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Waxed - Record Review from Issue #61 Jan-Feb 2006

Jon Nicholson

A Lil Sump'm Sump'm (Warner Bros)

By

Among the primary members of Nashville’s so-called Muzik Mafia (which also includes Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich), Jon Nicholson is the artist whose music is least tethered to a country influence. That doesn’t mean, however, that Nicholson is any less a genre-buster than his brethren. Adopting ’70s-style soul music as his starting point, the former Wisconsin native mixes and matches hook-driven guitar rock with stripped-down, keyboard-based funk. Tracks such as the R&B ballad “Grass River” and the sax-and-organ-fueled “7 Days” evoke Otis Redding by way of the Black Crowes. (Vocally, Nicholson often brings to mind the Crowes’ Chris Robinson.) On the other hand, the crunchy guitar riff in “Rock & Roll” (not the Led Zeppelin song) packs a piledriver wallop that does justice to the song’s title. Best of all, a joyous vibe courses through A Lil Sump’m Sump’m in a manner not far removed from gospel music. And that’s one aspect of ’70s soul certainly worthy of greater resurrection.

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Originally Featured in Issue #61 Jan-Feb 2006

Cover of Issue #61 Jan-Feb 2006

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