Once upon a time R and B meant Rhythm and Blues. And that meant guitars, gruff voices and lyrics about life being fairly miserable. Nowadays, R 'n' B seems to be more bling bling bling rather than B. B. King, but there is, at least, one band who are trying to make a difference. And their name? Steelhead.

Not a heavy metal band:

At first glance, a name like Steelhead brings up images of bands much noisier and scarier than the band you'll hear on this live CD. Recorded at the Monmouth Festival in 2003, Steelhead's music is a classic example of long, sprawling blues-y rock.

Repetition:

Blues does have a tendancy to be rather repetitive. There's a fixed chord structure that even the Ramones would find constricting, and lyrics tend to be equally repetitive.

It's hardly earth shattering stuff. But, despite all this, there is something infectiously good about the style of music. It sounds cool - whether you're listening to Muddy Waters, the fantastically named Professor Longhair and his Shuffling Hungarians, Dr. Feelgood or even Steelhead.

Americana:

Steelhead, like quite a few other local bands, seem to be obsessed with claiming that they come from, or at least, have an affinity with places in America.

During the course of their live recording, they make numerous mentions of American towns and cities: Chicago, Georgia and Pittsburgh . This may sound a little odd, considering the band come from the Forest of Dean.

But their songs would hardly sound as appealing if they featured lyrics such as "Rainy Night in Littledean" or "I'm in a phone booth baby, I've got your number on the wall/I'm new in Coleford, I've got no one else I can call." So I think we can forgive them.

Covers:

We can also forgive them, because most of the songs were actually written by Americans: "The Thrill Has Gone" is a B. B. King standard and "Rainy Night in Georgia" was made famous by Brook Benton (although I think I prefer the more sun scorched version that Steelhead perform here).

An Introduction to Blues and Soul:

The Live at Monmouth CD is a joy to listen to, if only as an introduction to the rich world of blues and soul. Although a live recording, the quality is sounds almost as good as if it were made in a studio - so much so that you can barely hear the appreciative audience.

Which is a pity. Because Steelhead deserve a lot of appreciation.

28/01/04 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire on this link