Ben Maygarden, Come On, If You’re Coming (Shortstack)

maygardenIf you’ve got a hankering for some blues to go along with your bottle, this is worth checking out. Working man-about-town by day and musician by night, Maygarden puts together some boss sounds here with a crack local band. His originals here including “Gutted”—not a reference to fishing—are bluntly telling, as well as humorous. Possessor of a fine blues record collection, Maygarden has cherry-picked some of the rarities from it and includes them here. Jerry McCain’s “Twist ’62,” a.k.a., “Reduction Twist,” is a charge, as is his treatment of “Too Much Competition,” a song that likely has special meaning to our man. The Spiders’ “Don’t Knock,” also rocks along nicely. Maygarden gets some tasty harp licks in along the way but doesn’t overdo it.