What critics and fans are saying about Pistol City Holiness:
“Top 25 Favorites of 2009”
Paste Magazine (Andy Whitman)
“May be the best rock record of the year. Pistol City Holiness could top plenty of year-end lists.”
Vintage Guitar Magazine
“Perkins has created a masterpiece that fuses Mississippi Delta and Chicago blues tradition with a hard-rocking, guitar-driven blues-rock sound that fans haven’t heard since Stevie Ray Vaughan burst onto the scene. Nothing could prepare the listener for the nuclear-strength fall-out of Pistol City Holiness that cascades from your speakers. “
About.com:Blues (Reverend Keith Gordon)
“ . . . a mesmerizing piece of work . . . stuns and pleases at every turn. Dave Perkins has created one of the freshest sounding recordings of the year by taking the blues and roughing it up without mercy.”
Elmore Magazine (Mark Uricheck)
“Perkins is comparable to the U.K.’s Gary Moore—both succeed through sheer command, talent, and spotlight-stealing passion. Pistol City Holiness is fresh, invigorating, and edgy—a roaring, ruggedly recorded trawl into the blues-rock swamps.”
Blues Revue (Hal Horowitz)
“This is easily the surprise disc of 2009 so far. If you’re a blues/rock fan at all, you absolutely need to have this disc. You will play it over and over again and it will still knock you for a loop every time. Blues/rock at its most manic and primal. ”
Blues Bytes (Graham Clarke)
“I give this CD my highest rating—5 Stars. Great blues-rock at its very best—highly recommended.”
Blues Underground Network (John Vermilyea)
“The best album of the year you never heard of.”
NoDepression.com
“Inspired. Fierce. Fresh. I know of no real analogue. I mean, R.L. did Come On In, Tony Joe did Deep Cuts and the Black Keys did Attack and Release, all of ‘em lacing some strain of blues-rock with loops. But ain’t none of them like P.C.H.”
Jewly Hight
“Wow! Smoking hot, hard-driving blues—gritty power and intensity to spare—the real blues deal!”
Washington Blues Society Bluesletter (Malcolm Kennedy)
“ . . . one of the best roots rock records I’ve heard in years.”
Billy Block (The Billy Block Show)
“In these twelve songs, Perkins has crafted concrete musical narratives so sharply focused that the particular overflows into the universal, prompting an empathy that reveals the paradoxical secret of the blues: sharing these tales of suffering forges solidarity, and in this solidarity is a hope that makes the blues bearable. “
ImageUpdate.com
“I really enjoy how many of the themes of blues, folk, gospel, and rock music are blended to make a coherent whole. Which, again, speaks to how good the lyrics and the delivery are here.”
Squeezemylemon.blogspot (Fitzgerald)
“It only happens two or three times a year for me that I put a new disc in the CD player and out of the speakers comes something so good that I can’t put it away. Sure there have been some really good records this year, but this one is about as perfect as I can imagine. 5 / 5 Stars (easily).“
Phantom Tollbooth (Gar Saeger)
“ . . . crackling with the primal roar of Muddy and the Wolf.“
Andy Whitman
“Pistol City Holiness” is a fearless, scorching blues-rock confessional. Not for the faint of heart. Gorgeous tonalities of Reese Wynans on organ; TJ Klay on harmonica; an elite team of pros layin down the groove on bass and drums, and Perkins bleeding mercy via his vocals & guitar. A masterpiece.”
Pam Mark Hall (blog)