Just a thought, for those that aren't plugged into Kelly Joe Phelps. I discovered him years ago as a slide player- he's probably the best acoustic lap player around. He stopped playing slide at all a couple of years ago, focusing on his fingerpicking style instead.
The live CD he recorded, 'Tap the red cane whirlwind' is a monster disk, some original songs and a couple of traditional blues from Skip James and the Reverend Gary Davis. Next to the original, I think his version of Hard Time Killing Floor is probably the best around. Cardboard box of batteries is my favorite song on the disk, though.
I'd totally forgotten about this disk- I had it loaded up on my MP3 player and haven't listened to it for a long time. But on my way back home I was sleeping on a long flight and using my earphones as a cheap line of defense against a terminally talkative person sitting in the middle seat. Hard Time Killing Floor woke me up out of a deep sleep in mid flight, and the CD kept me awake until the last note. I won't tell you what CD it was to put me back to sleep.
Ironically enoough, the person next to me had been carrying on a one-way conversation for about 6 hours. Odd how people can do that, no?
