Darrell Nulisch and Texas Heat, Business As Usual (Black Top Records)

Darrell Nulisch has been around for some time, having fronted bands for Anson Funderburgh and Ronnie Earl for the past ten years. This fine, solid disc is Nulisch’s first album under his own name. While Texas Heat can shuffle and boogie with anybody, check tunes like “Orange Soda,” a driving harp tour de force, “Count on Me” and “Teach Me How to Love You”. The band simmers on “Inside Out,” an original tune. They lock into a soulful thing on “Just Around the Corner.” This should be a hit single. Nulisch’s plaintive vocal on the soul classic “Love Attack” and the band’s tight arrangement are a real treat. Throughout, 20-year-old axe slinger “Mr. Will” plays fine stinging guitar in that tasty, economical Texas style, a la Jimmy [Vaughan] and Anson [Funderburgh]. A real good, solid, rockin’ blues and soul party disc.