Blues music often takes a backseat nowadays. Sure, the White Stripes and Black Keys have done their best to spark a resurgence in but, despite an overwhelming amount of contemporary blues-inspiring burdens, the genre finds itself devoid of suitable torch-bearers. Enter Jon Hines.
Cape Breton’s resident guitarist is most certainly Down to Funk on his follow up to 2018’s Wild Things Roam. He slinks, struts, and strolls us through a refresher course in the style that stirs his soul. Much of the album sounds as if it is surrounded by a heavy cloud of smoke in a dimly lit dive bar frequented by the types of people your family and friends would not want you fraternizing with.
Hines takes firm aim with his guitar at the assorted patrons populating this perpetually open bar throughout Down to Funk. Opening track “When You’re Saying” is the quintessential bluesy “ballad” brought to you by a tragically toxic twosome. It finds Jon questioning, “Baby, when you’re saying you won’t come around no more, why are you still knocking on my door?” And not to be a downer, despite the “sweet little things” Hines whispers to said Baby, I wouldn’t bet on everything being alright with them as he assured her. Mainly because he thinks she’s “crazy, but that’s why I’m in love with you.”
Perfectly sequenced to follow is “When You’re Saying is Mystic Rhythm” which finds our protagonist entranced by his next infatuation. Amidst his tight and teasing guitar licks, he assures us that his latest desire will “soon be [his]”. The track has a hypnotic element that one would imagine is matched by the movements of its muse. Further along his journey, we find him assuring his darling that the “House Always Wins” in his efforts to sway her into succumbing to her urges.
Down to Funk is not entirely salacious and seductive, you are just as likely to find well-worn advisors at this den of iniquity. Hines strikes a more reflective and earnest tone on tracks like “Howling at the Moon” and “Happy Day Blues” — the latter of which finds an almost gospel tone in its chorus.
Hines hits up the jukebox on “At First Light” and takes us on a country-tinged interlude. The shift in tone allows his vocals to take the lead while a much more subtle guitar rhythm still provides guidance. The old-time country feel creates a whirlwind of sorrow and determination that allows itself to feel the strain of life’s tougher moments while refusing to relent.
The most surprising song is saved for last as “Carpe Diem” winds down your night of booze, bad behaviour, and questionable decisions. It is a, dare I say, hopeful and optimistic climax, provoking the feeling of leaving that dark and dreary haze and setting out into a beautifully clear moonlit night. You have tempted fate with the worst of them and come out all the better for it. It was a great (possibly regrettable) night, but you feel assured that tomorrow can and will be better.