How good are Scott Holt and his band? Well, when you take into consideration that Chipped Front Tooth was recorded in one take in one day in the middle of a tour, you gotta figure that they must be darned good right? There is no question that they are a fantastic band every step of the way. I have been covering Holt’s career for a few years now and I have always been very impressed with his natural talent and gutsy guitar playing.

The theme and album cover is all about imperfection holding as much beauty as the pristine and technologically perfect. Would you think the girl on the cover could be more beautiful if she did not smile? Holt works from the premise that technology and all its trappings take away the spontaneity of recorded music. Therefore, what you have here is recorded music uncut with mistakes and all. I did not mind it one bit; in fact, I do not have ears trained to look for idiosyncratic inconsistencies and mistakes by a guitar player, who cares? The dude rocks, always has, and he plays some of the most exciting kick ass blues rock on the planet, good enough for this cat, how about you? Its da blues baby, played just like it should be. This is the way you would hear it in any juke joint worth its salt.

The excellent guitar man Tab Benoit lends a hand with some great pedal steel and accordion, including the mix down of the project as well. It sure did not hurt having that kind of expertise available to put some dare I say…more polish to a diamond in the rough (because of the way it was recorded). My favorite tracks are “Moanin' for You Girl” and “Rockin’ Daddy,” which is Holt at his very best as far as I am concerned.

I would not be surprised if Holt ends up on Benoit’s Telarc label after his stay with Lightyear. He has done his share of label jumping and has not found that magic combination of management, label and PR that will put his name in lights like his contemporaries. He is over due, I hope this one does it for him; he has paid his dues and deserves it. This album is proof positive of the man’s talents and he does it all without any technological wizardry to cover anything up, he is the quintessential pure guitar player.

Rating  4/5