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Published in Blues Matters s this?! |
April 2006 Pub
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MICHAEL JUAN NUNEZ
About To Snap
Parishline
This is fundamentally a solo album although there is support from an assortment of musicians, mainly covering bass and drums. The majority of tracks highlight Michael Juan Nunez's excellent vocal and electric guitar skills although there is far more here than just your standard electric blues/rock offering. On "Don't Mind Getting" we are treated to some tasty acoustic 12 string guitar picking, while on "Donkey Donkey" he gets all funky in a swampy Cajun style, the final track "Empty House" is a pure Folk Blues number. This album not only showcases Michael Juan Nunez's playing prowess but additionally his song writing skills, all but one track is self written, the pick of the bunch is the moody "Rusted Blade" where he really puts in a menacing vocal performance. Throughout the album there is the use of some very low "lo-fi" Samples, which while not interfering with the blues flow, do add some modern interpretations on the blues. I was really impressed with this album - while the music is fairly unique, I am at times reminded of the versatile Robbie McIntosh in the guitar style and delivery.
-Adrian Blacklee |
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Published in Blues Revue! |
November 2005Info |
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When it becomes difficult to pigeonhole an artist, it speaks highly of their originality. When they've achieved a style all their own in a short time, without cloning name-brand influences to get there, it's even more impressive. Such is the case with Michael Juan Nunez. One moment, he's off in one direction; the next, he
back flips and takes you somewhere totally different, yet both destinations are of his own making. He hails from Lafayette, La., where country merged with Cajun music, rock 'n' roll blended with Delta blues, and zydeco met soul. He earned his stripes in smoky bars and out-of-the-way roadhouses.
His second release gets off to a powerful start with "Pack My Bag Blues," a gutbucket assault that underlines his dark, brooding slide, devil-driven vocals and piercing, otherworldly howl. The words "black cat bone" have never sounded so menacing. The jaunty "My Cadillac" is the first of four love songs; here Nunez professes undying affection for a classic ride in an SUV world. "Don't Mind Getting" takes on country blues, with help from the criminally
under celebrated D.L. Menard on rhythm guitar. "Pocketful of Jesus" takes bible-thumping salvation to new levels with a fat backbeat, a drug-addled delivery, and guitar contributions from the late Harry Hypolite.
The intro to "Roll-n-Tumble" barely hints at what will follow, as technology works with percussive effects to give birth to a bright, shiny version of the old chestnut complete with inventive samples, crisp drums, and pointedly wicked guitar solos. "Donkey Donkey" is simply fun; the band's deep, Cajun-dipped groove turns into a party and keeps going until it simply drifts away. The ominous "Rusted Blade" is built on Nunez's low-down vocal delivery, while the boisterous "Mama's Kitchen" is set to Clint Redwing's Cajun beat, Roddie Romero's accordion, and Eric Adcock's
rub board. "Down That Road" is a standout, its dark slide and ragged, urgent vocals building to a thick gumbo.
As a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and creative force, Nunez is one to watch. If he snaps, it
won't be from bending his principles: This record comes from the heart.
-Eric Thom |
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Published in The Daily Advertiser lash! |
September 2005li Info |
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For the ten years of my tenure writing Perform! I have been banging the drum touting the incredible talent that grace the stages and performing areas of Acadiana. I am delighted to say that I am going to continue. I will forever remain
slack jawed at the length and breadth of our home grown folks who should be on stages in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta or Chicago. Instead, because of their love of home and family, they choose to remain here. Sorry ‘bout ‘dat, Chicago.
One such performer is guitarist and songwriter Michael Juan Nunez. A native of Erath, Nunez is a cross between James Taylor, Woody Guthrie, Jerry Garcia, and B. B. King. In the space of one set, his guitar work and vocals touch and evoke memories of each of those legends. Nunez, forever an Acadian, sings of crawfish and corn on the cob, of his culture, his family, and the native philosophy of his homeland.
He performs on two instruments. The first, a banged-up Gibson that he fondly berates as being downright impossible to keep in tune, is clearly his best friend. His second axe is a shiny dobro, a guitar with an all-metal body with a resonator surrounding the tone hole. It produces a wonderfully tinny sound which, because of the resonator, travels considerably further than its all-wood counterpart. Nunez uses the dobro to play the blues. His Gibson is the folk and rock instrument. He uses both instruments and his voice to evoke Delta Blues, Swamp Pop, and 60’s folk, larded with not just a bit of cayenne known as rock.
My favorite of Nunez’s repertoire is the philosophical song loaded with sound advice, “Don’t Stand Behind the Donkey.” All of his pieces are pocked with an underlying humor that tugs at the listener’s ears. One of his strong points when he performs with acoustic guitars alone is contributions made by his musical compadre, fiddler Kyle Hebert. Hebert’s fiddling adds to Nunez’s conjuration of the lonesome anticipation of a young girl standing on a levee waiting for her lover, the giggle of laissez les bon temps rouler, the anguish of death, the chest thump of life, and the smells of boiled crabs and low tide.
When he isn’t flying solo, Nunez performs with his rock and roll group, Michael Juan Nunez and the Bone Shakas. Their next gig is at Downtown Alive on October 28th. I strongly urge Acadiana to shake their bones and go downtown to pass a good time. In the event that you can’t, Nunez has produced two CD’s: Michael Juan Nunez and About to Snap. Both CD’s are well worth the listening. Standing in front of the stage listening to the artist’s voice and guitars is even better.
-Ray Blum |
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Published in OffBeat Magazine sh! |
August 2005i Info |
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A presidential term ago Michael Juan Nunez proved there was life after the River Babys, Lafayette’s seminal rockers, by dropping a dandy of a solo acoustic blues debut. This one too was destined for another round of acoustic alchemy but soon morphed into its own entity, a true community affair where unrehearsed sideman had plenty of freewheeling opportunity to play au natural and rely on instinct. As a result, each track sounds refreshingly loose and distinctly different. Tender introspective testimonies, such as “We Got Love,” balance well with the jagged chords, wailing screams, thumping drums of “Pack My Bag Blues” and the delicate finger picking of “Don’t Mind Getttin’,” a Mississippi John Hurt inspired-original featuring D.L. Menard on acoustic guitar. The fireballin’ guitarist likes to rock it up all right, witness the edgy “Water and Steel” or the bawdy funky “Donkey Donkey” that was once slotted for the last River Babys’ record. But he also likes to swing it a bit, popping it into cruise control on “My Cadillac” as well as try his hand at jazzy R&B (“I am no Saint”) and inverted zydeco (“Mama’s Kitchen”) with Roddie Romero’s accordion playing buried in the backdrop. At the same time, Nunez has plenty to unload, like the TV-preying preachers of “Pocketful of Jesus,” with its suspenseful crash-and-roll interplay with keyboardist Eric Adcock, or the haunting “Rusted Blade” where an anxiety-ridden father avenges a daughter’s rape. In between notes and lyrics, Nunez splices snippets of scratchy records, burning papers, amps about to explode, buzzing strings and trad blues riffs for many a hip effect. Nunez has certainly outdone himself this time.
-Dan Willging |
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Published in The Daily
Advertiser! |
July 8, 2005bli Info |
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Ask a rock or blues guitarist about his influences and you'll likely get a list of names, ranging from Robert Johnson to Eric Clapton and beyond. Ask guitarist Michael Juan Nunez of Erath about his influences and you won't get fellow guitar players, but music producers who have worked with some of his favorite artists. On his new CD, "About to Snap" on Parish Line Records, Nunez followed the influence of producers who have worked with the Neville Brothers, Emmy Lou Harris, Los Lobos and Bonnie Raitt. "From the beginning, we wanted to make a different record," said Nunez. "I wanted to bring in some of my influences. Instead of musicians and guitars players, a lot of my influences are producers - Daniel Lanois, Tchad Blake, people like this. I like the way they make records. They paint pictures with the records. "They're the unsung heroes of music. When I went in, the idea was to take some of these influences and put them to work. One of the things was to make all the songs different, have their own category. "In order to do that, we brought in a lot of musicians. Fortunately, I have a lot of friends who are really, really great musicians."
The results are an entertaining CD of 14 rock and blues originals that feature dashes of Cajun, zydeco, R&B and more. Friends include guest musicians such as Cajun music legend D.L. Menard, who played rhythm guitar on "Don't Mind Gettin'." The late Harry Hypolite played guitar (left channel) on "Pocketful of Jesus" and "Donkey Donkey." Eric Adcock throws in some Hammond B3 organ on "I Am No Saint." Roddie Romero adds accordion to "Momma's Kitchen."
Nunez said playing with veterans like Hypolite and Menard, along with becoming a student of the blues, has given him a deeper appreciation of music. "I started scratching the surface with Muddy Waters, which led me to the delta, which led me to Robert Johnson, then Son House, Charlie Patton. The deeper and deeper I got, the harder it was to come out of that hole. "These guys tapped into something that the rock guys weren't tapping into. It was a deeper, spiritual, soulful thing. I fancied myself to be a blues player after a little while, trying to bring that out. "I had an opportunity to play with Harry Hypolite, Henry Gray. It doesn't take but about 15 minutes of being on stage with these guys and you suddenly realize I'm not going to be a blues player. It's just the fact that it's a persona, it's a feel. They play from a much deeper place than I can ever find. I consider myself to be a rock player. Calling myself a blues player does a serious disservice to these guys. These guys are amazing."
Nunez enjoys his own healthy reputation, which began as a singer and guitar with the RiverBabys, a Lafayette-based band that was a finalist at the 2003 International Blues Competition in Memphis. The group recorded two CDs, a self-titled disc on Parish Line Records and "Thicker Than Water" on Sugar Town. Nunez's self-titled debut disc of 2002 earned him the best emerging blues artist award from Offbeat Magazine of New Orleans.
Nunez has shared the stage with Corey Harris, Taj Mahal, Jimmy Vaughn and other famous names. He is currently doing gigs with Zachary Richard, Dege Legg and other local musicians. He especially enjoys his time with Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars, a talented band that can dish out everything from Cajun to Motown. "I'm so proud to be in this band. I've been in a lot of bands before, and nothing against those other bands, but the magic that we have on stage is phenomenal. I've been playing with them steady now for two years and we're still at the point where we're trying to impress each other. It's fun to be on stage because it brings you to another level." "You have so much respect for the guys around you that it makes you play harder."
-Herman Fuselier |
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Published in The Independent Magazine
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May 18, 2005 |
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You can tell a lot about a man from the company he keeps — and in the case of Michael Juan Nunez, it’s a telling barometer of his talent. Nunez is most often found supplying guitar leads, harmonies and melodic solos for Roddy Romero & the Hub City Allstars, and his six-string prowess has also been tapped by Zachary Richard and blues legends Henry Gray and Harry Hypolite.
But Nunez is much more than a band mate and gun for hire. His 2002 self-titled solo CD showcased Nunez’ acoustic
finger picking, and now his new CD, About to Snap, shows Nunez blossoming as a songwriter. He still mines archetypal blues imagery and metaphors (black cat bones, voodoo, jelly rolls) on kickoff tracks “Pack My Bag Blues” and “My Cadillac,” but tracks like the pipeline worker’s lament “Water and Steel” and the cooking comfort of “Mama’s Kitchen” find Nunez creating an intensely personal brand of south Louisiana blues.
Guitar aficionados will find plenty to like on About to Snap, as Nunez deftly weaves a variety of textures (alternating between acoustic and electric) in ballads like “I Am No Saint” and the syncopation of “Donkey Donkey.” The ultimate proof of Nunez’ creativity and guitar wizardry is, ironically, the album’s only cover song — a scorching arrangement of the traditional blues warhorse “Rollin’ and Tumblin’.” Nunez recasts the brooding Muddy Waters-associated track with a heap of fuzz tones, distortion blasts and disembodied vocal effects that sound like a blast from a vintage transistor radio.
- Scott Jordan |
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Published in OffBeat Magazine sh! |
January 2002li Info |
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Blues music has always emitted inexplicable healing powers among its purveyors and devotees. When Michael Juan Nunez of Lafayette's rock monsters RiverBabys needed a respite, this project served as a free-flowing catharsis. A mostly solo affair featuring some fairly organic slide and acoustic guitar playing, Nunez certainly has the stuff to hold his listeners without any longing for other sidemen. On several tunes such as Fred McDowell's boogie-down "Shake 'Em Down" and the original "Corn on the Cob," Nunez sings in a delightful rock 'n' roll angst-filled voice. The blues favorite "King Bee" offers an alternative interpretation, here Nunez slows it down a tad, simulates a vintage dirty "mic" effect and dubbed-in scratchy record sounds that suggests he learned the piece hearing it over and over in the solitude of his bedroom. Robert Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen" is conveyed with sincerity spiced with some stinging slide; "Stagger Lee" offers some joyous rolling finger picking in the spirit of "Mississippi" John Hurt.
The instrumental "Summer Noodle" is a seductively stunning sleeper while the disc's other instrumental "Pixie and Dixie" vibrantly shakes and bakes thanks to some jukin' harp playing from Robeaux, one of the two guest artists featured here. The other featured artist is Charivari fiddler Mitch Reed who cements a haunting presence on the mind-etching melody of "Woman."
Yet, the best thing about all this is not the homage paid to blues gods or Nunez's accented razor sharp technique but just how natural everything feels. The crystal clear sound makes it feel like he's only a few feet away in moderate-sized room, playing passionately and hence silencing the din of a party. Through the honesty of his folk-flavored originals "Balance" and "Good Life," you sense that Nunez's creations are autobiographical in nature and by listening to him in song, you begin to know the creator. Michael Juan Nunez makes it happen.
-Dan Willging |
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Published in the Times of Acadiana |
November 28, 2001fo |
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Michael Juan knows a thing or two about the wail."
Several Saturday nights ago, ’neath the spotlights at The Bank, Michael Juan Nunez entertained a small but growing crowd with nothing but his songs, his voice, and his acoustic guitar. Not only did those who were obviously listening outnumber those who weren’t, but the applause grew louder after each song. That the patrons had come to hear the North Mississippi Allstars underscored the magnitude of Nunez’s achievement: he was getting over with folks who know the blues.
The ease and confidence with which Nunez held his own would’ve surprised no one familiar with him as the leader of the RiverBabys, a bluesy power trio that on any given day enjoys a more rabidly enthusiastic following than any other local rock act. It’s a following they deserve. "Hoodoo Moon," the opening track on their 2000 album Thicker Than Water (Sugartown), set standards of electric roots ferocity that in the land of Cajun and zydeco might never be challenged.
It is not, however, a plugged-in album that Nunez is currently promoting. Simply titled Michael Juan Nunez, his latest is 40 minutes and 12 tracks’ worth of high quality acoustic picking, bottle-neck sliding, and impassioned singing. It is, in short, an applause-less version of what the audience at The Bank heard several weeks ago, and, as such, quite good.
Once past their initial euphoria, however, those who hear it will almost certainly wonder whether the disc spells the end of the RiverBabys.
No, says Nunez. Or, at least, not necessarily. "We kind of disbanded about a year ago. But we got together for a show this summer with Ian Moore, and after that we kind of decided to, you know, get it back together." What renders the trio’s long-term future uncertain is that Brandon Henry (a.k.a., "Q"), the group’s bassist, has plans to live abroad, plans that Nunez and Jeff Lewis, the drummer, don’t share. "Once he goes," says Nunez, "we’re going to lay off for a while."
A premeditated hiatus may sound unusual coming from someone as apparently intense as Nunez -- even unplugged his music smolders. The truth is that at the age of 33, with a wife, two daughters, a day job, and several years of RiverBabys gigging behind him, Nunez has developed a kind of resilience unbesmirched by the naiveté common to the younger and more starry-eyed. "I’ve been trying to push this new album to record labels," he says, "but for the most part I’m getting a lot of feedback like, ‘Well, you know, the album’s good, but we can’t use you right now.’
"Every decade, every era, has its music," he muses. "We just happen to be playing something that surfaced in the ’70’s and then came back in the ’80’s with Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds and them cats."
It still has, he acknowledges, a cult following. "But," he adds, "it’s not Britney Spears."
- Arsenio Orteza |
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Additional Industry Quotes |
Info |
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Michael was awarded 'Best Emerging Blues Artist' by Offbeat Magazine 2002
“Michael has made a very fine debut disc showcasing his tasty guitar, intriguing songs and whimsical, always entertaining vocals. He's even better in concert. I think we'll be hearing great things from him for a long time to come."
- John Sinclair (writer, musician, political prisoner, assistant editor of Blues Access Magazine, radio personality WWOZ radio New Orleans)
"Impressive slide guitar, interesting style."
-Bruce Iglauer (President of Alligator Records) |
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