The third album by New Orleans blues-rock singer/guitarist
Dmitri Resnik follows the stylistic path of its two predecessors: old-fashioned, roadhouse-style Texas blues leavened with some rock and New Orleans funk influences. These 13 songs (plus one unlisted instrumental rave-up featuring a terrific extended
Resnik solo) are rarely more than just OK;
Resnik is such a color-within-the-lines traditionalist that he's too quick to fall back onto stylistic tics and genre clichés, which makes songs like the title track and "Five Kisses" sound pleasant but uninspired. It's on the instrumentals like "Incidental Mambo" that his true gifts are revealed. Devoted fans of this style of blues-rock will probably enjoy
Learnin' My Lessons the Hard Way well enough, but nothing about it will interest those who aren't already devotees of the genre. ~ Stewart Mason