When you take a voice that is a graveled mix of Walter Trout and Curtis Salgado and back it with a strong blues band featuring Debbie Davies on guitar, you have a shot at a great album. When you ace it with a tasteful selection of classic tunes and your own compositions, you have album of the year material.  Jay Stollman, who hails from the northeastern part of the United States, is my selection for debut Blues Album of 2015 with his first CD, Room for One More.

Lonesome in My Bedroom is a classic grindin’ blues tune by Luther Johnson that showcases Jay’s voice and Debbie’s guitar tone…..sweet stuff.  His cover of the Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come is spine tingling and merits consideration for soul blues tune of the year. The original composition, Devil In Disguise, is great rockin’ blues featuring some badass harpin’ by Kevin Totoian.  And Jay’s foray into Little Feat musical territory with his original Love Me Or Leave Me is a tasty little number with some nice slide guitar work by Andy Abel. Ride Till I’m Satisfied is a great blues shuffle with nice guitar licks and the tasteful use of the organ that was originally recorded by Walter Trout.  Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable listen!

Buy this album!  It is great contemporary blues from the first note to the last. I can’t wait to see him live sometime soon when he ventures back to Connecticut.

Have a listen to A Change is Gonna Come ….