers and hails from Port Arthur, Texas. Myers' father was a preacher, and at a young age John and his family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the youngster learned piano and played during his father's services. When John was 15, he attended a tent revivalist's sermon on the evils of secular music, and the young man who had been raised on gospel got a taste of some forbidden sounds, including the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC. John soon wanted to know more about the darker pleasures of the music he was supposed to avoid, and before long he was obsessed with blues and hard rock. By 2005, Myers had joined the final lineup of the Alabama-based punk blues band the Immortal Lee County Killers, and appeared on their 2005 album These Bones Will Rise to Love You. He had already launched the Black Diamond Heavies as a side project in 2003, self-releasing their debut album that year, and when the Immortal Lee County Killers broke up in 2007, Myers made the Heavies his main gig and began using the stage name James Leg. the Black Diamond Heavies released three albums between 2007 and 2009, and toured extensively, while Leg guested on albums by the Buffalo Killers and Left Lane Cruiser, and cut a collaborative album with the latter in 2012, Painkillers. In 2011, Leg made his solo debut with the album Solitary Pleasure, and September 2015 saw the release of his second solo effort, Below the Belt.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
