Review 'The Cause Of It All' The Reverend Shawn Amos

The Reverend Shawn Amos

By Mike O’Cull

The Reverend Shawn Amos summons the ancestors of the blues and lets them speak directly to modern listeners on his latest effort The Cause Of It All. Out on the Put Together Music imprint, the record is a back porch set of blues classics put down by Amos on harmonica and vocals and his longtime collaborator Chris “Doctor” Roberts on guitar. The Rev had long aspired to return to the raw, unbridled minimalist sound that was his launching pad and The Cause Of It All hits that goal dead-on.

The approach to these famous songs could be compared to other legendary blues duos like Buddy Guy and Junior Wells or Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee but Amos takes them so deep into the old school that they come off as practically avant-garde. He tunnels into the spirituality and strife that the blues is built upon and pulls his emotions straight up from the floorboards. The stripped-down setting he and the good Doctor create lives on a street between Muddy Waters and Tom Waits, which makes for quite an interesting neighborhood.

Though he’s best known for his blues harp and vocal work, Reverend Shawn Amos is also a fine songwriter, author, record producer, and entrepreneur. The Cause Of It All is the Reverend’s fourth album since first hitting the scene in 2014. His last full-band record Blue Sky rose to #6 on the Billboard Blues Album chart and earned a four-star review in American Songwriter. It also camped out in the Top Ten on the Roots Music Report Blues Chart for 30 weeks. This time out, however, he was after something more. “There’s a bravery I wanted to capture,” The Rev said of the songs by blues heroes including Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, and Little Walter that inspired The Cause Of It All. “I wanted to bring back a spontaneity that’s been lost.”

Amos opens the record with a version of Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” that’s beyond brilliant and will chill you to your core. It contains the smallest-possible amount of vocals, harp, and guitar required to be considered an actual song and produces a knockout punch with them. The Rev is haunting and cool as he testifies these blues and Doctor Roberts’ guitar uses an almost alt-rock dissonance to take them down a different road. It’s atmospheric, cinematic, and full of a musical noir that’s addicting.

“Goin’ To The Church” is a newer song dating to the early 1990s written by the late, lamented Lester Butler, vocalist and harmonica virtuoso for the Rick Rubin-produced LA roots rock group The Red Devils. Butler and his band were a true force of nature and Amos honors their spirit by pouring himself into their song. It’s a hypnotic, single-chord hill country-style jam that’s perfect for this extraordinary set. John Lee Hooker’s “Serves Me Right To Suffer” is terrifying and existential in The Rev’s hands and will quickly put the fear of the impending unknown into your heart. The Doctor is spellbinding on guitar, adding much of the magic captured here with his nuanced and evolving parts.

Amos and the Doctor get up close to your ears on an acoustic take on “I’m Ready,” one that’s more intimate than the bravado-fueled versions blues bands typically perform. This one stays a tight course and is a memorable tribute to one of Willie Dixon’s best songs. Other can’t-miss tracks are Howlin’ Wolf’s “Color and Kind” and Dixon’s eternal “Hoochie Coochie Man.” The Reverend Shawn Amos will send these tracks right up your spine if you let him and you really should. The Cause Of It All transforms the stress and vulnerability of the last year into swaggering music that knows it can survive anything. Cling to it on your way back into the world.

Watch “I’m Ready”