YOUNG MAN BLUES
C
arlton and Peyton McDowell are serious about playing music. The two brothers have been playing guitar and piano and bass, respectively, for half of their lives. Although they list jazz and R & B as part of their sound, their debut CD Tribute To Inspiration( it debuted at # 7 on the Living Blues album chart- via Even If Records) reflects a strong blues focus with Chicago blues musicians Brother Jacob, Jamiah Rogers, Fernando Jones and Seeds of Reed expanding the sound even more as guest artists. Listening to the album’ s riffs and themes, it’ s clear that blues has played a big part
By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
The McDowell Brothers
in the brother lives, even though they are only 16 and 14-years-old.
“ We started out playing the blues so we feature a lot of blues artists on our album,” explained Carlton and Peyton on a call from their home in Homewood, IL.“ B. B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed are big influences,” said Carlton. Another big influence is their grandmother, Nancy Rice“ one of blues music’ s biggest champions,” who provided their first music lessons and enrolled them in Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp. At ten and seven-year-old, the siblings were learning blues history and performing
blues classics with some of the city’ s most influential blues musicians. They continued attending Blues Camp for several summers and the sensibility and rhythms of the music clearly took hold, judging from the 13 tracks on Tribute To Inspiration.
Kicking off with a slow blues track,“ Runaway Blues” accented with Carlton’ s flavorful guitar intro and Brother Jacob belting out heartbreak, the mood is set for an album full of good blues. The next tune,‘ Left Me In The Cold” boasts a surprisingly skilled blues groove, considering that the song was written by Peyton when he was seven-year-old. Brother Jacob pours out the tale of a no good woman and Jamiah Rogers serves up a blistering guitar solo. The lyrics, about a trifling lady with a“ body cut from a perfect mold” were written by the brothers’ mother and grandmother.
Indeed, the CD, released in May, is a community affair with the McDowell Brothers’ music teachers, mentors and family all contributing. Despite their age and obvious input from their elders, the album doesn’ t sound like a school project but rather a professional release from promising young musicians.
“ We learned a lot at Blues Camp about musicianship-- going in and out of solos, stage presence, it’ s much more than just playing,” said Peyton. " We didn’ t have a clue when we first started. We had only been playing for three weeks," said Carlton about their introduction to Blues Camp.“ There were with a lot of kids who were professional musicians and already had albums. That prepared us for this level.”
" This level " clearly means polished and confident, as demonstrated by the
CDs standout instrumentals,“ Jam,”“ Brothers” and“ Delta Interlude”. The tunes work as a talent showcase, with Carlton’ s guitar weaving perfectly over Peyton’ s bass and“ Delta Interlude” swings with a guest harp performance by Fernando Jones. Neither of the boys sing( although that could change) and they effectively use their instruments to do all the expressing for them.
Two special songs,“ Imma Love You” and“ Close Together” act as tribute to the legendary Jimmy Reed, with his children and grandchildren singing lead and background on the tunes. The Reed family have played a significant role in the McDowell Brothers musical journey. Their first professional performance was with Rose Reed, Jimmy Reed’ s daughter, at the House of Blues, and the family has continued to mentor them on blues music.
The album ' s last few songs highlight the siblings jazz influence, with an elegant cover of the Loggins and Messina tune and Stepper’ s classic,“ Pathway To Glory” and soaring take on Billy Preston’ s‘ With You I’ m Born Again,” dedicated to their grandfather.
Both McDowell brothers play in musical ensembles at Homewood Flossmoor High School and are certain that they will continue to play on some level when they grow up, with a particular interest in music production. For now, they’ re happy to be able to create their own music.“ It’ s not about making money, we’ re doing this to please people’ s ears. We’ re going on to college to be successful humans, which means being happy with what you do and for me, that means playing music,” said Carlton. According to Peyton, they may
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16 illinoisentertainer. com august 2016