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Blues and soul man Darrell Nulisch has finally come back home with Goin’ Back to Dallas, his fourth release for Severn Records and one of his finest albums to date. Born and raised in Dallas, Nulisch grew up listening to the blues of Jimmy McCracklin, Jimmie Vaughan, and Texas legend Freddie King. His professional career opened up in 1978, when he started as one of the founding members of the classic Lone Star outfit Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets (a band that once included bass player Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead). He went on to tour with Mike Morgan and the Crawl and Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. I was fortunate to catch him live in California in the late 1990s when he was touring with the great James Cotton, the legendary Chicago blues harmonica player who now calls Austin home. Nulisch’s soulful vocal work was the perfect match for Cotton’s roaring, freight train-like harp, and the two recorded together for Cotton’s impressive 2000 Telarc release Fire Down Under the Hill. Nulisch is a fine harp player himself, as he shows on his new album.
On Goin’ Back to Dallas, Nulisch, who now lives in Massachusetts, enlists the help of Austin’s own beloved guitarist Johnny Moeller. Moeller, who recently contributed to the excellent Texas Northside Kings compilation on Dialtone Records (see our review here), has a constant presence at Antone’s and the Continental Club. His lead guitar on Goin’ Back to Dallas has that tough edge one would expect from a Texas guitar slinger, with all the subtle nuance of a player who has honed his chops backing Gary Primich, Lou Pride, and other blues masters. Steve Gomes (bass), Kevin Anker (keys), and Robb Stupka (drums) round out the backing band.
Eleven tracks of both original and classic material complete the set list, with nary a weak track in the lot. The Sonny Boy Williamson composition “She’s My Baby” opens the album, and Nulisch tackles another Sonny Boy cut with “Too Young to Die.” His acoustic harp work on those numbers is right on target, showing off the best of both Williamson’s trademark style and Nulisch’s own impressive harp technique. “Blue Monday” is a sweet, slow take on fellow Texan T-Bone Walker’s original “Stormy Monday Blues,” and he also takes on the venerable Jimmy Reed’s “Shame, Shame, Shame.”
Nulisch’s original tunes (four in all) reveal the insight of a veteran artist with miles of road (and life) experience. “Straight’n Up” opens with a brief-but-tough guitar intro courtesy of Moeller, followed by some sharp wails from Nulisch’s acoustic harmonica. He takes his time on “That’s a Problem,” a tellin’-like-it-is story of love gone wrong that has become a staple theme in any Texas bluesman’s songbook. The album closes with the title track, a gorgeous 12-bar slow blues that is one of the album’s strongest cuts.
While Nulisch may call the East Coast his home, it’s clear after one listen to Goin’ Back to Dallas that his heart is still in Texas.
Roger Gatchet, aka DJ Smokehouse Brown, is a contributor to Austin Sound and Living Blues magazine. You can hear classic Dialtone Records releases on his radio program “Blues at Sunrise,” which airs on KVRX 91.7 FM and online at www.kvrx.org every Wednesday 7-9 AM.
