Joe Louis Walker has been guitar slinging for more than 30 years and could easily rest on his six string laurels but instead remains one of the most prolific song writing, blues guitarists around. You can’t listen to just one of Walkers albums and understand him the way you can so many traveling blues guitarists.
Many blues people get a reputation for impressive guitar playing but never really grow beyond that. Their albums all sound the same and you go to their shows to see the solos. Walker never fell into that trap and Hornet’s Nest is his best album yet.
Walker records for my favorite blues label, Alligator, and on this album, he worked with talented producer Tom Hambridge. Walker doesn’t settle into one style; he strokes the strings tenderly on ‘Love Enough’ and heats them up with blinding speed on the title track.