Randy Casey I GOT LUCKY

Randy Casey
I Got Lucky
Dhorma Lab 

A Cool Soundtrack For a Ride Along The Coast in a 77 Mustang.

Even though this is his 8th album, ‘Guitarist to the Stars’ Randy Casey hadn’t planned on recording a new record until he managed to buy the 1969 Gibson Les Paul he’d learnt to play on back as a teen. As soon as he started playing it, the songs that make up I Got Lucky just kept flowing until he had more than enough to go into the studio!
That distinctive Les Paul ‘ggggrrowl’ opens first track Bed Bug Blues just like someone had turned the key in a ’77 Mustang! But the song that follows actually swaggers and smoulders from start to finish; with Casey sliding in some uber-cool solos from the dirty end of the fret-board. 
The jaunty title track I Got Lucky follows and it’s not easy to decide whether this ‘love song’ is aimed at a young lady of his acquaintance…… or the 69 Les Paul!
While this album will no doubt be filed in the ‘Blues Rock’ section; it’s not that simple to pigeon-hole the singer-guitarist as he can settle back on the porch and drop in some down home Delta Country Rock with Little Weed, The Chaperone and the atmospheric Six Feet of Rain; which could easily be some weird Tom Petty/CCR hybrid if I didn’t know any better.
On Broken Arm Blues there’s only Casey playing guitar; but I sense more than a hint of The Allman’s or more importantly Duane in the way Randy makes his guitar go from a whisper to a scream with the greatest of ease.
Any album revolving around songs written on a Gibson Les Paul has to have a Rocker on it; now doesn’t it? In this case Casey nods to both the Stones and Little Feet at the same time with the simply sizzling One Step Ahead!
It’s not clear from the album cover or even the Press Release where Randy Casey comes from; but it’s fair to say his heart is ‘in the South’ when you hear  Racing Stripes, That Train and the  swinging, rocking AND rolling Soo Line which features some truly scary harmonica from “Pinetree” Paynich. 
When it comes to selecting a Favourite Track there could only be one song for me; and it’s a slow as molasses Chicago Blues tune that had me stomping my foot in time with, not just Aaron Bergstrom’s heavy-heavy bass; but my head too as I couldn’t, and still can’t resist nodding my head along to the beat on the sublime New Old Landlord Blues. 
It’s pointless listing all the albums Randy Casey has played on or the bands he’s toured with; but suffice to say I guess he’s learnt a ‘little bit’ from everyone concerned; and that long apprenticeship pays off in bundles right the way through this fabulous album. 
# BTW it’s quickly apparent that not every song here features that 69 Gibson Les Paul; but it’s always there in spirit.

Released November 23rd 2018
https://randycasey.com/