Simon RushworthRobert Kane — Blues Is Blues (Conquest Music)
‘Staying Home is good enough for me’ insists Robert Kane on the latest single culled from Blues Is Blues.
And yet, from an early age, this most restless of Sunderland natives felt the urge to travel the world and follow in the footsteps of his first real idol, Al Jolson.
Ironically, Kane and Jolson couldn’t be more dissimilar — as people and as performers.
The former’s a quietly confident, humble and affecting singer songwriter who trades on rich authenticity and lived experience.
Jolson, by contrast, was the larger than life, self-styled ‘World’s Greatest Entertainer’ whose manufactured, melodramatic schtick made him a fortune.
But as a wide-eyed kid growing up on Wearside, that’s exactly who Kane wanted to be.
And if he ended up taking a very different path — and approach — to Jolson, then gigging globally has become his stock in trade.
Kane’s been fronting British R&B royalty Dr Feelgood since 1999 and revealed to Rushonrock that he’s always itching to get back out on the road.
In truth, staying home’s never been good enough for a richly talented entertainer who surely belongs centre stage.
Staying within his comfort zone’s not an option either.
After 70 years Kane’s only gone and dropped his first solo record — baring his soul and singing the blues on a beautiful record that’s as charming as it is challenging.
Eleven meticulously crafted songs reveal a more reflective side to Dr Feelgood’s charismatic vocalist and the storytelling’s sublime.
Blues Is Blues colours a life well lived and it could well be Kane’s crowning glory.
Jawbone: jaw-dropping
At just over three minutes of stripped back brilliance, set closer Jawbone perhaps sums up Blues Is Blues best of all.
Exclusively reliant on Kane’s husky tone, it’s a terrific tale and a sensational song.
Who knew a single vocal could sound quite so powerful and provocative?
Kane has always wanted to make a record like this but the time was never quite right.
He knew the songs he imagined becoming Blues Is Blues were never going to work for Dr Feelgood.
But Kane was convinced they were songs that needed to be heard.
And full credit to the visionary folk at North East label Conquest Music for bringing a bold concept to life.
Whether it’s the groove-laden Halfway To Memphis or classic ballad Baby Please Come Home, this is a record that sweats emotion and swears to be different.
Standouts Pour It On Me and Still Blue could have come across as uncomfortably cliched in another setting.
But Kane has a happy knack of keeping everything the right side of hackneyed: there’s nothing trite or timeworn about Blues Is Blues’ very best moments.
Think Mississippi cool with the Feelgood factor. Kane’s blues is white hot.
