Broken Hearted Man – Gary Dranow (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

I’m fairly aware that I start all my writing about Gary Dranow by saying that he is a man who effortlessly dances over the musical landscape, delving into genres as different as country music to electric blues to hard rock to dance. However, such reiterations are justified, I feel, to explain what an accomplished musician, eclectic player, and sonically well-traveled songwriter he is.

Here, we find him in the sonic ground that I first encountered him in, and most associate him with: modern electric blues. Like all blues worth its salt, he deals with and describes the deepest issues of the heart. Here, the titular man is dealing with the end of a relationship, the sense of loss and longing palpable in the lyrics, the emotion and devastation echoing through the music.

Gary Dranow takes the essence of the blues ethic and the echo of its original sound and brings it up to date through his masterful blends of bluesy guitar cascades and rocked-up band sound.

Guitars serenade, harmonicas chatter in the background, basslines groove, drums beat, and hearts break. It’s the blues, man. What else did you expect?