CD REVIEW: SPENCER MACKENZIE – Infected With The Blues

Shane | 18 August 2016 | Reply

CD REVIEW: SPENCER MACKENZIE – Infected With The Blues
Independent
13 May, 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

“I got the blues running through my veins” sings baby faced 16-year-old prodigy Spencer Mackenzie, and you might scoff at the kid’s presumption.

He doesn’t shirk from these doubts though, going on to sing, “people say I’m too young, ain’t that a shame.”

The proof, as someone once said, is in the pudding, and Mackenzie is not only a mean guitarist with a throaty and surprisingly mature voice, but he has an obvious innate feel for the blues that some players spend a lifetime not connecting to.

He’s also not afraid of mixing it up, including the jump blues of Mess Around, a gospel-tinged lamentation in Devil (Under Her Skin) and Jumpin’ From Six To Six’s freewheelin’ abandon. Painting the kid as a teen lothario is a bit of a stretch though, and Kissing In The Dark doesn’t ring true, despite him sounding on Sinner’s Prayer that he has good reason to need the confession booth.

Goodbye Lucille is dedicated to B B King, an obvious influence, and a finale of All Along The Watchtower owes more to Hendrix’s version than Dylan’s original, and Mackenzie injects it with a pinch of R&B groove and searing guitar work.

Spencer Mackenzie is a rare talent alright, and being so young he has all the potential in the world stretching out in front of him. A sensible head, some wise career choices and mature guidance here might just lead him away from the potholes on that highway, and this boy could well become a hugely influential man.