Review: BC Combo Featuring Bev Conklin 'Glass Half Full'

Review: BC Combo Featuring Bev Conklin ‘Glass Half Full’

By Jim Hynes

New Orleans native Bev Conklin, “BC,” has been a tireless, enduring force for the blues for over three decades in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. She established the Women’s Blues Alliance, the Lehigh River Blues Jam, and the new Roots Music Concerts series to nurture blues growth in the region, which, through the efforts of Conklin and others, has become one of the most devout blues audiences in the country. Glass Half Full is Conklin’s eighth album, delivered by her five-piece band, The BC Combo. It is her debut for MoMojo Records, part of the family of Sallie Bengston’s Nola Blue, perhaps the fastest-growing blues label in the country.

The album is a live performance captured at the fabled Godfrey Daniels listening room in Bethlehem, PA, on November 7, 2024. The catalyst for this performance was Conklin’s co-writer and bandleader, Wayne Smith’s, recent loss of his brother to suicide. Thus, we have an array of poignant emotions ranging from frustration to revelation and points in between. Conklin says, “This new album proves that words do matter, can heal, and that music is colorblind when it moves you.”

Conklin is the executive producer and lead vocalist on most tracks, while Smith is the producer and songwriter, who also takes the mic on several tunes. Typically, the band features two guitarists, Smith and Chicago-born Joe Mac, although Smith doubles on organ. Glenn Spadone is the drummer, and Mitch Shelly is the bassist.

Opener “That Would Be Us,” already released as a single, is an uplifting foot stomper with Conklin on the lead and Smith on supporting vocals, spiked by a searing guitar solo by Joe Mac. Conklin has the mic to herself on the steady rolling, sultry ”Hooked on a Chain, “the album’s second single, one that Smith wrote specifically for her. BC fronts the band on the shuffling title track as Smith and Mac trade explosive leads and rhythmic riffs. Along with BC’s heartfelt, give-it-all vocals, the contrasting guitar styles of Mac and Smith, which show best in interplay, make it an enjoyable feature of the band live. One of BC’s strongest performances comes in the mid-tempo “A Little Too Blue, where she brings her distinctive smooth soul before the guitarists take it into rocking territory.

Smith and BC share the mic for the rocking “Mr. Agent Man,” a plea for the working musician who needs more gigs. Here, the band shows its customary versatility, marrying roots, blues, and rock. BC wails on “Love and Affection, and the two guitarists launch into liftoff, inspired by her energy. “No Back Door,” with its line “I wish you were here,” is a direct ode to Smith’s brother, and is delivered in a more stately fashion than many of the others, both vocally and in terms of fretwork. Smith aptly conjures a a ‘70s quasi- psychedelic rock sound in the standout “Janis and Jimi,” thinking of two others who passed far too soon.

“It’s a Small Club,” an aptly titled tune incidentally for the room that only holds about one hundred, most have had its worn wooden walls shaking with Spadone’s insistent beats, the ripping guitars, and the augmented brass of Dennis Weland. The funky, danceable groove continues as Smith and BC share mics over the chugging guitars on “We’re Gonna Get Some, ‘ with Smith adding some new textures by doubling on organ. The band closes with Smith singing the riff-heavy “I’ll Leave With a Song,” a jubilant conclusion to what had to have been a seriously emotional evening for him.

It’s always refreshing to see a regional band break out to receive broader attention. Few deserve that more than Bev Conklin and her talented BC Combo. MoMojo has done it again, just as they did for Dustin Douglas and the Electric Gentleman, Jad Tariq, and Allison August.

“That Would Be Us”