Although the veteran guitarist lives in New England and now rarely travels, he does have connections to New Orleans, as his first three solo albums appeared on the Scott brothers’ Black Top label back in the mid-1980s. Quite prolific over the years, while his releases stylistically often differ, his guitar style and technique are a constant.

The guitar is the focus of his releases with a smallish band and a featured vocalist—Ronnie only sings in the tub. Father’s Day is very much a tribute to two Westside Chicago blues guitar icons—Otis Rush and Magic Sam.

In fact, two of first three tracks here are Rush compositions—”Right Place, Wrong Time” and the opener “It Takes Time.” True to Rush’s style, though with his own occasional flourish, even vocalist Mike Leadbetter sounds eerily like Rush. Earl borrows no less than four songs from Sam’s repertoire, including a Westside interpretation of Fats Domino’s “Every Night About This Time.”

Diane Blue handles the vocals on the pleading “What Have I Done Wrong,” while Leadbetter tackles “All Your Love” which unfortunately breaks down on the two solos.

Other blues nuggets include Bobby Timmons’ jaunty instrumental “Moanin’” and Bobby Bland’s “I’ll Take Care of You,” but this is a sub-par version. There are a handful Earl originals here, including the title track, which pays tribute to his late father.

As listeners have come to expect, Earl always includes a spiritual on his albums, and right on script, this one closes with “Precious Lord.” Earl does have a tendency to noodle on the guitar, but he can really smoke the instrument when the time is right. Not a flawless CD, but a well thought out effort—a pretty strong release.

Most blues fans will get their money’s worth adding this one to their collection.