Rex Peoples & X Factr - Fried Food / Hard Liquor (2018)

One of the sweetest voices here in Colorado belongs to vocalist Rex Peoples. I first met Rex as part of African Wind when they performed at an acoustic festival the Phoenix Blues Society produced back in 2006, so Rex and I go way back. He and his amazing band, X Factr, just got back from Memphis, representing the Colorado Blues Society at the IBC, and they were able to record a killer record, Fried Food / Hard Liquor, in time for the big event. It’s smooth as silk so let’s give it a spin.

X Factr consists of Jim DeSchamp on guitar, Carleton Pike on drums, Dan Haynes on keyboards and Bob Tiger on Bass. They all contribute background vocals as well and the disc starts off with the gospel-tinged “Lord Willing.” As Rex tells us on this first cut, “Lord willing…and the Creek don’t rise…I will survive.” Rex has had numerous health issues to overcome and he’s right to give the Lord credit for surviving all that he’s been through. His love of our favorite genre is explored next in “I Love the Blues.” “I love the blues…it makes me feel good…when I lose…down in the Delta…nobody knew how far it would go…from out of the cotton fields…to sweet home Chicago.” The Blues is indeed everywhere and Rex & X Factr bring that point home with this track.

Dan’s keyboards provide the intro to our next tune, “Field Hand Blues.” “In the fields of Mississippi….working long and hard…in the sun….through blood, sweat and tears…the music was born…I hear the Master calling me home.” Rex pays homage to his Delta roots with this tune and it’s clear the Blues run deep within his DNA. We move on to “All Day Blues” with Dan and Jim providing the intro for the ballad that Rex brings to us next. “The Blues don’t mean something’s wrong…no, the Blues don’t bring me down…they just tell the truth…what’s going down…everybody gets the Blues.” We all get the Blues and the reasons why we do vary from individual to individual, but Rex is right, “everybody gets the Blues.”

The title track, “Fried Food / Hard Liquor”, is next and both can be found in the Delta in great quantities. An homage to the jukes of old, let’s let Rex tell the story, “Somewhere in the middle of nowhere…stood a tiny wooden shack…Christmas tree lights…hung year round…with a wood stove in the back…we’re serving fried food, hard liquor…playing them Blues.” Jim’s guitar solo brings us the desperate feel of the lonely jukes on forgotten roads in the South and this is my favorite tune of the disc so far. “Making Bad Look Good” is the next tune the band tackles and I appreciate the musicianship of X Factr as Rex spins us another tall tale. “Body aches all over…from your head to your feet…another day of trial…promote the new CD…fingers on the keyboard…foot pounding on the wood…people screaming ‘hell yeah”…ooh, he sounds good…you got a strange….strange way of making bad look good.” The life of a musician isn’t an easy one by any means but Rex and X Factr are making it look good.

“Trouble Man” is the next track the band tackles and here Rex lets us know that not all men are good in this world. “Oh trouble man…you’re going to die along…you know that you’ve been doing wrong.” Life has a way of balancing everything out and the sins of a ‘trouble man’ will catch up with him eventually. Now Rex has been known to sweet talk the women with the best of us but none of us are perfect and he covers that topic here in “Talkin’ with My Baby.” “Talking with my baby…somewhere…around evening time…I must have said something wrong…cause she was long gone…before the sun went down.” Rex doesn’t know what he said was wrong and he’s definitely not sure that she was right. In either case she’s gone and that’s all there is to it.

Our next tune, “Lover,” is the most up tempo song on our disc and Rex is definitely happy here. “She’s everything to me…she, brings out the best in me…I love her faithfully…she’s all I’ll ever need.” It’s always great to hear a good man has found a good woman to share his life with and Rex’s joy evident here. Our final cut, “I Wanna Know,” finds Rex questioning the woman in his life. “I can’t sleep at night…cause, I worry…I can’t sleep at night, cause I still care….if you love me girl, you need to show it…cause you treat me, like I’m not here.” Hopefully all turns out well for Rex in this cause and you can’t blame him for wanting to know the truth in his life.

Fried Food / Hard Liquor is a disc of all original tunes written by Rex and the disc was recorded live with most of the tunes in the can with one take. It’s a testament to Rex and X Factr that they were able to capture this gem of a record as quickly and smoothly as they did. There was a lot of buzz on Beale in Memphis about this Colorado band, and their semi-final set at B.B. Kings will be in my memory banks for a long time to come.

–- Kyle Deibler

Track List:
01. Lord Willing 01:51
02. I Love The Blues 03:33
03. Field Hand Blues 02:36
04. All Day Blues 04:45
05. Fried Food/Hard Liquor 05:46
06. Make Bad Look Good 03:57
07. Trouble Man 04:00
08. Talkin' With My Baby 04:24
09. Lover 02:44
10. I Wanna Know 04:11

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