6V6

6V6 - Tube Rejuvenator - 2004 - Room Records

A really enjoyable, laid back album from the Illinois blues rock band, 6V6. "Tube Rejuvenator" has a good funky, jazzy, blue eyed soul groove. Russel Miller penned six of the eleven songs. There are also covers of Porter Grainger's "Ain't Nobody's Business", SRV's "Empty Arms", Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin' ", and others. See if you can find the band's "Burning Blue" album

TRACKS

1. 5 O'Clock - Russel Miller
2. What Am I Doin'- Mark Selbyn
3. Blue Tears - Russel Miller
4. Ain't Nobody's Business - Porter Grainger, Everett Robbins
5. Little Blue Pill - Russel Miller
6. Empty Arms - SRV
7. Hey Good Lookin' - Hank Williams
8. Miller Time - Russel Miller
9. Bothering Me - Russel Miller
10. Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! - Tex Williams, Merle Travis
11. 3 Am- Russel Miller

BAND

Russel Miller - Guitar, Vocals
Randy Hoffman - Guitar, Vocals
Aaron Miller - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Gene Duncan - Drums, Vocals

REVIEW

Some people, like me for instance, take the instrument, the equipment and the technical part of music and pay absolutely no attention to it. I can truly care less. I have no problem admitting that I am not at all concerned about what kind of guitar someone is playing, what kind of strings are on it, or what kind of amp I am hearing it through - let alone be concerned with the type of tube that is powering the amp. If you're putting out a good sound, and it has me groovin' and feelin' good, then that's all I want to know. On the other hand, others - and of course musicians - take this type of stuff extremely more serious, and rightfully so. However, there are extremes. 6 V 6, a blues band from the Peoria, Illinois area, have actually named their band after a tube. In addition to that, they have named all three of their CD's after this tubes characteristics and/or recharging device. Their first CD was called "FIRE BOTTLE", their second was called "BURNING BLUE" and this, their third CD is called "TUBE REJUVENATOR". Very interesting. Either these guys have an intense fascination over this type of stuff or they are giving us a subliminal message about the blues. 6 V 6 consists of RUSSELL MILLER - who wrote the six original tracks on this CD - on guitar and vocals, his son AARON MILLER on bass and vocals, RANDY HOFFMAN on guitar and vocals and GENE DUNCAN on drums and vocals. Four of my favorite tracks on "TUBE REJUVENATOR" all run in a row. The first, "BLUE TEARS", is one of the six originals. This track features lots of excellent guitar work and is sung with a real soulful feeling. Following is a very well done version of "AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS" - which by the way, I have never heard anyone do a bad version of - and this track, once again, features some excellent guitar playing. Next is "LITTLE BLUE PILL", another original, which really rocks. More absolutely great guitar work on this track and a very noticeable tight rhythm section. Great cymbal work by GENE. The fourth track is "EMPTY ARMS", a song by SRV, in which the bass player excels and the song once again is very nicely sung. These four tracks kept me in one long constant groove. "MILLER TIME", another original, catches the whole band at the top of it's game on a hot swinging track. Another track that I particularly liked was a song that was done by one of my favorite old bands from way back when - Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen - and the song is "SMOKE THAT CIGARETTE". This CD by 6 V 6, which started out with a track called "5 O'CLOCK" and ends with one called "3 A.M.", was truly enjoyable listening. These guys know the blues as well as they know their tubes. © PETER "BLEWZZMAN" LAURO, © AUGUST, 2004, © 1998-2006 Mary4Music.com/Blewzzman. All Rights Reserved, www.mary4music.com/CD8.html

SHORT BIO

Playing the blues is as natural and necessary as breathing oxygen for Russell Miller, leader of Peoria-based blues band 6v6. 6v6 is Russell Miller lead guitar and vocals, Gene (Steve Buschemi look-alike, with better teeth according to Russell) Duncan drums, and John Jenkels keys and vocals. Russell solved the bassist slot by growing his own. Sixteen year-old son Aaron handles bass, sometimes playing a striking-looking electric stand up bass, and vocals. Aaron has been playing with the band since he was thirteen, about as long as the band has been together. As we know, Lonnie Brooks has been using the grow- your- own strategy for years. Russell’s entré into the blues was, like many white American blues players, via the blues crossing the Atlantic to a British blues-based band of the nineteen sixties. Surprising as it may be to some, Fleetwood Mac started out life as a blues band (yes, that Fleetwood Mac), and their lead guitarist, Peter Green, was Russell’s first inspiration. Other guitarists that Russell is a fan of and cites as influences are B.B. King and Jimmie Vaughan. Russell has played in various bands in Central Illinois and honed his soloing skills as lead guitarist in a country rock band in the late seventies/early eighties. 6v6 take their name from the low power tubes often used in Fender amplifiers. The band has recorded a self-financed full twelve song CD “Burning Blue” with ten R. Miller originals, and a 5 song pre-release demo CD. The band plays a couple of weekends per month, arranged around Aaron’s playing with the Peoria Jazz Allstars and the pep band. Aaron throws in the occasional jazz bass line when the band is in action. 6v6 has played blues festivals in Cairo, IL and Prairie du Chien, WI, and have received airplay in Eastern European stations via mp3.com. 6v6 has a fan-following in Slovenia! Russell plays a 1952 reissue Fender Telecaster with heavy strings. He describes the guitar as a no frills, dependable, blues workhorse. Even though Congress has designated 2003 as the Year of the Blues, 6v6 still encounter some resistance to their mostly blues repertoire. Club and bar owners often say they want a blues band, when what they really want is a blues- rock band. 6v6’s typical show consists of a mixture of blues standards like Howlin Wolf’s “Sugar Mama”, “Sweet Home Chicago”, some R. Miller originals, and the occasional rock song – the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” is a favorite. Russell does not have a day job! He has a night job in addition to the blues. He is a third shift Inspector at Caterpillar in Peoria. © 2003 Brian J. Wilkinson, bjwilkin@ilstu.edu, www.bio.ilstu.edu/Wilkinson/bluesreviews3.html