The blues man born from semi-truck drivers known as Crankshaft is releasing his first full album with a backup band, the Gear Grinders, it’s called Junkyard Rhythm.  Its production has rough feel to it, like a dusty old 10-inch record that was forgotten in some abandoned attic.  The rawness of the album has a strangely beautiful appeal that fits in with the album’s scrap yard auto-shop theme. The album’s music style spans from piedmont blues on “Neighbor Boys” to a more vintage hard rock sound on “Motorcycle Woman” to a modern alternative tune on “327”.  Crankshaft’s backing band, the Gear Grinders, have an upright bass, a cornet, a piano, a djembe, a harmonica and a sax, which are mixed into different tracks to compliment each other and make the vast array of genres on Junkyard Rhythm possible. For example, “Praying for Snow” has a double percussive beat provided by the drum set and the djembe backed up by Crankshaft’s hard rockabilly riff with the harmonica chiming in at the perfect moments to give this song a western outlaw sound.  The song “Overheatin” has furious barrage of drums and hi-hats doubled with the saxophone playing alongside the guitar surf rock riff makes for a kick ass classic car cruising song. Junkyard Rhythm gives decades old music a modern makeover and it does it very well.  The production is spectacular and the music itself is killer.  It’s definitely an album made for fans of the blues and old-school rock n’ roll. Written By Kyle Berg