# CD review: Terry Robb – Confessin’ My Dues 2019: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/08/21/cd-review-terry-robb-confessin-my-dues-2019-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2019-08-21T23:39:00+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**The world is full of acoustic guitar players. There are guitar players then we
have a handful of musicians who stand apart. Terry Robb is definitely part of the
latter. He may be the best acoustic player that a majority of the music listening
audience has not heard. **

Music and entertainment publications have given Robb accolades for many years. He
had collaborated with John Fahey, Maia Muldaur and Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, 
to name but a few. He has had tour adventures with Buddy Guy and Steve Miller, and
shared the stage with B. B. King, Robin Trower (on earlier select night’s current
tour), Albert Lee, Joe Cocker and the list goes on and on. Robb also spent some 
time earlier in his career playing in the bands of Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart
and Canned Heat.

He is in the Cascade Blues Hall of Fame in his home state of Oregon (he was born
in Canada). They annually award blues commendations in the customary areas. They
call them the Muddy Awards. Robb was named that organizations “best acoustic guitar
player” for nineteen consecutive years. The group honored him by renaming the distinction
as the “Terry Robb” Acoustic Guitar Muddy Award.

His guitar prowess has him in demand as an acoustic/finger-picking workshop leader.
Robb is no stranger to the studio or stage. _Confessin’ My Dues _is his 15th album
to date and second on the Portland based NiaSounds label. Some earlier releases 
have been solo efforts while others have included musicians. Joining him on this
album are jazz greats: Gary Hobbs on drums and Dave Captein on bass. The duo provides
a great rhythm section for Robb’s guitar work. Adam Scarmstad plays rhythm guitar
on “Keep Your Judgement”. Mr. Robb stated “Sonically, I wanted the album to be both
intimate and powerful; I’m very excited to bring this group of musicians together
for the first time”.

The cover of the work may give the impression on turn of the century (19th to 20th
century that is). As soon as you hear the beginning of the opening track “Butch 
Holler Stomp” those thoughts change. The “toe tapper’ is a happy little tune that
shows Mr. Robb’s finger-picking prowess right off the bat.

“Still on 101”, “How a Free Man Feels”, and “Darkest Road” all have that delta blues
sound. “Darkest Road” grabbed me with its references to Mississippi, Highway 61,
and the Crossroads. The lyrics do a good job of expressing the thoughts and you 
can almost feel a person coming up behind you during the night and offering what
you want in exchange for something the stranger wants to control.

“It Might Get Sweaty” is a funky offering with pace changes scattered throughout
the song. About halfway through the tune Mr. Robb sets off on a flying-finger riff
that to a bumbling guitarist like me seems impossible for a man to accomplish.

The title track, “Confessin’ My Dues”, gives you an idea of almost everything a 
man will face in a lifetime. “Now Vestapal” is based on the way a parlor guitar 
was tuned in the early 1900’s. The finger picking style was best played in “Open
D” tuning, which means a D chord is strummed with no strings fretted. That became
Vestapal. The song here has a catchy tune with good tempo. It changes to slower 
finger-picking mode toward the middle of the song then builds back up to finish 
the song.

I will admit prior to listening to _Confessin’ My Dues _I knew little about Terry
Robb. I have become an admirer of his guitar playing the way he can convey a feel
with his fingers. The album has a little from every incarnation of the blues. The
finger-picking is jaw dropping, the delta feel seems real and the musicianship is
suburb.

![Image result for Terry Robb – Confessin’ My Dues](https://i0.wp.com/images.
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