This tall drink of water is very talkative on stage, sometimes to a fault. The personality that comes through on record needs little embellishment. Steel’s been around musicians most of his life and logged some hardy hitch-hiking miles. “Time is a healer…time is death,” he muses sardonically on the title number. There’s an intelligence in the lyrics reinforced by confident, playful guitar strumming. No stranger to the blues, Steel does justice to The Mississippi Sheiks’ “Backfirin’ Now” with high spirits and slack rhythm. Sad Turns Becky Siamon and Mike Trask, kazoo and mouth trumpet, keep the smiles coming.
This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2013.