Ruf Records

So, let’s say there’s this guy named Devon. Devon … Smith, we’ll call him.

This Devon Smith guy was born with a soul naturally saturated with music, but he was a fairly late bloomer as far as embracing his passion as a career. He was in his mid-30s before cutting his first album with his band Honeytribe – and the proof was in the pudding: Devon had a serious set of soulman pipes and could play some wicked guitar, to boot. (Which was ironic, as even though he’d been playing guitar since his early teens, he thought of himself as a rhythm guitarist … until the age of 32, when he squared his shoulders and dug into his Gibson.)

In the years since, Devon has recorded a second album with Honeytribe, made the ground shake with The Royal Southern Brotherhood and recorded a pair of albums with his name on the cover – the most recent of which is Ragged & Dirty. And if you like your rock mixed with some blues … and your blues mixed with soul … and your soul mixed with some R&B and BBQ and sweat and grease and grit, then Ragged & Dirty is going to make you smile.

This Smith fellow has a voice that packs plenty of punch, whether we’re talking the opening roar of “Half The Truth” or the closing dobro-and-percussion intimacy of “Leave The City”. Many of the tunes were either written by him or producer (and drummer) Tom Hambridge, but they feel totally at home alongside a cover of a killer Otis Taylor groove (“Ten Million Slaves”) or the old Luther Allison blues strut “Ragged & Dirty”. And when Mr. Devon launches into The Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around”, it’s 1972 all over again, only cooler and s-s-s-sexier.

Bassist Felton Crews is as funky and fearless as you would expect anyone whose tours of duty include stints with Miles Davis and Charlie Musselwhite while keyboardist Marty Sammon doles out everything from fat slathers of time-machine B3 to straight-on rock ‘n’ roll piany (listen to his stuff on “Times Have Changed” and tell me that’s not just what the doctor ordered). And while Giles Cory lays down six-string foundations that range from funky-as-hell (“Blackjack Heartattack”) to how-much-bluer-can-you-get (“Back To You”) and guest Bobby Schneck Jr. rips off a fat-toned lead on “Leavin’” it’s, uh, Smith himself who pulls off some of the album’s most memorable guitar work. Simply set aside nine-and-a-half minutes and listen to the lovely and haunting instrumental “Midnight Lake Michigan” – on the one hand, this is classic blues guitar porn, but on the other, it avoids all the clichés that most players would resort to … it’s pure heart; a deeply personal moment caught on tape.

Okay, okay: his real name, of course, is Devon Allman – and, yeah: Gregg is his old man.

But the point of all this is, Devon Allman’s made his own way, found his own sound and is doing his own thing.

I don’t give a rat’s ass what his last name is – Smith, Allman, or you name it – Ragged & Dirty is a damn cool album.

*****

Brian Robbins enjoys some good BBQ (hold the grease and grit, please) now and then over at www.brian-robbins.com