This disc is both a departure and a welcomed extension of John-Alex’s previous musical output; it is a departure because he uses other musicians to bring his music to a new level. Whenever there is more than one it can become a ‘we’ situation and that denotes collaboration and expansion of ideas.  This is an extension of his thoughts and exploration of Hill Country, Delta, and Gospel music, taking them further steps down a path of investigation to their roots, and then ripping them apart and expanding the landscape of the genre.  His associates on this project are well-established musicians, some from the Hill-Country, and all add valuable pieces to this effort.  A few of the teammates are Cedric (drums) and Cody (vocals) Burnside, his old partner Gerry Hundt (harmonica, nine-string guitar, and mandolin) Fara Tolno (djembe), and Lightnin’ Malcolm (guitar and bass).  He does not abandon the one man band concept and employs it on several of the cuts   Playing his drum kit and his excellent work on Lowebow cigar-box guitar (it is a bizarre instrument made from two oak dowel rods, a wooden cigar box, three guitar strings and a bass string, played through two separate amps; one amp handles the bass end and the other the guitar strings).
 
This man knows his blues music and he hails from an unlikely portion of the country to fall in love with this music and perform it with such a feel for it.  Colorado Springs, CO is about as far from the music of Mississippi as you can get in almost every way. It is a military and cowboy town that sits in the high desert of southern Colorado it is a dry desert town, where drought is the norm and rain is a welcomed occasional visitor that drops by far too infrequently. His introduction to the music comes from his parent’s housekeeper, Viola Marigna who introduced him to ecstatic gospel singing in the Baptist church, a definite influence on his singing and from his older brother introduced him to Led Zeppelin and Mason’s own curiosity made him follow the rope down to the other end and that was the “Devil’s” music, the blues of Robert Johnson.  This is his best and most complete disc to date and it makes me look forward to where he is going from here to further expand his sound.