Jerry Joseph: Weird Blood

Jerry Joseph has never suffered from a writer's block. With a back catalog of about 30 albums he never runs of of things to write about - it helps that he plays 150 shows a year and travels a lot, bringing his music to places that are not widely recognized as rock stronholds. He was a volunteer music teacher in Kabul, Afghanistan, showing his pupils the basics of rock guitar.

His latest album Weird Blood was originally planned as an EP, but he could not help himself and brought more songs to the studio. Producer Dave Schools made it clear that he wanted all of them on the album. Joseph is a longtime friend - he wrote songs for School's band Widespread Panic - and they were members of the supergroup Stockholm Syndrome.

Weird Blood is a typical Jerry Joseph album, recorded with his longtime band The Jackmormons: Steve Drizos (drums) and Steven James Wright (bass). He paints with broad strokes, his eyes wide open for the good and the bad thins that he comes across. He is an optimist and comes close to preaching in the gospel-tinged Peace in Our Day, but he can write a rowdy rock song as well, Bruce Springsteen will be jealous that he did not come with 3-7-77. But when push comes to the shove, it's blues rock that fits him best in Wild Wild West and the meandering title track, with nifty call-and-response vocals to boot.