Solomon Hicks - How Did I Ever Get This Blue?

A guitarist who has been gracing stages since the age of 13, his years of experience feed into an album that balances the familiarity of classics like Bobby Bland’s ‘Further on up the Road’ and Chuck Berry’s ‘Memphis, Tennessee’ with unlikely reworkings of modern pop classics by Bruno Mars and Adele; choices that feel intentionally controversial, and might upset the purists, but are all the more interesting as a result. 

Adele’s ‘Rumour Has It’ is transformed into something almost feral, Joanna Connor’s slide guitar lending a gloriously unhinged feel to a song that always deserved this much attitude. The insistent drum beat adds to the frenzied atmosphere that works so well. Hicks is a master of moods, whether conjuring gentle melancholy with his plaintive guitar work on ‘All Your Loving (I Miss Loving)’, or injecting soul into a majestic ‘Feels Like Rain’ with his impassioned vocal. 

It’s something he does very well in his original work too, ‘I’m Burnin’ Up’ is an assured slice of streetwise funk set to a hip hop beat, a striking contrast to the title track. The latter is appropriately sad, aching with yearning, an elegant blues ballad that feels like it must have been around for many years. 

Elsewhere, ‘Dimples’ is given a swinging update that is utterly joyful, the bass doubling beautifully with guitar for the distinctive lick. Paul Butterfield’s ‘Driftin’ and Driftin’ is somewhat darker, almost sinister, as the menacing riff keeps slinking back for more. 

Hicks has stated that he wants “to shock people” and I’d say it’s job done, in the best possible way. ‘How Did I Ever Get This Blue?’ is out now.