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Album reviews Music

Luke Mulholland

Rating: NNN


Everyone loves a good guitar solo now and again, which is why bar band blues continues to thrive. But the genre’s not just made up of aging cover acts. Plenty of young upstarts are ripping riffs quicker than they can down a keg at a frat party.

The latest player to join the youth blues club is 19-year-old ex-Torontonian Luke Mulholland. His fourth disc is filled with fast-fingered solos and amped-up blues rockers, and his deep voice belies his age.

As impressive as it is for this Berklee Music College-attending teen to produce a relatively strong, focused record, the bottom line is that it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. For proof, check out the track list – he covers the Stones’ Can’t Always Get What You Want, an unoriginal idea if I’ve ever seen one – and the music is too safe to make an impact.

Mulholland needs a few more years of musical growth before he’ll make any real waves on North America’s blues scene.

Top track: Caught Up In A Dream

Luke Mullholand plays Lee’s Palace Saturday (November 22).

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