Fire & Steel

Brother Magnum is back with more double-barreled, high-firepower electric blues,and southern-soul music for the modern age. Last time out, with 2010's Feel Like A King, Brother Magnum & the Razor Bumps produced a great mix of straight electric Chicago blues and southern soul without sounding retro or derivative, raves the Memphis-based music magazine Elmore. Now with Fire & Steel, Magnum's third album, he ups the caliber, broadens his aim, with 13 new songs. The album 'Feel like a king',landed Brother Magnum & the Razor Bumps on the famed Austin City Limits stage that made then one of the last acts to play the famed locale. They were also invited to perform at The House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, opening the show for comedian Joel McHale (star of the NBC TV series Community) and then serving as the house band playing their tunes for McHale's talk show style appearance. Magnum is also earning his stripes as a modern Texas master of the blues by being invited to play the Sun City Music Fest in Sun City South Africa and various festivals in Europe. No wonder Elmore magazine observes how he has something to offer fans of any of these genres [he plays]. That should cover just about everyone, right? His debut album, Meet Me In My Daydream, was a first Brother Magnum shot that erupt[s] from your speakers like a hurtling fireball, says SonicJive.com. Fans of Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, and Robert Cray will find delight in this effort... a great mix of up-tempo funkified numbers, retro soul blues, roots rock, traditional blues and even a shuffle or two. You can't reinvent the wheel but you can still make top of the line tires. Brother Magnum has not invented a new genre of music but he's doing it as good as anyone ever has. Or as he puts it, It's kind of like Mom's home cooking with some hot sauce on it. In doing so, Brother Magnum has become the Lone Star State's funky and bluesy rocking soul brother number one. And that's because his music isn't just his passion and love; it's his gospel. More than anything in this world, the most important thing to me, my religion and my church, is writing songs and playing music, he concludes. It's my form of prayer. It brings me the same fulfillment.