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Veteran duo just keeps improving

That's What They Want
That's What They Want
By Anson Funderburgh & Sam Myers

Black Top Records: 1997

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This review first appeared in the November 22, 1997 edition of the American Reporter.

Round 'bout fifteen years ago they met and formed an unlikely pairing: the middle-aged black singer and harmonica player and the brash young white guitarist. But as Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets featuring Sam Myers they tore up the blues scene, becoming regulars at festivals and headlining blues clubs across the country.

The Rockets are no more, Funderburgh is heading into his own middle years and Myers now gets equal billing, but little has changed musically. Their straight-ahead blues still rocks out, Myers retains one of the most distinctive voices in blues and Funderburgh's guitar playing is among the best you'll hear.

The duo's latest release featured another set of solid originals and wonderful covers. The backing band is every bit as good as the Rockets were, and the production by Black Top Records is as clean as always.

Which is all fine, but what makes this album so listenable is that Funderburgh and Myers still click, still push one another. There's a neat musical empathy between them that sets up a rewarding interplay on song after song.