VIDEO OF THE DAY: “MOVING ON (TOWARDS BETTER DAYS)” BY LUKE WINSLOW-KING

Jazzy folk bluesman Luke Winslow-King appears wise beyond his years on his third LP, The Coming Tide (Bloodshot, April 23, 2013). The thirty-year-old Michigan native mines treasures old and new on the eleven-track disc, which melds a variety of old-fashioned Tin Pan Alley–era music styles, referencing such forebears as Muddy Waters, Leon Redbone, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Tom Waits, Justin Townes Earle, Johnny Cash, and Woody Guthrie while injecting plenty of his own originality. “There’s no place to hide from the coming tide,” guitarist Winslow-King and washboard player Esther Rose sing on the opening song, “The Coming Tide,” but they provide an answer on the next tune, “Moving On (Towards Better Days),” on which they declare, “Together, baby, we can make a stand.” The swampy New Orleans influence can be heard all over the record; Winslow-King moved to New Orleans shortly after being stuck there in 2001 when his band’s GMC Suburban, packed with their equipment, was stolen while they were in the Big Easy. The new record is filled with sweet slide guitar courtesy of Winslow-King, a former busker who has been performing since he was fourteen, along with generous helpings of piano (Ben Polcer) and horns (Polcer on trumpet, Rick Trolsen on trombone, and Chris Johnson, Bruce Brackman, and Tom Saunders on saxophones); Cassidy Holden handles the bass, while Rich Levinson is behind the drum kit. Winslow-King also shows a sharp taste in covers, with splendid takes on Ida Cox’s “I’ve Got the Blues for Rampart Street,” Lead Belly’s murder ballad “Ella Speed,” and James Ray’s “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You,” the last one a radically different version of the song popularized by George Harrison in 1987. The Coming Tide is a pure pleasure from start to finish; if you can’t find something to like here, you just don’t like music or know how to have fun. Winslow-King, Rose (his significant other), and Holden will be celebrating the release of the album on April 27 at Rockwood Music Hall and on April 28 at Jalopy.