Jimmy "Duck" Holmes Back To Bentonia CD

"Drawing from the same well as the late great Jack Owens, Bentonia’s Jimmy 'Duck' Holmes evokes the dry, hostly sounds of his mentor. But after conjuring Jack’s spirit, Holmes develops his own personality ­ ethereal, stark and emotional. I’ve never been to Bentonia, but whatever’s in the water there, whatever’s haunting the grounds at night, whatever gave the place its historical power, clearly lives on in these recordings."- Robert Gordon, Author of It Came From Memphis and Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters"2006 is still relatively young, but Back to Bentonia is already a contender for Best Traditional Blues recording." - Billy Hutchison, BluesMatters! Magazine"Downhome and Delta blues fans are in for a treat - this is the real deal. A magnificent debut set from Holmes and Broke & Hungry Records." - Blues & Rhythm Magazine"Duck is in full flow, playing strongly and confidently. For the most part it’s just Duck and his guitar weaving complex whirls of notes around his eerie, haunting, brooding vocals." - Redlick Records"Listening to this set, it is hard to believe that Holmes has remained hidden for so long. He is a huge talent and Back To Bentonia can only be described as a traditional blues masterpiece that obviously comes highly recommended." - Blues in Britain"Back Bentonia is a gorgeous and mesmerizing downhome blues record that evokes the music of an era one thought was long past. A great debut and an auspicious start for Broke & Hungry Records.” - Bad Dog Blues“Much like a worn-out, favorite pair of blue jeans that you feel most comfortable in, maybe sitting on the front porch watching life slowly pass by, Back to Bentonia takes us to a simpler time of gut wrenching heavy soul and Delta blues.” - STLBlues.netThis spring, Broke & Hungry Records, a St. Louis-based independent record label dedicated to recording and releasing authentic country blues, launches with a bang. The label’s inaugural release, Back to Bentonia by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes will undoubtedly be hailed as one of the finest traditional blues albums in recent memory. Back to Bentonia represents the debut CD for the 58-year-old Holmes. Among serious fans of country blues, the very name Bentonia conjures up images of hard times and cypress groves, black cats and the ever-lurking devil. It was in this southern Mississippi town that Skip James and Jack Owens lived and played, giving rise to the term Bentonia Blues, a haunting, forlorn style of blues known the world over. When Owens died in 1997, most assumed that the Bentonia Blues died with him. They were wrong.In the 1970s, Owens became determined to pass the tradition forward and he enlisted a younger aspiring guitarist for the project. His disciple, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes was no stranger to the blues. He was the owner of the Blue Front Cafe, a now-famous juke joint that had been opened by his parents in 1948. And he was already a talented guitarist in his own right. But under Owens’ tutelage, Holmes became a master of country blues. He learned to play and sing songs from the celebrated canon of James and Owens, songs like, “I’d Rather Be the Devil,” “Hard Times” and “Cherry Ball.” But he also developed his own songwriting voice, and when he coupled those songs with the Bentonia stylings of his predecessors, the effect was mesmerizing. Yet for some reason, Holmes has remained virtually unknown in the blues world. Other than a handful of unreleased or obscure recordings, Holmes and his remarkable talent have been little more than a rumor to most blues fans. Until now. Recorded during two sessions in November 2005, this remarkable CD features Holmes in stunning form, both vocally and instrumentally. Like so many classic blues recordings, Back to Bentonia is dominated by tales of scornful and treacherous women, but Holmes’ lyrical nuances and haunting delivery come together to create a listening experience that is wholly his own.The lion’s sha