The inspiration for singer-songwriter-guitarist Michael Juan Nunez’s sixth album, Rouxsta, resulted from spending time with Paul “Lil Buck” Sinegal towards the end of his life. Though Nunez always considered his albums to be rockers with a heavy blues influence, with the Lafayette bluesman’s encouragement, Nunez decided to cut an electric South Louisiana blues record. To do that, a full band works best since the classic blues records were made with spontaneity and interaction between musicians. So, Nunez gathered former Hub City All-Stars bandmates Roddie Romero (guitar) and Eric Adcock (B3, piano, accordion), plus Muscle Shoals saxman Ronnie Eades and a few other ringers to record at Dockside Studio.
Although Nunez never released anything close to being mediocre, here he tops all previous efforts with his deepest songwriting yet. His half dozen originals never ride the same pony twice and vary stylistically so various idioms of blues are touched. The opening, “She’s My Baby (LAWD),” is a wall-rattling, nail-jarring house shaker of a track featuring call-and-response between Nunez’s sizzling, fuzz-drenched guitar and Adcock’s Clifton Chenier-like piano-note accordion riffs. Nunez’s clever “Jimmy Reed Type Thing” references five of the Chicago bluesman’s best-known songs and captures the unhurried, swampy vibe the Windy City legend was known for. “Game Like Me” crawls with building intensity that shifts effortlessly into third gear with “Think It Over” (a non-Nunez tune) that was cut by Chenier and Lightnin’ Slim in the ’50s.
Vocally, Nunez is on top of his game with an unshakable hipness, as evidenced by the Slim Harpo-influenced “Blame.” The edgy opening lines are probably the platter’s best: “People talk about the way I talk/ I’ve got a southern drawl even in my walk.” The next couple of lines bring it back to classic blues fodder: “The swagger of a driven man/ seventh song with a mojo hand.”
Nunez graciously tips the hat to the late David Egan with his rendition of “Don’t Put It in Her Mind,” a song never released by the esteemed singer-songwriter/pianist. Before Egan passed away, he and C.C. Adcock made a rough demo, which Nunez says hinted at something jazzy, but what he heard was something harder-edged with a thrusty Rolling Stones vibe.
His interpretation of Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot’s “Barres de la Prison” is the most unique yet. Instead of something heavy and sludgy to the point of being bombastic, as it’s sometimes done, Nunez interprets the song with finesse while never letting up on the raw emotion of the message, a poor soul saying his goodbyes before heading to prison. It starts with a curvy “Bluerunner” lick and saunters slowly into the song as Adcock’s graceful piano accompaniment embellishes the arrangement.
The grooves are natural and seemingly effortless. Even though Romero plays quite a bit of guitar, sometimes even the first solo of an arrangement, it’s clear that the only mission is to serve the song. It’s no wonder Nunez and band got a standing ovation at their 2022 Jazz Fest debut. Now if some smart, behemoth-sized band, like Widespread Panic, would book them for the opening slot on a tour, more would experience Nunez’s fiery brand of South Louisiana blues and justice would prevail.
