Josh Brooks Music

Grant Black is a father-in-law / son duo playing dirty alt-blues from the Otter Creek delta of western Vermont. Read below to see what everyone and their father-in-law is talking about...

The Sludge Swamp blogspot: Great, while short, dose of pure vintage Hard Blues... i definitely hear Hendirx's touch all over the place, both in the hot-as-hell guitar stylings and the gutsy singing. Dont miss this one if you love your music bluesy, riff-y, fuzzy, stylish and with balls and a heart. HIGHLY reccomended.

Ben Hardy, Seven Days: Sometimes old rockers need to give up chasing the dream. Thankfully, Grant Black never got that memo. The seasoned local duo — average age 48 — drops its latest EP, Babylon, like an alt-blues textbook on the desks of skinny-jeans-wearing wannabes. Class is in session, kids.  Brooks — who penned every note and lyric on the seven-song album — knows how to cajole a crunching hook from his axe and artfully weave it into a multisectioned, tastefully arranged tune. And he can really sing. You know the If-Jimi-Hendrix-and-Chris-Cornell-Had-a-Love-Child-Who-Was-Haunted-by-Kurt-Cobain’s-Ghost music-crit game? Yeah, enough said. The album’s title — and opening — track is a five-minute, dirty, blues-laced ramble across a diverse musical landscape of swing sections, breaks and a catchy chorus worth revisiting as many times as they do. Babylon may show glimpses of the duo’s middle age, but let’s hope Grant Black don’t ever put away the guitar amp or drum kit. This is a dream worth keeping alive.

Brent Hallenbeck, Burlington Free Press: On this project with drummer and father-in-law Kent Blackmer [Brooks] is angling toward something rowdier, with a crunching Texas-blues-rock beat. Brooks displays a rugged growl on tracks such as “Hey Mama” and “Money." Grant Black’s debut is a mini-album that propels forward on high-testosterone energy and uncluttered but punchy production by Brooks and Chris Clark.

Buy Grant Black's 'Babylon' on CD or as an mp3 download, and check out the reviews below!

1. Babylon

2. Black Widow

3. Hey Mama

4. I Don't Think That You Know What True Love is All About

5. Money

6. I'll Wait

Grant Blonde, live at The Antidote, summer 2011