Album Review - Cougar - The Davidson Trio

Album Review - Cougar - The Davidson Trio

Check this old school power trio out I was told. And by god do The Davidson Trio deliver.

If you think of old school power trios, who’ve you got? Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bogart Beck and Appice, Taste, Grand Funk Railroad, ZZ Top, to name but a few. Yeah I know there were plenty others but I’m thinking blues/rock power trios. So put all these bands into a food blender, and besides a lot of blood and guts what you end up with is The Davidson Trio.

Lead by Owen Davidson and joined by Ben Bicknell on guitar and Ellis Brown on drums it is a formidable band. Ben Bicknell is one of those guitarists who takes his playing to another level. There is one track The Cure, which is a good rocking number but at the end it reminds me of the end of Skynyrds Freebird, and the interplay between the guitarists and the drummer. And there were three guitarists on that!!! You’re just thinking where can this go from here, but go it does, and when Ellis starts with a double kick drum, and the whole groove nailed to the floor by Owen, its all kind of breathtaking.

Owen has a five octave vocal range, which he puts to the best use. He used to play with Uli Jon Roth and Rumour, and have a Glenn Hughes tribute band, called Black Country Community along with Ben Bicknell. And The Black Country is where they hail from, so in good company with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.

Davidson has written eight really good and varied songs for this debut album called Cougar, which have been interpreted well by Ben and Ellis, and his vocals and bass playing cement the songs where they should be. Favourite two tracks for me are The Cure and Hold On where he really demonstrates his vocal range.

Its out now – Cougar it’s called, and if you enjoyed the power trios I mentioned then I can guarantee this is for you.