Our Pick: Billy Joe Green and the Inglorious Bluez Blasterz – Swingin' Tomahawk

Artist—Billy Joe Green and the Inglorious
Bluez Blasterz
Song—No Way Home
Album—Swingin' Tomahawk
Year—2013

Billy Joe Green is well respected in Canada’s blues community and is a superstar in Manitoba as the original Nish Bluesman! The combination of Aboriginal culture and popular blues music lays down Green’s roots of where he came from and who he is. On Swingin’ Tomahawk, that hasn’t changed though Green takes the boldest production and creative choice of any release he’s made by jumping into the future with an intro-track called Visitor at Neechie Radio Station, NDN-FM.

Here, Billy responses in an electronically altered voice to an Neechie radio interview to let us know Green’s music is qualified for the space age. But the Ninja Turtle like cover art should have been a clue of his bold perspective. This album is the most confident and fun album of Green’s career delivering the culmination of his musical talent on a selection of songs that goes from traditional electric gritty blues, such as the call and answer No Way Home, to some of the most fun country roots on Out In The Country. Blues had a baby and they called it rock n roll and Green clearly isn’t too old to rock as he delivers some classic rock melodies on the songs Great Big World or I Ain’t Always Wrong. Green isn’t all grit and shows his soft side on Rock and Roll Bug.

Throughout it all, Green exercises catchy classic and original guitar licks and goes on to make a statement that he may very well be Hendrix experienced by including a cover to end this album, with the classic Bob Dylan song, All Along the Watchtower. In the music world, a guitar is often referred to as an axe and some may claim a tomahawk is also a type of axe but on this release, clearly Green & his Inglorious Bluez Blasterz are out Swingin’ the Tomahawk to its full potential leaving no prisoners to reclaim that Billy is indeed the godfather of Neechie rock and blues!