The Ohio and Scottish Blues

Last week a friend introduced me to a band called The Black Keys. Very powerful blues/rock with sustained energy. I had never heard of these guys. I pictured a couple big-bellied guys in black suits with long black beards. A Belushi-Ackroyd carry-over in my imagination perhaps.

But the band has been recording for a decade now, and in this clip David Letterman seems to know them well. Keep in mind, they're from Ohio.



Well, blow me down.

Listening to them took me back about 35 years to listening to Robin Trower from time to time on FM radio.



This next one is just a series of pictures set to music, but Long Misty Days is a stirring lament that showcases Jim Dewar's soulful voice, rare for a Scot.



Trower played with Procol Harum before going solo in 1973. (Well, solo with Reg Isidore on drums and the with the indispensable Jim Dewar on bass and vocals.) Trower still plays, but Dewar suffered a stroke as a result of a tragic medical error in 1987 and died in 2002.

Even more tragic is that such deep emotions of lament and longing should not be offered to the Lord who comforts us in our afflictions and satisfies our longings.