Paul Geremia - Live From Uncle Sams Backyard (1997)

This is one of the most pleasing and authentic live recordings, from one of the best country Delta-style blues interpreters playing today. As well as following the tradition of original players such as Willie McTell and Skip James, Geremia lets the songs stretch and grow to fit the changing times. He also adds new and relevant material to the pool, he wrote 5 of the 14 songs on this disc, and without looking at the credits, you can't tell them from the ones written by the old masters. His guitar playing, particularly his bottleneck playing, and voice have done nothing but improve; his voice has aged and adapted to his medium, becoming one of his strongest assets. This comes pretty close to capturing the essence of his live shows, which should not be missed. He is a wealth of knowledge about many of these long-gone musicians who have given today's music so much, and he readily shares it in his raps about them. These vignettes, two of which are included here, are worth the price of admission alone. The humor behind the real-life situations that make up the blues comes flashing through.
The playing and singing here is stellar and should not be missed by anyone even remotely interested in the blues. If he plays your area, don't miss the chance to see him. There is also a great painting by Eric Von Schmidt gracing the front and back of the package. Get this one.~Live from Uncle Sam's Backyard Review by Bob Gottlieb