Byron Donald Wheatley - Moondogs and Mad Dogs

The music of Donald Wheatley is easily as lively as the characters who people his songs, a natural tangle of early rock'n'roll, raucous blues, sweet folk and a most unique phrasing of Americana - countrified rock that's as unique to Wheatley as The Band's own Canadian take on American music, or Van Morrison's Caledonian vision of soul. The sound is relaxed, down-home and upbeat, with a warm fireside vibe and the joyous, charismatic and intimate feel of a well-lubricated after-hours jam session. It's funky as hell in places (the sinful, bedroom-eyed Josephine), powerful and resonant in others (the scorched When The Rain Comes).