Michael Lee Firkins, a Blues Rock and Roots Rock guitar virtuoso, went into the studio with Chuck Leavell, keyboardist extraordinaire of The Allman Brothers Band along with the killer rhythm section from Govt Mules drummer Matt Abts and (ex-Mule) bassist Andy Hess. These four master musicians meet in Johnny Neels Nashville Studio to create musical magic. Michael Lee Firkins takes the album home to fine tune it and, almost 10 years later, delivers this blend of classic Blues, Rock and Country. Michael Lee Firkins continues to be a critical and fan favorite among those knowledgeable in the art of guitar in the USA and throughout Europe. His playing on Yep is incendiary and his unique style becomes immediately recognizable. Starting his career in the early 90s as one of Mike Varney’s protégés, Michael Lee Firkins nevertheless managed to avoid participating in the chops game of the time. Composition, insight, and expression of spontaneous feeling always meant more to him than self-assertion through fretboard acrobatics. His 1990 self-titled Shrapnel debut showed precisely that, as well as his interest in roots music – from blues to bluegrass. The following 20 years were full of ups and downs, expansion of influences, excursions into jazz, admiration from fellow musicians, but also prolonged career down time spent away from the public eye. After an 8-year gap between albums, Firkins finally released Black Light Sonatas in 2007 – an intense record full of beautifully composed, rousing instrumentals. The offering in hand is Firkins’s first CD since Black Light Sonatas and it lays out a simpler vision – a return to the basic fundamentals, something all rock virtuosos begin with in their youth. Opener “Golden Oldie Jam” – a mid-tempo classic rock throwback – spells out the idea behind the entire release: “Golden oldie was the real deal, golden oldie teach you everything.” The bold, proud strut of blues-drenched guitar leads, their non-linear conversation with the keyboards, the elegant slide moves, and a hint of psychedelia set the retro vibe for the rest of the album. What follows are more blues and classic rock workouts: unhurried, tasteful, and orthodox. “Cajun Boogie” emulates ZZ Top at their swaggering peak, “Take Me Back” aims at the Black Crowes terrain, and soon the entire album begins to sound like a tamer version of those two bands. Firkins as a unique player suddenly disappears behind the conventionality of these this inoffensive, congenial, and largely unmemorable Americana. Closing track “The Cane”, however, justifies the entire album as a prelude to this final revelation. Primal and haunting, it becomes half-invocation, half-lament with Firkins’s processed vocals magnetizing the spellbound soundscape. Here he breathes life into blues with such lofty, overwhelming power, you instantly know this final shot into stratosphere was worth waiting for.