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"This 2001 release by Toronto's Paul Reddick + The Sidemen is nothing
short of excellent ... Rattlebag
is a tour de force of dark blues that captures all of the emotions that make up real blues."
-Pete "Bootlegger" Barbeck
Southwest Blues
December 2002
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"I was blown away by what I heard. The fact that the music just feels
so pure and deep rooted made me take a second listen. After that, there's a whole world of beauty behind what you'll
find on this album. This is definitely a keeper. "
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"Led by singer/songwriter/harpist Paul Reddick, the Sidemen are one of
the most innovative bands playing under the blues banner these days; any band leader who cites influences as diverse
as William Carlos Williams, Sleep John Estes, and Alan Lomax is worth a listen. Little here is actually blues as
LB readers would define it, although the subject matter of men, women, cars, night time, love, sex, joy and despair
will be familiar enough. Musically, Rattlebag
isn't blues, jazz or rock, but contains elements of all three. The songs are innovative, challenging and are often
startling both musically and lyrically. Worthy of special note are the driving rhythms of One
Way Trip, the unplugged slide guitar of Pearl
River Blues, and Trouble
Again. Rattlebag will reward adventurous listeners."
-PRA
Living Blues
April 2002
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"With Rattlebag, the band's fourth album, it becomes obvious that The Sidemen have few equals in the
world of Canadian blues bands. Credit belongs to leader Reddick who, besides being a very impressive singer and
harp player, is also a literate songwriter who draws his inspiration from such luminaries as William Blake, Eudora
Welty, and Kenneth Rexroth.
Musically, some of the influences on Rattlebag can be traced to Sleepy John Estes, Fred McDowell, and Alan Lomax's
field recordings. Colin Linden, the best producer in the country for this sort of thing, contributes mightily to
the overall quality by adding his own playing to the group's talents. Richard Bell adds just the right texture
on piano and organ. Nothing stale or clichéd in this rattlebag of blues."
-PEC
Dirty Linen
April/May 2002
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"...a blast of fresh, new blues from
our Canadian neighbors to the North..."
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"Paul Reddick & the Sidemen - Rattlebag (NorthernBlues Music). With Rattlebag, their fourth album, this highly underrated blues outfit manages to incorporatedamn
near the entire history of the blues into sixteen rollicking songs. Reddick and the Sidemen have enough rock chops
to boogie with the best of them but they also have a firm grasp on the artistic demons that drove hundreds of young
men out of the Mississippi Delta and north towards the promise of a better life. The sixteen songs on Rattlebag mix rural blues, the Chicago
sound, Texas six-string wizardry and New Orleans R&B into a thick musical gumbo that will satisfy your soul
even while tickling your lobes."
-Rev. Keith A. Gordon
The View, Long BeachCalifornia
The Best Music of 2001 - Best Blues Album
Jan 1 - Jan 14, 2002
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"Canada's hottest contemporary blues band delivers the biggest pleasant
surprise of the year. Steamy Southern roots-rock-blues with a 1930's feel. Profoundly refreshing songwriting and
intelligent, poetic lyrics filled with colorful metaphors. Reddick, a self described purveyor of "hard blues
for modern times", put down 16 remarkably even, consistently powerful tracks. If you lamented the breakup
of the Subdudes, loved the swampy slide guitar of Lowell George and the wail of the old time Delta harmonica of
Sonny Boy Williamson, and the refreshing brashness of early rock-n-roll, get with this. Perhaps there was a prophecy
in "For all that's gone and tumbles down. Like a lonesome song
make a change blues". Their foot-stomping, exuberantly fun blues,
played with tasty fineness and heartfelt feeling, will soon have us all singing "all
the world is a silhouette of Sleepy John Estes with a cigarette"
A real gem, this Rattlebag."
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"They can move effortlessly from a rocked-up jump blues tune to an acoustic
performance straight out of the Delta without missing a heartbeat."
-Don and Sheryl Crow
Music City Blues, Nashville, TN
December 2001
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"Starting with the second track, Sleepy
John Estes, this CD has a 60's, Chicago blues feel. "Pinegum" begins with a funky blues
riff reminiscent of Memphis soul, then goes into ripping harmonica lines. All the songs were written by Paul Reddick
or the Sidemen, making for all-original enjoyment. "King o' the
Zig-Zag", one of my favorites, features tinkling piano with intertwining
harmonica. Slide-guitar fans will like "Pearl River Blues", "Dreamin' Dreamin'" and "Blind River Bound." Echoish harmonica transcends "06/19" and "Smokehouse". Vocals sung through a harmonica bullet-mike make "Rattelbag" a standout track. "Tumblin'
Down" closes out the CD with a mystical feel. All in all, there
is a wide variety of blues that will make anyone enjoy this recording."
-Terry Underwood
Colorado Blues Society
December 2001 - January 2002
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"With Colin Linden in the control room, Canada's own premier bluesmen
serve up their fourth collection of delicious old style blues, cooked up hard with jagged hard riffs and razor-sharp
slide licks. Anchored in the roots of the genre's earliest folklore, Reddick et al. tear through over-amped scrawl
(Sleepy John Estes, King O' the Zig Zag) jangly guitar and
heavy harp grooves (Pinegum,
Scufflewood) and a clash
of spine-tingling electric/acoustic spookiness from the graveyard (Pearl
River Blues, Dreamin'
Dreamin'). Definitely not for the faint of heart. But experiencing
Reddick and crew's outstanding flair for voodooing up their brand of primitive roots music is essential listening
for any blues enthusiast."
-Greg Perry
Times & Transcript, Moncton, NB
December 12,2001
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"Stark, uncompromising, and dripping with emotional authenticity..."
-Gary Tate
TO-Nite
November 21-27, 2001
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"This bold release instantly distinguishes itself as 'smart' blues. There's
simply no better way to describe something so studied and so original in its approach."
-Eric Thom
Blues Revue
Autumn, 2001
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"While the group has its own sound, the overall tone is that of a gritty,
smoky Chicago corner blues bar inhabited by long-time dedicated afficionados who know their blues like the backs
of their hands and want it played straight up like a glass of whiskey."
-Les Reynolds
Indie-Music.com
November 8, 2001
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"...it would be worth opening your wallet to pick up RATTLEBAG, an absolute gem of a CD, no
matter what genre you want to file it under. Try 'I', for Incredible. You'll never get it out of your CD player.
And you won't care."
-Joe Hartlaub
AMZ/music-reviewer.com
September 2001
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"Slinky guitar work, a rhythm section that's tighter than Laura Bush
and that most expressive harp."
-Jon Worley
Aiding and Abetting
Fall 2001
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"Northern Blues has done it again, once more stretching the boundaries
of the blues, exploring it's limits while remaining true to the spirit. Rattlebag
is nothing short of a masterpiece; not easy, not 'fun', but a fascinating,
challenging, and ultimately rewarding journey nonetheless. In other words, a work of art. My very highest recommendation!"
-John Taylor
mnblues.com
Autumn,2001
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"The music has a strong folk appeal and portrays the true essence of
the blues. The down to earth soul and powerful musical vibes provide the backbone to this amazing music..."
-Michael Allison
THEGLOBALMUSE.COM
Autumn, 2001
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"The listener will notice that all the 'clichéd' riffs are absent
and have been replaced by exciting new licks on guitar and harp. "
-Richard Bourcier
Senior Staff Writer
The Jazz Review
Autumn, 2001
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"Their sound is big, gutsy, and mean and has, at times, a raw energy
that whips across the room like a downed power line on wet highway."
-Doug Gallant
The Guardian
Charlottetown, PEI
August 24, 2001
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"...there is no denying that Reddick has the blues deep in the marrow
of his bones."
-Charleston Post & Courier
Charleston, South Carolina
August 23, 2001
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"If you're looking for that hard edge, look no further than Rattlebag with it's scratchy vocal effects
and fierce Harmonica licks. The whole CD is a rich ethnic blues narrative."
-George Hirvela
Delta Snake
August 2001
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With any luck, the passage of time brings a measure of maturity and restraint,
and Rattlebag lacks for
neither. With 10 years under the belt and three albums to their credit, the Sidemen have shaken things up a bit.
It's Paul Reddick and the Sidemen now, but more than the name has changed.
Producer Colin Linden has tightened the reins here, the Toronto band's energy has been harnessed, and the result
is a marvellous work of constrained intensity. The album's strength and uniqueness is found in the poetic, image-laden
lyrics of singer/harpist Reddick -- "All the world in a silhouette, with Sleepy John Estes and a cigarette"
-- laid overtop the musical grab-bag that is Rattlebag: from the country wash of Blind
River Bound, to the Oh Brother, Where art Thou-ness of Trouble Again, to the riff-hard Scufflewood, to the slow groove of I'm A Criminal.
The road that led to Rattlebag
was a decade-long and worth the wait. "Who'd have known, who could tell," Reddick sings on Sleepy John
Estes, "that livin' so hard was livin' so well."
-Brad Wheeler
Globe & Mail, Toronto
Autumn 2001
3½ Stars
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Acclaimed producer/blues musician Colin Linden has said that Paul Reddick
is one the most original and inventive singer-songwriters in blues today. He is an intuitive, self-taught musician
who is always exploring and searching to express. His work has been influenced by such poets as William Blake,
Kenneth Rexroth, William Carlos Williams as well as the music of Sleepy John Estes, Fred McDowell and the Alan
Lomax field recordings. By no means a imitator he has developed a personal style all his own. As a songwriter,
Paul presents life’s observations in a unique storytelling fashion. His lyrics have a close-up, whisper in your
ear quality of the best songs and poetry. Stories of travel, night, sex, longing, love lost, time and space, both
rural and urban. He is a strong, soulful vocalist whose focus and intensity connect him to the listener with genuine
intimacy. His harmonica playing is a blend of complex rhythmic patterns, soaring solo lines, great dynamic range,
toning and phrasing.
In November 2000 Paul Reddick + The Sidemen recorded their fourth album 'Rattlebag'. The songs are written with the poet’s ear for sound, rhyme, rhythm and metaphor.
The music varies from the spiraling ‘Trouble Again’, to the unusual patterns in the work song ‘Pearl
River Blues’.
Catch Paul Reddick + The Sidemen now.
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