THE INSOMNIACS "LEFT COAST BLUES" Source: Southland Blues Magazine Date: 08/2007 Writer: Jim Santella

From the Portland, Ore­gon area, this four-piece blues band digs West Coast Swing and jump blues with a pas­sion. Singer/guitarist Vyasa Dodson, who wrote the songs for this debut album, delivers with conviction. He’s original and yet authentic in the blues tradition. Pianist Alex Shak­eri, bassist Dean Mueller and drummer Dave Melyan sur­round Dodson with the right mood, as he moves comfort­ably between up-tempo swing and slower ballads.

There’s a contemporary tinge to the band’s perfor­mance that seems to take its influence from television. We’ve grown up with vari­ous impressions that come right to the point for varying scenes. One of the band’s in­strumental numbers, “Crime Scene,” for example, drives fast and furious with the in­tensity of a police drama. “I Got Money” lets the band strut with a happy mood not unlike a happy times TV sit-com where every adventure is a light-hearted moment con­taining fits of comedy.

The band’s down-home blues numbers, such as “Wrong Kind of Love,” “I’m Not Sorry” and “Stuttering Blues,” capture the blues tradition accurately. Most of the program, however, jumps and jives with a particular swing that’s associated with the West Coast. Louis Jordan and Johnny Otis originated the sound and we remem­ber well how local bluesman Hollywood Fats (1954-1986) changed it. Now, The Insom­niacs are leaving their own thumbprint on this segment of the blues – and it feels good.