The new album includes guest appearances by some of the band's friends, who just happen to include two of the greatest musicians to have ever touched a six-string. “Slow Motion in Reverse" features searing lead guitar work by Eagles member and rock legend Joe Walsh, while “Train's A Coming" spotlights the intensity of pedal steel guitar virtuoso Robert Randolph, also known for leading his own Family Band while collaborating with such icons as Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Dave Matthews and more.
Other standouts on Right on Time include the driving, uptempo first single, “Double My Order," featuring rumbling boogie-woogie piano and energetic, Chuck Berry-style guitar riffs. The good-time party jam, which celebrates life and a little excess on a Saturday night, is sure to capture listeners. Meanwhile the easygoing mid-tempo beat of “Leap of Faith," with its encouraging message and R&B horn arrangements, evokes a classic Stax Records sound; and “Lie No Better" conjures impressions of Stevie Ray Vaughan's heavyweight Texas sound, complete with gospel harmonies and greasy harmonica, all used to tell the age-old tale of men, women and their cheating hearts.
Says frontman Jim Dolan, “With the second album, we've enjoyed advancing our signature blues and rock sound, while adding a new layer with material that's driven by more of a country influence."
While JD & The Straight Shot stick to the blues-rock they know best, the band expands its repertoire with country-flavored numbers such as “Right on Time" and “What Do We Do Now." The former tune finds echoes of Johnny Cash's deep, weathered baritone, while the latter combines slow-burning country blues with soaring female backup vocals and an instrumental polish worthy of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.
Right on Time follows the band's 2005 debut, Nothing to Hide, as well as two subsequent tours with one of the kings of guitar - Joe Walsh - who handpicked the rollicking, barrelhouse-bred quintet to perform as special guests on his North American tours. JD & the Straight Shot made quite a splash at those high-profile appearances with The Des Moines Register remarking that the “quintet held a balance of blues and rock, complete with close vocal harmonies and, of course, organ and blazing guitar solos." The Rocky Mountain News praised JD & The Straight Shot's live set, saying: “surrounded with crack players, Dolan was putting convincing voice and emotion into the blues-based set," while The New York Post hailed Nothing to Hide as having “a bluesy, bar band feel" and called Dolan's swaggering vocals “reminiscent of Tom Waits and Randy Newman."
For more information on JD & The Straight Shot, including tour updates and other details, visit our website.
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