PAULMETSA.COM

The Nashville City Paper had this to say:

New blues
Paul Metsa and Sonny Earl’s White Boys Lost In The Blues (Maximum Folk) tackles the age-old subject of cultural authenticity forcefully, with masterful guitarist Metsa and slashing harmonica soloist Earl functioning as a contemporary version of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee minus the personal animus that soured that great duo’s final years (the title track is a Terry composition).

They deliver some rousing covers, among them “One Way Out” and “Lollipop Mama” as well as Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me,” but the most musically interesting pieces are their originals like “Cold Outside,” “Southside Silhouette” and “Must Be The Way You Look.” On these, they move away from faithful replication into spirited discourse, with Metsa’s pungent accompaniment and tasty solos balanced by Earl’s whirling, attacking harmonica lines.

These guys are wonderful players, and there’s no question or doubt regarding either their sincerity or their blues credentials.

Ron Hacker’s Mr. Bad Boy (Maximum Folk) navigates some of the same thematic territory, though not quite as overtly. He addresses the issue directly on “Let Me Sing Like Elmore James,” one of two originals, but otherwise Hacker just blazes away in a fiery solo guitar concert that covers both country and city blues.

Hacker moves from the Delta (Robert Johnson) to Chicago (Jimmy Rogers) while also interpreting material from those somewhere in between (Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes). By the time he’s completed “Come On In My Kitchen” and wrapped the show, he’s justified his nickname and also taken those in attendance at this live date recorded at the Famous Dave BBQ & Blues in Minneapolis on a rewarding journey through various eras of blues history.

Paul & Sonny's New CD

This is the CD Paul produced for Ron Hacker

Bill Hinkley , an icon of the West Bank folkmusic scene , has this to say about White Boys Lost in the Blues:

At first listening to Paul Metsa and Sonny Earl’s White Boys Lost in the Blues compels the conclusion that the span of The Blues is indeed vast and inclusive; every track explores the potential of the familiar twelve-bar form, including Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me.” The harmonies, the rhythms, the myriad emotions change from song to song, but one never tires of sameness, or suffers from genre fatigue as these two friends ply their craft. Their boldly experimental lyric compositions make up more than half of the selections in this offering and instrumentally they are at times technically astonishing. Their first meeting nearly a decade ago was as fortunate as it was fortuitous. Sonny called Paul cold to help him hold down his gig at Gabby’s Saloon and things worked well enough for them to continue in partnership. Sonny’s achingly bittersweet vocals and precise, powerfully efficient mouth harp complement Paul’s rough-and-ready, freestyle picking and tiger-growl singing.

As the live tracks demonstrate, they are completely at home in front of a crowd and more than willing to deliver the kind of blues they expect. Paul and Sonny have drawn inspiration from Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry, the famous harp-and-acoustic-guitar duet from the rural South who worked their way up to New York in the late ‘thirties and recorded and played concerts for decades following.

The CD is dedicated to their memory “for providing the blueprint and inspiration,” and to the memory of two Minneapolis-based heroes of the blues, Dave Ray and Percy Strother. Sonny and Paul have put a lot of heart and soul into this disc, and their love of the idiom is overwhelmingly evident.

White Boys Lost in the Blues is the first release on Paul Metsa’s label MaximumFolk.com. The label will feature the releases of Paul Metsa along with other artists, with an emphasis on live recordings. White Boys Lost in the Blues is available at My Song Store, maximumfolk.com,

cdbaby.com and selected retailers including The Electric Fetus.