Jimmy Reed. Mississippi John Hurt. Ted Hawkins...J.L.
Stiles?
Well, maybe. On his all-acoustic second disc for Shoeless
Records, the San Francisco-based guitarist aims for the generally sunny
style of these bluesmen, and hits the mark dead on. While other young
guitarists seem intent on proving how fast they can play a lick--an ill
that's hardly unique to blues--Stiles plays with such a quiet, unassuming
style that at first you don't realize how good it is. In fact, Stiles, who
took up the guitar at age 18, downplays his own ability. Still, he's been
playing for 14 years now, and he is, in his own words, a "diligent son of
a bitch."
Clearly, he's done something right; Solo Sessions
is an unmitigated pleasure. In its restraint and modesty, Stiles' music
harks back to his New England roots; the Southern inflection comes from a
several-year stint in New Orleans. The West Coast, in contrast, doesn't
seem to have made much of an impact. He's a good songwriter, and
everything on Solo Sessions is his, except for "Trouble I Had All
My Days," which closes the album. The Hurt influence is most audible in
the sweet melancholy of "Never To Grow Old," and "Fellow Grove" has a
similar emotional intimacy. In fact, all the songs have a deceptive
simplicity that recalls an earlier, more innocent age, and even if such an
age never existed except in our imaginations, Stiles takes us there, if
only for a little while. While his fame is mostly local to Northern
California and his audience is still very much the indie set, it seems
likely that will change. He's shared stages with such luminaries as Keb'
Mo' and Corey Harris, and it's easy to predict that Stiles' time in the
spotlight--a gently glowing luminescence, to be sure--will come.
-- Originally appeared in Blues Revue No. 79,
April/May 2002, p. 56