Marty "Big Dog" Mercer Band - Live at the Roxy

Bitrate:320K/s
Year:2025
Time:71:11 
Size:163,4 MB 
Label:Self-Released 
Styles:Blues 
Art:Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. Cookin' with Grease (Live) -  4:09
 2. Buddy, She's All Mine (Live) -  3:08
 3. Prelude (Live) -  3:51
 4. Helpless (Live) -  6:32
 5. Dig Your Own Ditch (Live) -  4:56
 6. Goin' Back to Warrenpoint (Live) -  6:27
 7. I Feel Like I Could Die (Live) - 10:36
 8. Enough Changes (Live) -  5:02
 9. Real Foul Mood (Live) -  6:45
10. Windy City Blues (Live) -  6:06
11. Top of the Mournes (Live) -  3:51
12. My Little Georgiadore (Live) -  3:36
13. Cook It for Me (Live) -  6:07

Marty Mercereau is a Chicago-based singer and guitarist who gets his stage name from his physical stature, 6’ 10” and 300 pounds. For this release the band hired the Roxy Theatre in Lockport, Illinois in April 2024 and set about recording thirteen originals penned by Marty. Everything you hear is live, no overdubs, no second takes, what you hear is what the band played that night, enjoyed by the audience and now by us listeners. And there is plenty to enjoy too as the band works hard to entertain the audience. Alongside Marty’s guitar/vocals we have sax man Aiden Dehn, bassist Michael Bailey and drummer Ra’Mar Leach.After a brief introduction the band starts off with an instrumental entitled “Cookin’ With Grease” which immediately shows how together they are as Marty and Aiden offer fine solos (Aiden seeming to reference Duke Ellington in his), all the time well supported by the rhythm section. Marty steps up to the mike for the first time to warn that “Buddy, She’s All Mine”, his vocals clear and strong with just a hint of grit. He follows that with a semi-autobiographical song based round some wise words from his father that everyone has to “Dig Your Own Ditch”, his slide work here right on the money. Next up is an instrumental “Prelude” (originally recorded in 2010 and now adapted to include a nicely harmonised sax/guitar sequence) that develops into “Helpless”, a slower song that handles the difficult topic of addiction very effectively, Marty adding an impressive spiralling solo.Marty’s emotional solo playing starts the extended slow blues “I Feel Like I Could Die”, a sad tale of a woman’s infidelity and its effects on her partner which runs to almost ten minutes, offering Marty lots of space to show his chops. That song is immediately followed by “Enough Changes”, something of a reversal of its predecessor as Marty lays down the law: “Everything I did you said I didn’t do it right. But I won’t change, I won’t change any more for you. You won’t change for me girl, so why the hell should I change for you”. Over the raucous rhythm, Aiden plays a scorching sax break. “Real Foul Mood” is a slow blues with torrid guitar, reflecting the mood when the day starts well, but soon goes rapidly downhill as the bank refuses a loan and money is tight.Marty plays tribute to “the prettiest place I’ve ever seen” in the jazzy shuffle “Going Down To Warrenpoint”, perhaps referencing a family link to Northern Ireland which is also reflected in the Celtic feel of instrumental “Top Of The Mournes”. However, Marty is a lifetime Chicago resident, even though he does not appreciate the harsh winters, as he explains in “Windy City Blues”, a splendid uptempo shuffle. Two tunes with plenty of slide conclude the album: the rocking instrumental, “My Little Georgiadore”, is dedicated to Marty’s dog; the comic “Cook It For Me” is about a fat guy who is seeking a woman who will cook lots of food for him! With an all-original program and lots of fine playing, this is a live album that all fans of modern Chicago blues should enjoy. It is certainly one of the best live albums that this reviewer has heard this year (https://www.bluesblastmagazine.com).

Live at the Roxy