Phases and Stages

Mike Kindred With Dexter Walker

Handstand (Loud House) Whenever Mike Kindred introduces himself, he need only let his fingers do the talking. The estimable local keyboard player and songwriter has played professionally since his teens in Dallas, but in the Seventies, he wrote a little tune called "Cold Shot" that became one of Stevie Ray Vaughan's signature hits. Kindred calls "Cold Shot" his calling card, and for a songwriter, it's the Big Break. Yet "Cold Shot" was written some 30 years ago, and that's why this rare foray into the studio, Handstand, is a welcome reminder of his talent. "Two guys, two days, one room, live" reads the fine print on the CD, the fifth from local label Loud House Records, and on it the duo produces 14 full-bodied, total immersion barroom blues-rock tracks. Kindred wrote or co-wrote 13 of them including the title track, a Professor Longhair-style instrumental that sets the tone for Handstand. To Elmore James' funky "Can't Stop Lovin'," Kindred applies his always gravelly vocals, now aged into a definitive growl as evinced on "If I Still," "Doublecross," and "The Cow's Advice." Still, what Kindred has done best over the years is tickle the ivories like a boogie-woogie madman. He's done it for Lightnin' Hopkins, Delbert McClinton, James Cotton, Joe Ely, and the Vaughan brothers, just to name-check some of his credentials. All those years of experience come sparkling through on joyous instrumentals like "Sleazy Boogie," "Call Boogie," "Riverboat," and "Bankable Boogie," proof that players like Mike Kindred don't get older, they get tougher.