This week in Freak Scene, I overcome my skepticism about another young guy playing the blues and discover that Ryan “Bluwrath” Newman has the goods. Also, Elliot Hartmann Russell returns with new music as Jumpy.

It’s not always easy to find the spark buried within hoary blues classics, but Ryan “Bluwrath” Newman pulls it off without any trouble on Wrath of Blues, his first full-length album.

Here’s the trick: the singer and guitarist from Chester, Conn., approaches songs made famous by the likes of B.B. King, Elmore James and Stevie Ray Vaughan as if they’re playgrounds for exploration and interpretation, rather than treating them as museum pieces to be reverently re-created. As a result, the songs feel fresh and vibrant, and Newman seems right at home as he romps around inside them. Newman’s guitar leads the way as he slashes through the iconic riff on “Dust My Broom” or lays down a stinging lead part on “The Thrill Is Gone” worthy of King, but he’s not shy about changing the décor: Horns and soul-ready female backing vocals add new depth to “Dust My Broom.” Newman isn’t strictly a bluesman, either: wah-wah guitar and layers of hand percussion add a deeper funk vibe to a streetwise take on the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” as Newman augments his own lead vocals by assigning speaking parts to other vocalists like he’s casting a play.

Elsewhere, he picks up the pace a little on Jeff Beck’s “Let Me Love You,” featuring singer ArleneWow! in the Rod Stewart role on lead vocals, and updates Hoagy Carmichael’s “Baltimore Oriole” so that it has a swampy bite the original never did. Newman makes a bold choice in covering the reggae classic “Get Up Stand Up,” but it works thanks to rich horn parts and his acoustic slide guitar licks. He trades vocals with Anita Antoinette and lays in a fierce guitar solo, nodding at Bob Marley’s version while making the track his own. Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” doesn’t fare quite as well: with double-kick drum rolls, blaring slide guitar and boogie-woogie keyboards, the arrangement feels too busy for Dylan’s loose, rambling vocal melody.

Yet that’s just one misfire on an album packed with well-known songs (plus one original, “Leaving This World”), which is pretty impressive. It’s a sign of Newman’s confidence as a musician, which he’s been building since he took up the guitar at age 7. It’s also a sign of his confidence in his own taste, which is borne out on these 14 songs. Newman isn’t reinventing the genre on Wrath of Blues, but he’s approaching it with a unique sensibility that is well worth a listen.

Jumpy Has Had ‘Enough’ on New Single

Among the many musical aliases for Western Mass. native Elliot Hartmann Russell is Jumpy, the name he used for the 2017 album No Shoes, No Service, before moving on to other names for other projects, including Sweat Enzo, Owen Manure, Thee Arcadians and Two Guys in Wendell. Something about Jumpy called him back, though, resulting in an unexpected follow-up, Jumpy Lives, that is due in December.

Press notes accompanying the new album sum up Jumpy’s music as “what he imagines pop sounds like, from the point of view of someone who listens primarily to books on tape,” a description that I love. His visual aesthetic on the video for the first single, “Enough,” definitely evokes ’80s b-movies, what with the gritty nighttime street scenes, the huge trench coat Russell is wearing over stone-washed jeans and a white buttondown shirt, and the billowing dry-ice smoke swirling around during a superheated saxophone solo.

Jumpy Lives features contributions from Cooper B. Handy of LUCY and the Taxidermists, Nick Atkinson of Club Casualties, Mal Devisa and DJ Lucas. The album is due Dec. 4 on Russell’s own Requested Records.

This Week's Shows

Easthampton’s Gold Dust put out my favorite album of 2025, In the Shade of the Living Light (FS #66), and they’ve lined up a show tonight, Friday, Oct. 16, at the Drake in Amherst (tickets) to mark frontman Stephen Pierce’s birthday and the first gig by two new members, on guitar and drums. The bill also includes Stella Kola and Miles Hewitt, plus free pizza and cookies from Vegan Land Pizza.

Upcoming Concerts

Connecticut's Northfield (FS #99) play with Ruby Vine Oct. 24 at Hutghi's at the Nook in Westfield. Authority Zero, Counterpunch, the Agonizers and the Tough Get Going are there Oct. 28 (tickets) and PWRUP, Hedge, Urban Crater, Filler Episode and Commit to the Bit play Oct. 30 (tickets).

Richard Thompson returns Jan. 22 to the Academy of Music in Northampton (tickets) and Umphrey's McGee are there Feb. 8 (tickets).

The Iron Horse hosts Shelburne Falls singer-songwriter Jeffrey Foucault Jan. 8 (tickets), Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams Jan. 17 (tickets), New Bedford blues slinger Quinn Sullivan Feb. 20 (tickets) and Big Bad Bollocks for St. Patrick's Day March 17 (tickets).

Speaking of St. Patrick’s Day, Katie McNally and Neil Pearlman perform at Bombyx in Florence, featuring Liz Carroll, Jake Charron, Genticorum and Siobhán Butler (tickets).

The Parlor Room presents a pair of shows Nov. 14 by Lucy Wainwright Roche (early and late).

Donna the Buffalo play Nov. 21 at the Shea in Turners Falls (tickets). Also coming: Rhode Island singer-songwriter Will Evans Sept. 27 with Wallace Field (tickets).

The Space Ballroom in Hamden hosts Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto and Carmelo Torres y Su Cumbia Sabanera Nov. 14 (tickets) and Winona Fighter March 14 (tickets).

Stone Church in Brattleboro has LaMP featuring Russ Lawton, Scott Metzger and Ray Paczkowski Dec. 6 (tickets) and the Sweetback Sisters Dec. 17 (tickets).

That’s all for this week. Thank you for reading! Previous issues are available in the online archive. Freak Scene is free, but donations help make this happen and are gratefully accepted. If you’re able, please consider a paid subscription!