John Nemeth - Love Me Tonight (2009) 320

Love Me Tonight is the newest CD from a major musical talent, Mr. John Németh. He just happens to possess amazing vocal range and flexibility, is a first-rate harp player and is still only in his early 30s. Nothing reinforces his possession of these talents more than the blues artists who have wanted to play with him. Junior Watson recruited Németh to sing in his band for a time, and appears as featured guitar player on 2 of Németh’s CD releases. Elvin Bishop plays guitar on 2 cuts on this album (Country Boy and Daughter of the Devil), and brought 2 members of his band along to provide background vocals. Elvin also tasked John with singing on 4 tracks on Bishop’s most recent studio CD, The Blues Rolls On (see the review for that CD on STLBlues.net). As if all of that wasn’t enough, Anson Funderburgh asked Németh to fill in for Sam Myers in the Rockets during the time Sam fell seriously ill. That gig lasted 2 years.

John Németh is originally from Boise, Idaho. He first started singing in church, and at 17 a friend exposed him to the blues via the music of Jr. Wells. Wells has been a major influence on John ever since, with John saying “I had never heard anything like it. I listened to that song (Snatch It Back and Hold It) and the record Hoodoo Man Blues for hours”. While still in his late teens, Németh and his friends formed the band Fat John & The 3 Slims, quickly becoming fan favorites in the Boise area. John independently released his 1st CD under his own name, titled The Jack of Harps, in 2002. Eventually, he moved away from Boise, arriving in San Francisco in 2004. From there, he independently released another CD, called Come and Get It, featuring Junior Watson and his band behind him (John). The San Fran-based label Blind Pig signed Németh to a deal, resulting in the 2007 album Magic Touch (produced by Funderburgh and featuring Watson on guitar), and in the CD being reviewed here – Love Me Tonight.