While currently wailing away with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot co-founder and guitarist Ricky Medlocke has teamed up with the current lineup of the band — lead guitarist and vocalist Tim Rossi, guitarist/vocalist Rick Krasowski, bassist Brian Carpenter and drummer Matt Anastasi — for their 2016 album album, Southern Native.
From the opener, “Need My Ride,” with its roiling riffing and smacking snare, to Carpenter and Anastasi holding down the low-end on “Southern Native,” to a real southern rock burner, cowbell-led “Whiskey Train,” there’s certainly tendrils of the old Blackfoot vibe to these 10 tracks. The tight playing and vocal harmonies showcase a tight band. Even though everything isn’t exactly top-shelf, there is no mistaking that the ‘newer’ Blackfoot are carrying on a certain southern rock (though here it’s more rock than southern) sensibility.
The re-imagined CSNY classic “Ohio” and a pretty acoustic, Mexican-influenced “Diablo Loves Guitar” instrumental, are two standouts. The days of classic southern rock bands cutting distinctive swatches into the American popular musical landscape might be over, but on Southern Native, Blackfoot is carrying the torch high for a beloved kind of southern rock and roll.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
