Nashville based Northern California native Shane Dwight has been a busy guy. Since winning the Monterey Blues Festival “Battle of the Bands” title in 2002 he has released several self-produced cds and toured constantly including what must be a ‘tough’ gig as a repeat performer on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruises. June 2009 sees the release of Shane’s first two widely distributed cds, Gimme Back My Money and Shane Dwight Plays The Blues, both on R-Tist Records. He plays high energy blues spiced with good doses of R&B, rock and even alt-country delivering a nice mix of sound. 
Shane practically does it all on Gimme Back My Money, including writing and arranging all the tunes, as well as vocals guitars and drums. Joining Shane is Jim Hawthorne, who also adds bass, guitar and piano and drums. On Shane Dwight Plays The Blues the first half of the disc is another Shane and Jim show, but he lets some of the other kids play too on the second half by virtue of the fact that the last half of the disc is all live cuts with full band.
I particularly like the title track Gimme Back My Money, one of the more acoustic offerings as well as the funkier Done With You on Gimme Back My Money. As the title suggests, Shane Dwight Plays The Blues is much more of a blues record. Check out You’re Gonna Want Me or Have Some Of That for a good dose of Shane’s blues style in studio. My favorite stuff however, is the live stuff on the second half of this disc. Don’t “B” Flat is a hot instrumental featuring the blazing sax of Danny Hull. I also really like his soulful Ode to Albert. This is a guy that seems to really like what he is doing; he must, he’s ‘doing’ so much of it. Check him out if he comes anywhere near you sometime soon!
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