I remember the first time I ever heard John Hammond Jr. and how impressed I was with the way his voice and the sound of his slide guitar playing worked together. It was especially noticeable when he played his resonator guitar with its built in cones to amplify sound; he could growl out his lyrics in just the right tonal quality, able to cut through the sound of his guitar without shouting over it.

It was a long time until I found another player who could do the same thing. Bob Brozman had his own unique vocal style that enabled him to work with all the resonator instruments he used and created. I say instruments because he played more then one resonator guitar, and he had also created a resonator mandolin. Aside from those two there hasn't been anyone I've heard that's been able to find that perfect balance where voice and resonator guitar work together instead of the voice trying to overcome the guitar. That doesn't mean they aren't out there; I just haven't heard them yet.

That is until now, hearing John-Alex Mason for the first time. Looking at his picture on the cover of his newest release, Town And Country on Naked Jaybird Records you wouldn't believe that face had the life experience to sing with the authority needed for a church choir let alone the down-and-dirty Blues required to work with a resonator.

This just goes to show you that you really shouldn't judge anything or anybody by appearances. From the first syllable that eases out of John-Alex's mouth you know that this guy can sing the Blues with the best of them. It's not just that he's got the right voice for it, lots of folks out there can growl pretty convincingly without being able to sing the Blues. No, what you realize about this guy is that he feels every sound that he plays on his guitar and it reverberates up through his body and shapes the sound that comes out of his throat.

The next thing you notice about him is something that distinguishes him from the majority of folk who playing these days; similar to both Brozman and Hammond, John-Alex has released a completely solo album. You look at the credits for the songs and you see there is only his name listed; but then you wonder whose playing the drums? Well he is but not on a separate take; while his hands are dealing with the guitar and his mouth is doing the singing he's taking care of the drumming with his feet.