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The guitarist-singer-songwriter-label owner Guy Forsyth has found popularity as an important Texas musician through his Austin-based progressive folk outfit Asylum Street Spankers and as an Americana-influenced blues rocker with his self-titled band in the 1990s. His disparate performances have earned him musical success, including the Austin Music Award for Best Male Vocalist in 2005 and an exceptional Billboard Blues Album Top 10 hit with Love Songs: For and Against.
To celebrate Forsyth’s reputation as an accomplished guitarist and adept singer, Small & Nimble Records released a CD/DVD combination featuring two of his live performances.
In the town of Gruene, Texas (now a part of New Braunfels), Guy and the gang graced Gruene Hall’s historic concert stage that has featured the likes of George Strait, Gregg Allman, and Willie Nelson. The CD Live At Gruene Hall opens with the spoken word introductory of “Taxi” before the song breaks into a bold blues wash. “Telephone Line” gives off a Hawaiian-tinged blues vibe, rollicking rock permeates the ode to the city of Brownsville, Texas, and Forsyth travels country terrain with “Econoline.” Even the standards “Hard Pushin’ Papa” and Bo Diddley’s chugging “Mona” are given sincere renditions.
The DVD portion 300 Miles from There to Here, filmed at the Waco Cultural Arts Festival, is initiated by the rural blues of “105,” fronted by Forsyth’s hoarse harmonica. Again, to demonstrate diversity, the following track “Adam’s Rib” reminds one of Dixieland jazz with Forsyth’s scatting and William Landin’s steady tuba. A weepy singing saw and gruff vocals pierce their ghost-like take on the George Gershwin evergreen “Summertime,” and for the next round, ukulele and finger clicks inform “Mary Mae.” Even the iconic blues musician Son House is given a tribute under the title “Son’s House,” which Forsyth reminds made a discernable impact on generations of blues guitarists ranging from the fabled Robert Johnson to Forsyth himself.
Seeing and hearing Guy Forsyth is like viewing different personalities in one person, sometimes with abrupt changes. His performances may be jarring and inconsistent for some, but that’s the point Forsyth wants to get across: “American music is a really long story…an ever-moving, constantly flowing river,” states Forsyth, and he channels its energy and heterogeneous history in these two performance treats with its different flavors and variations.

Tracklist:

01. 105
02. Adam's Rib
03. Summertime
04. Mary Mae
05. Leadfoot Larry
06. Thank You For My Hands
07. Hometown Boy
08. Mama's Favorite
09. The Things That Matter
10. Beautiful Mistake
11. Son's House
12. Children Of Jack
13. Red Dirt
14. Long Long Time