Various Artists ‘Turkish Back Porch Scene EP: Vol. 1’

Hovering Delta slide, bluegrass and heat melting dirt music from the imagined back porches of various (of all places) venues in Turkey, by a clutch of blues-imbibed players, the inaugural EP from the Bone Union label is authentically rich with the genre’s history and legacy, and yet freshly inviting and worth the entrance fee. A mix of standards (Sarp Keskiner’s faithful version of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s quivered sliding ‘Big Stars Falling’) and originals (Bora Çeliker’s ambled old-timer wistful ‘Pine Hill Blues’), each performance is as close as you can get to its source: homage but also the act of passing down to a new generation some of the most authentic of roots sounds. The geography and destination will of course surprise many; a different angle for sure, and reminder that the Blues is universal: think a Turkish Sun Records meets Alan Lomax.