One of the brightest talents on the contemporary blues scene, guitarist Willie Lomax is an intelligent songwriter who brings a sharp and fresh voice to his blues-based songs, while managing at the same time to ground them in the rich blues history of the past. Lomax's tunes don't sound written so much as newly unearthed, and a lot of the credit should go, as well, to singer Shawn Brown, whose Memphis-styled vocals (and his Hammond B-3 playing) on this album are a revelation. With soulful blues numbers like "For Better or Worse" and "Take Away Your Loneliness," funky roadhouse romps like "Eddie Mae's Café," or the elegant soul-jazz of "Struttin',"
Ribs Are Ready falls neatly as an interim step between the more straight-ahead blues of Lomax's first album,
Give Me Back My Teeth, and the impressive soul-blues of his third,
Best Blues Money Can Buy. ~ Steve Leggett