Been A Long Time Coming
My first encounter with Root Doctor was infectious, the band dancing its way into my head. For three days I listened to the album; then I started listening again from the beginning. Root Doctor took me on a journey from their Michigan base to the Mississippi Delta, for a shuffle down the street of Chicago and even on a jaunt through Georgia, conjuring images and memories I am sure are not mine - but while submerged in the experience I am unable to decipher my reality from that of the songs. Root Doctor continually mixes it up from track to track, proving the flexibility of both the band and the genre.
The vocal stylings of Freddie Cunningham were a surprise, meaty and delicious from start to finish. Moved along by James Williams on bass and vocals, and Matt Hayes on drums, the rhythms provide a perfect place for Greg Nagy (guitar, vocals) and Jim Alfredson (Hammond B3, keyboards, vocals) to evolve and complete the sound. Fun, energetic, and soulful, their music is a promise to rhythm and blues that what is past is as close as the present: traditional does not have to be complacent.
Pip McKay - Elmore Magazine, May 2006
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