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Growing Up 04:29
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about

In case you haven’t been following our story so far, here’s a quick re-cap. A six year old kid starts taking an interest in the blues. By the age of eight, he is singing Charley Patton songs in public. Now, at the ripe old age of 12, Roman Barten-Sherman is releasing his second CD, having just made his fifth -- or is it sixth? -- appearance at the Port Townsend Blues Festival this summer in Washington.

Deeply steeped in the music of the Mississippi Delta, with a tendency towards slide guitar players from the Hill Country (think Mississippi Fred McDowell), “Death of Immortality” steps boldly beyond the bounds of 2014’s “Interstellar Blues.” Oh, don’t get me wrong, Roman has already dug deep into the music of east coast Piedmont legends like Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller, but there’s a decided Hill Country groove that pervades most of the CD, especially felt on “Stars Went Out,” and Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “Streamline Train.” As for standards, we get Roman’s nod to his hero, Charley Patton (“Highwater Everywhere”), as well as Sleepy John Estes, who is represented with “Bootlegger’s Blues” (and based on his 1938 recording, “Special Agent”). As for Memphis Minnie, “Me and My Chauffeur” gets a makeover so fresh it sounds like it could’ve been lifted from the demo tape of an obscure London punk rock group, circa sometime in the mid ’70s, as Roman shouts out, in an-ever frightening display of one-upsmanship, just what weapons he might choose to mow down his baby. Classic.

The rest of the songs are originals, underpinned by the drumming and bass playing of his fifteen year old partner-in-crime, Rylande Dodge — who sometimes switches over to the steel drums, just to keep you on your toes (“Steel Necktie Blues,” “Concrete Shoes”). Together, they remind me, at times, of Hezekiah and the Houserockers (sans trombone, naturally), but when the steel drums come out, I’m left to quickly wonder if I haven’t been deposited at some strange pool-side bar near the beach at a resort in the Caribbean somewhere.

As for those fans who’ve become enamored of his treatments of such death-themed classics as “Last Kind Words Blues” and “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean,” that trend continues here, with the self-penned title track, and gets a rather humorous twist in “Concrete Shoes” (“Uhm, Sir. I need a return. Sorry, only if you have a receipt. But I have them on and I’ve tried them on — these concrete shoes don’t fit”).

In closing, perhaps it would be best to point to Sleepy John Estes, who made it his stock-in-trade to include actual people and events in his songs. Here, in that vein, we get “Trapped Inside” and “Growing Up” — a reflection of his changing tastes, as this 12 year-old child prodigy continues to evolve. The picking is cleaner. The arrangements are more bold. There’s more experimenting going on. Just what a 12 year old should be doing. And.... the icing on the cake.... I happen to know there’s more on the way. Roman was busy this summer. But you’ll just have to stay tuned to see what happens next.

--- Steve Franz

Steve Franz is the author of "The Amazing Secret History of Elmore James" and produces a weekly radio show, "Blues Unlimited."

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released September 22, 2015

Roman Barten-Sherman plays guitar & sings
Rylande Dodge plays drums & steel pans

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Roman Barten-Sherman

Roman received a handmade banjo from Ben Todd of Lonesome Shack at the age of 2. She has immersed herself in fingerstyle, country blues and ragtime guitar, including the music of Fred McDowell, Blind Blake and John Fahey. Besides writing her own songs, Roman draws from a deep repertoire that runs from the haunted blues of the Delta to raggy dance tunes. ... more

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