Review: Stevie Nimmo – Sky Won’t Fall

[avatar user=”Martin” size=”100″ align=”left” /]Despite Mr Nimmo being around for over 20 years I only recently came across his music when a promo copy of his latest album came through my door. What makes this more remarkable is that Stevie is actually from Glasgow (Scotland) which is just an hour or so away from where I live. I’ll admit that I listen to a lot more metal than I do blues but why hasn’t anybody told me about this guy before?stevie_nimmo_cd_cover_only_300dpi

This is Stevie’s second solo album, and on the strength of this one, I’ll need to try and get hold of his first one The Wynds of Life which was released in 2010. He also has numerous albums as part of the Nimmo Brothers.

The album kicks off with two storming high energy blues/rock tracks: “Chains of Hope” and “Roll the Dice Again”. “Roll the Dice Again” is a track that could easily sit alongside the best of Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s material and features some really nice wah wah pedal usage during the solo. The use of wah-wah seems to be a hallmark of Stevie’s playing throughout the album.

It’s not all rock/blues though, “Still Hungry” is probably the only other rockier track. There’s quite a range of song-writing style on display here; “Love You More Tonight” is the sole ballad on the album, “Running on Back to You” has a rhythm part which wouldn’t be out of place on a Robin Trower album, and “Change” allows Stevie to show his versatility as a vocalist as he sings in a higher/softer register. The vocals on the album are nothing short of superb and Stevie has an incredibly strong confident voice which is difficult not to like.

A highlight of the album for me would be “Gamblers Roll”; a laid back track which conjurers up images of smoky bars with lone drinkers crying into their glasses of whisky. There’s a nice tasteful lightly overdriven guitar solo on this one which ramps up the intensity as it progresses. There’s lots of different dynamics on this song, going from soft and moody to a more aggressive rock feel, which is perhaps why I like it.

Ben Poole and Stevie Nimmo UK Tour 2016Sky Won’t Fall Tracklist:

Chains of Hope
Roll the Dice Again
Change
Running on Back to You
Walk the Thin Line
I’ll Pray for You
Still Hungry
Gambler’s Roll
Lovin’ Might Do Us Good
Love You More Tonight

 

If you’re a fan of blues and enjoy the likes of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robin Trower, Joanne Shaw Taylor, and Robert Cray, then I’d definitely recommend you check the album out. Stevie is currently touring around the UK with Ben Poole as a double headline show. I’ll be checking it out and I hope you do too.

Sky Won’t Fall will be out on the 4th of March.

Stevie Nimmo: official | facebook | twitter

 

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Andrew Sanaghan Mitchell
April 8, 2016 8:47 PM

Fantastic album. Possibly the finest I will buy this year. Well done Stevie .