ROADMASTER, THE SECOND RELEASE BY NEW JERSEY NATIVE JOHNNY CHARLES, IS A SMORGASBORD OF BLUES. THERE ARE 12 ORIGINAL TUNES. CHARLES IS LIKE A GOURMET CHEF AT AN ALL-NIGHT BLUES DINER - SERVING UP EVERY IMAGINABLE BLUES TREAT. AND LIKE ANY MASTER CHEF, CHARLES HAS USED ONLY THE FINEST INGREDIENTS. HE HAS IMPORTED THE RHYTHM SECTION OF THE LATE GUITAR GREAT DANNY GATTON AND SEASONED IT WITH THE SPICY HARMONICA OF GARDEN STATE SENSATION ROB PAPAROZZI.

THE TITLE TRACK LAUNCHES THE CD WITH A ROCKABILLY TEMPO, OFFERING QUICK EXPOSURE TO CHARLES'S GREAT PLAYING AND BILL HOLLOMAN'S MASTERY OF THE HAMMOND B-3 ORGAN. MEMPHIS BLUES IS MOVING AND VERY BLUESY, FEATURING CLEAN PICKING BY CHARLES AND A NICE BASS LINE BY WILBER BASCOMB. THE SONG ALSO INTRODUCES SILKY VOCALS BY PETE MCMAHON OF SAVOY BROWN FAME. UPSIDE DOWN,DEDICATED TO FREDDIE KING, IS A LILTING, FEEL-GOOD TUNE THAT BRINGS THE WORK OF HARP WHIZ PAPAROZZI TO THE FORE. CHARLES GUITAR WORK IS FLAWLESS, AS USUAL. RUNNING HOT IS A COOL INSTRUMENTAL WITH MORE PRISTINE GUITAR SOLOS. THIS SONG, ALONG WITH THE JAZZ/BLUES INSTRUMENTAL PARK AVENUE SWING, INVOKES THE STYLE OF RONNIE EARL. BUT THEN CHARLES CLAIMS MANY INFLUENCES, INCLUDING THE THREE KINGS, THE VAUGHAN BROTHERS, CLAPTON, BECK, T-BONE WALKER, LES PAUL, CHARLIE CHRISTIAN, KENNY BURRELL, AND OTHERS. HE HAS SPENT MANY YEARS HONING HIS CRAFT AND DEVELOPING MANY OF THESE ARTISTS' STYLES, AND THIS CD IS A WONDERFUL CULMINATION. BLUE HEAT IS ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT. DEDICATED TO THE LATE GUITARISTS DANNY GATTON AND ROY BUCHANAN, IT IS A MOODY PIECE IN WHICH THE GUITAR SEEMS TO SPEAK. THE SONG IS RIFE WITH SULTRY GUITAR RIFFS AND TASTY ORGAN WORK AND IS A TRULY BEAUTIFUL COMPOSITION. WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN IS A TRADITIONAL BLUES LAMENT OF LOVE AND BETRAYAL, LAYERED WITH SMOOTH VOCALS AND PUNCTUATED BY CHARLES'S PINPOINT GUITAR WORK. STREAMLINER IS A SWING-STYLE NUMBER WITH ALL THE PIECES IN THE RIGHT PLACES, WHILE LIVE WIRE IS A PRANCING INSTRUMENTAL SHOWCASING CHARLES'S MASTERY OF HIS CRAFT. LOW GEAR CLOSES OUT THE CD, WHICH ITSELF IS IN HIGH GEAR FROM THE GET-GO! THIS FOLLOW UP TO HOT WIRED, HIS FIRST CD, HAS GAINED CHARLES NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION AND AIRPLAY IN EIGHT STATES AND COUNTING. HIS EXPOSURE IS GROWING, AND HIS PERSERVERANCE PAYING OFF. ROADMASTER APTLY DEMONSTRATES WHY JOHNNY IS HEADING UP THE LADDER!

AS ANYONE CAN TESTIFY WHO HAS SEEN HIM LIVE ON STAGE, NEW JERSEY BLUESMAN JOHNNY CHARLES CAN FLAT OUT PLAY THE HELL OUT OF HIS STRATOCASTER. NOW, THAT SOUND HAS BEEN CAPTURED IN THE STUDIO WITH THE RELEASE OF HOT WIRED, WHICH INCORPORATES SONGS FROM CHARLES' FIRST CASSETTE RELEASE, BLUE STRAT BLUES, WITH THREE NEW TUNES, TOGETHER ON THIS CD... THE RESULTS ARE A SONIC ADVENTURE. MOST OF THE EIGHT SELECTIONS FEATURE JC IN A TRIO SETTING, ALTHOUGH KEYBOARDS AND HARP SHOW UP ON SOME TRACKS

JOHNNY CHARLES' GUITAR INFLUENCES ARE VAST...FROM EARLY YARDBIRDS TO ROY BUCHANAN TO THE JAZZ STYLE OF HARRY LEAHEY. COMBINING THESE INFLUENCES WITH HIS OWN ORIGINAL IDEAS JC HAS RECORDED A DIVERSE SELECTION OF BLUES. FIVE OF THE EIGHT CUTS ARE INSTRUMENTALS. THE BEST OF THESE INCLUDE, TEXAS BLUES WITH JOHNNY CAPTURING THAT LONE STAR SOUND; METRO CITY, A JAZZ/BLUES PIECE THAT HAS A MYSTERIOUS URBAN FEEL; AND STINGER, WHICH SOUNDS LIKE A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE ROY BUCHANAN. NASTY NED, OF THE FAMOUS CHILI DOGS, IS FEATURED ON VOCALS AND HARP ON THREE SONGS: TAKE IT EASY BABY, A SLOW BLUES WITH NICE PIANO FROM ROB KONDOR, YOU MOVE ME, WHICH HAS AN EERIE AFTER HOURS TASTE; AND I MEAN BUSINESS, A ROCKIN' BLUES WITH SOME SCREAMIN' GUITAR AND INTERESTING TEMPO CHANGES. IN BRIEF, HOT WIRED IS A TOUR-DE-FORCE OF BLUES GUITAR.