Mike Ross is an artist who has always worn his influences on his sleeve. His new album, ‘Peach Jam’ goes one-step further and is a full-blown tribute to his heroes, The Allman Brothers Band.
Across four extended instrumentals and one vocal track, Ross perfectly captures the essence of The Allman Brothers as defined by the now legendary ‘Live at Fillmore East’ album. Opening track, ‘Peach Jam’ is a glorious fifteen-minute Southern romp that features melodic guitars, supported by swirling organ, jazzy keys and a punchy rhythm section, with some Sgt Pepper-like tape loops thrown in for good measure. This is Ross’s very own ‘In Memory of Elizabeth Reed’.
An acoustic slide driven ‘Grace’ is a possibly the best Americana, blues version you will ever hear of the traditional hymn and it would have sat perfectly on the Allman’s ‘Brothers and Sisters’ album.
The ten-minute epic, ‘Galadrielle’ is a tribute to the late Duane Allman’s daughter. Once again Ross’s fluid guitar work emulates the work of the late Allman and Dicky Betts, and shines a light on his own creativity in structuring time changes within the music.
An emotive cover of the Free classic, ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’, acknowledges the connection between Ross and Paul Rodgers and their shared love of and inspiration by Southern Rock.
Rounding out the album, ‘Derek and Me’ is an acoustic blues tribute to Ross’s late Father. A jaunty little slide based track it conjures up images in the listener’s mind of Ross sitting on a porch playing a new tune for his Father while sharing stories.
The title ‘Peach Jam’ is a little misleading. While fans of The Allman Brothers Band will recognise it as a play on the band’s ‘Eat a Peach’, it is wrong to describe the music on this album as a jam. Ross has creatively constructed and expertly arranged the music in this collection with a passion for the music of the original artists.
‘Peach Jam’, is a beautiful record that is more than a tribute, it is a living breathing entity that pays homage to Ross’s heroes.