Hard-rocking Rev Jones is known for his work with Michael Schenker and Steelheart, but has finally debuted a solo album of his own.
Rev Jones’ riff-blasting, face-melting virtuosity is on full display on Bakwash, his long-awaited debut solo album. Songs like “New Drug,” “Bakwash,” “Long Legged Lady,” and “Candy” feature ample amounts of the pyrotechnic tapping skills and over-the-fretboard-fingering he’s famous for. But the 49-year-old Oklahoma native does not deploy these “tricks” for spectacle alone. Actually, it’s all in service of his seemingly effortless musicality, which is quite possibly his most astounding trait.
Live, Jones is a dynamic performer, both visually and sonically. Whether with ’70s guitar hero Michael Schenker in the Michael Schenker Group (MSG), or classic rock icon Leslie West and recent iterations of Mountain, or ’80s hair-metal stalwarts Steelheart, his seemingly endless array of licks, fills, and musical motifs — while certainly attention-grabbing — never seem out of context with the songs. There’s an old adage that says less is more, but Jones seems to