Livin' Every Day (CD - 1999)

Walter Trout & The Free Radicals: Walter Trout (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Paul Kallestad (Hammond B-3 organ); # AKA James Trapp (bass); Bernard Pershey (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Jim Spake (saxophone); Scott Thompson (trumpet); Ernest Williamson (piano); Jackie Johnson, William Brown, Bertram Brown, Wally Bass (background vocals).

Engineers: Skid Mills, Pete Matthews, Jason Latshaw.

Walter Trout: Walter Trout (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Jim Spake (saxophone); Scott Thompson (trumpet); Ernest Williamson (piano); Jackie Johnson, William Brown , Bertram Brown (background vocals); Wally Bass.

Blues-rocker Walter Trout struts his stuff on Livin' Every Day, the follow-up to his self-titled 1998 major-label debut. Overall, it's another fine outing for rabid blues guitar fans, full of gritty, gutsy playing and well-executed band support. Although songwriting isn't the album's primary focus, there are a number of tough survivor's tales here that resonate pretty well. On the other side of the coin, his balladry tries to be sincere yet leans toward sentimentality, which can dissipate the fire of the harder-rocking tracks. Still, Livin' Every Day is an entirely worthy effort by one of contemporary blues-rock's most underrated instrumentalists. ~ Steve Huey minimize