Bryan James Duffy - Room 8, The Red Brick Road, Across the Border

​Bryan James Duffy

​Room 8, ​The Red Brick Road. ​Across the Border
self-released; 2024

​​​​By ​Dino DiMuro
​

Bryan James Duffey is an Americana singer/songwriter/guitarist who hails from Ontario, Canada and now calls Las Vegas, Nevada his home. Duffy is currently the frontman for The Garage Boys and is also prepping his next solo album titled "The Red Brick Road." Here we have three advance tracks: “Room 8,” “The Red Brick Road,” and “Across the Border,” which were produced by Terry Warren and mixed by Mitchell Sigman.

Duffy admits that he might be seen as a “music industry dinosaur,” but all dinosaurs should have it so good! Among his accomplishments are placing an original song on The Playboy Network, then joining the band See Spot Run as their song “Weightless” hit the Top 10 Canadian music charts (the first independently signed band to achieve this feat). The Garage Boys have opened for Sammy Hagar, Vanilla Ice, Andrew Dice Clay, and many others.

Duffy’s musical influences include guitarists Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Derek Trucks, and Johnny Winter. Vocally he says he doesn’t sound like anybody “other than myself.” We’ll see about that!“Room 8” wastes no time bringing forth Duffy’s sweet, chiming electric guitars and fulsome acoustics. Talk about a grabber opening! Hearing this song through an open window, you’d be forgiven for mistaking Duffy for an Allman Brother. Duffy’s also got a pleasing upper-range voice that grips the song with rock-steady hands. The song itself has a structure similar to the classic Band track “The Weight.” The chorus is packed with harmony vocals, and the production quality overall is totally pro and radio-ready (though maybe that radio is a few years old!).

“The Red Brick Road” is an upbeat, bluesy shuffle mostly carried by Duffy’s crisp acoustic guitars and even higher-pitched vocals. Though it’s true he doesn’t sound exactly like anybody else, Duffy’s voice is like an amalgamation of many late '70s rockers and country-rock artists. This song has another glorious full-vocal chorus, and I’m not afraid to say it owes a little to Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up The Sun” with a side order of the Allman’s “Midnight Rider.” Wherever it comes from, it’s another hit! Aggressively dueling leads and a vortex of processed voices bring this killer home.

“Across the Border” is a blues scorcher that owes a lot to both guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant (sorry, Bryan!) with a structure that ZZ Top would fully endorse. Full-tilt boogie doesn’t come better than this!

​There’s also a taste of Derek Trucks' lead guitar to take the track even higher.Three totally impressive tracks, and there are many more where those came from. A monster recommendation!

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