Sonic Jet Fuel: Greg Koch’s Blues
If Greg Koch could bottle his band’s sound, he’d put Red Bull and Monster out of business.
The Wisconsin-based 6’7” Sasquatch of guitar, Greg Koch, is a known entity among serious guitarists, but as his new Blues album demonstrates, Greg has something everyone wants: boundless energy, on tap. Named by Fender as one of the top ten unsung guitarists, he’s known for oozing humor in his YouTube videos and on stages across the world, both as a frontman and as a brand ambassador for various guitar, amp, and pedal makers. Perhaps less recognized is that his mirth and joie de vivre come out in every note and strange sound he manages to tear from his strings, and these playful fist pumps of self-expression run the gamut of musical styles. From blues-rock to surf to funk to jazz to country, Koch has left no stone unturned in his quest for mastery of the instrument, blending his wide bounty into his own signature style, which he calls “gristle.”
Given Greg’s tendency to fly at warp speed from one musical universe to another on the same album—indeed, sometimes in the same song—it’s understandable that some may find his “gristle” a bit hard to chew. Blues, though, is a different beast: an eight-song compilation of two new blues tracks with six previously released ones (an extended version, available from Greg’s site, features five additional tracks). Although still a bit patchwork at times—in part because the production style understandably varies between the live and studio recordings—Blues nonetheless exhibits greater thematic unity than many of Koch’s previous releases.
Despite this unity, the album spills over with a rich variety of musical ideas. Blues is like a rare element so energy dense that a single atom could power a lunar mission. Like one of those absurdly caffeinated beverages, it probably ought to have a warning label: “May cause heart palpitations and outbursts of uncontrollable dancing.”
Although much of that power emanates from Greg’s guitar, he “plays well with others,” including bigger-than-usual ensembles on this album’s first two tracks, both of which are fresh recordings of Muddy Waters tunes. “Can’t Lose What You Never Had”—featuring southern rock singer and Wet Willie frontman Jimmy Hall, along with the Memphis Horns—is livelier than even the pumped-up Allman Brothers version, yet still truer to Muddy’s original. And Greg shares both the vocal and guitar work with Larry McCray on “Can’t be Satisfied.” Despite their hard-knocks lyrics, both songs seem to stress the irony that, musically, blues is often satisfyingly upbeat.
That’s even more obvious on the Koch-original instrumental that follows, “The Stumble,” recorded live in front of an audience and originally released on Live on the Radio, Vol. 1. Here and elsewhere on the album, Koch and company show how well they understand dynamics. They build up from relatively mellow to absolutely rip-roaring, provoking hollered “yeah”s and “woo”s as they seemingly lift the crowd off the ground. Releasing a boiling cauldron of tension to float off into the atmosphere, they bring everyone in for a safe, relaxed landing.
That sense of resolution carries into “Stormy Monday,” a rendition of the T-Bone Walker tune that inspired B.B. King to play guitar. Malford Milligan’s soothing vocals and Koch’s outside-the-box chord voicings lull listeners into this slow, swaying blues. But a force of nature is unleashed when Malford beckons Greg to solo—saying something that sounds like, “you unsullied Viking, go!” Pacing himself and seemingly singing through his strings, Koch goes from weepy blues lines to what sounds like a hurricane of lemon rain.
If that doesn’t blow your hair back, then his nine-minute take on “Red House” surely will. Between tone and touch, Koch captures something special in the opening notes that you won’t find in Hendrix’s original. From there, he launches even deeper into foreign territory, doubling his guitar with his voice like George Benson and incorporating Van Halen-style volume swells, all while nailing the vocal.
“The Damn Thing,” another Koch-original instrumental, takes cues from the early electrified country of Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West. Fierce as it is, this studio recording sounds almost too polished on the heels of the “club-on-fire” live tracks before it. (And come on, what really could follow “Red House,” anyways?) But it does set the stage nicely for “The Ripper,” the closer on the eight-song streaming release, and a volcano of epic riffage.
Blues is a sonic workout for mind, body, and ears. It highlights that so much of what we look for in music, knowingly or not, is the catharsis of energy released in truly powerful forms of self-expression. As musical idioms become common and conventional, their strength is sapped, leading to the constant quest for innovation. In search of novelty and vigor, young listeners in particular often cue into rebelliousness, which in today’s culture has come to be conveyed in the musical equivalent of a middle finger. But Greg Koch’s masterclass of wild musicianship offers something far better: sonic jet fuel. Get yours straight from the source and support an unsung guitar hero.
[Note: On Apple Music, the track labeled “Steppin’ Out” is actually “Standing on Shakey Ground.” This song is supposed to be exclusive to the extended album version, but it appears someone simply uploaded the wrong song.]