The Rev. Jimmie Bratcher - Secretly Famous (2013)

Not only because his lightning-strike performances crackle with high-voltage guitar playing and emotionally charged vocals. Or because Bratcher makes the hairs rise on the arms of the crowds he entertains in the map of clubs, festivals, bike rallies, churches and prisons that he calls “the road.”
But because the ascending blues star is literally a preacher, as comfortable testifying in the pulpit about the power of Jesus as he is in smoky bars celebrating the vigor of the blues.
Bratcher’s shows — regardless of location — are worry-free zones, where the healing, good-time mojo of rockin’ blues sets hearts and minds, and maybe even souls, free. His latest album Secretly Famous is fueled by the same attitude. The disc’s dozen tracks are packed with humor, romance, joy and the thrill of finding the same at every turn, plus some real-life reflection. And they’re all buoyed by Bratcher’s gravel dappled tenor voice and his gritty, muscular and deeply rooted guitar playing, supported by his versatile longtime rhythm section of drummer Dave Autry and bassist Craig Kew.