RUF Records artists: Dani Wilde, Victoria Smith, Samantha Fish - Girls With Guitars the DVD - New Release Review

The show opens with Are You Gonna Go My Way, a Lenny Kravitz track loosely based on Procol Harem's Whiskey Train. The girls are all in short skirts and heels with Fish front and center but I can tell you these girls mean business! Vocals are shared by Fish and Wilde with each taking a verse and then trading off lead riffs. Both girls play tele's but Wilde plays a conventional Tele with a cutting sound and Fish a Tele special with humbuckers for a fatter sound. On Don't Go Making Me Cry, a Wilde original, Wilde takes the lead on vocal and plays some smokin' riffs on this R&B flavored track. She has an unconventional picking style, more like a bass player and makes it work well for her. Next up is James Gang's (Joe Walsh) Funk # 49. This is a classic rock track and both Wlide and Fish take a crack at the mic. Smith is really holding down the bottom well with her 4 string P bass and she gets a chance to show her chops a bit on this track. Next up is Red Blooded Woman, another Wilde original. Fish takes a breather and the band operates as a trio. Wilde has a very solid voice and her clean guitar tone and palm muting technique is especially noticeable on this track. Wilde looks to be playing through a Blackface Twin and the tone is right on. Fish rejoins for Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You. She takes the lead on both guitar and vocal and makes it her own. I really think that she does a nice job on it keeping with the basis of the original but putting her own flavor on it and not overdoing the theatrics as some others have done recently. The guitar refrain on this track really smokes. Fish follows up with an original track, Leaving Kind loosely based on Rollin' and Tumblin'. Fish plays a few short riffs on slide in conventional tuning. On Money To Burn, another Fish original, Wilde plays some really sweet guitar riffs sounding very San Francisco based including some nice harmonic overtones. Fish's vocal are really strong on this track but the guitar work by Wilde on this track is the ticket. Fisk does play a pretty hot riff of her own on this track through what appears to be a tweed deluxe. This is a really cool track. I've only had the pleasure to review one of Wilde's recordings but if she plays like this often, I am anxious to hear more! Falling, a Wilde original, gets back into the R&B styling. Wilde really does have a solid voice and it does carry her tracks well. Wilde's guitar picking style is unconventional enough that I find myself studying her work. Kind of a mix between a bass player and Derek Trucks. Nice track...really! Juice Me Up, another Wilde original, is a straight up rocker. Fish and Wilde trade riffs and Smith and drummer Denis Palatin keeps a tight ship. Smokey Robinsons' Who's Loving You of course keeps things in the soul vein and Wilde keeps the lead vocal role. Wilde has obviously studied this musical style because she executes it like she has lived it as opposed to some plastic cover as is often seen in contemporary blues covers. Up next is Fish original Down In The Swamp. I really like the repeating vamp by bass player Smith on this track and it gives Fish a really nice platform to sing and rip over. Mississippi Kisses, a Wilde original, shows Wilde in a different guitar light on a fast boogie track. Want to turn this track up if for no other reason ...just to hear Smith on bass. Wilde and Fish alternate throwing down guitar riffs and this is a great track! Wilde takes a break and a Fish original, Other Side of The Bottle is up next. A slinky little track, Fish shows a different vocal style and it's very effective. Wilde returns for another Fish original, Runaway. Fish takes her most aggressive solo of the evening and actually kicks off her heels and walks the audience to play in the crowd. The end is here and the concert is concluded with Steve Miller hit Jet Airliner.

The bonus section includes a really nice acoustic track featuring Wilde singing in a Breman record store accompanied acoustically by Smith and Fish, candid dressing room interviews with the girls and footage of the band setting up and signing autographs.  I gotta tell you, this is a really strong recording and the news is Dani Wilde! Everyone knows that Fish can really play and sing but Dani Wilde really turns up the heat and comes out of the shadow on this recording.

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