Shotgun Sawyer – Self Titled

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · February 3, 2025

Shotgun Sawyer is three piece blues rock band based in Auburn, California. The lineup consists of David Lee on drums, Brett Sanders on bass, and Dylan Jarman on guitar and vocals. The band formed in 2015 and released 2016’s Thunderchief, 2019’s Bury The Hatchet, and their latest, 2024’s Self Titled album on December 6th. Shotgun Sawyer contains nine songs in forty three minutes and was released on Ripple Music.

“Cock N’ Bull” opens the album with a dousing of blues rock glory. Hard driven low end bass and solid drumming sparked by a warm distorted guitar sound, and a smooth helping of harmonica throughout. In fact, the harmonica playing courtesy of Brian Souders is exceptional on this song. Dylan Jarman has a raspy and authentic voice that works great with this music. The second song “Bye Bye Baby Boogie” is a heavy grooving blues and hard rocking ensemble. The track’s a banger and starts out as a speedy number with a very catchy chorus part. The guitars are vintage sounding and delivers a viscous twang to them. I think this is my favorite song on the album and it makes me smile. Midway through the song, the music pauses and kicks back in with a super fuzzy and raunchy riff. The distorted tone is excellent and the music shifts to a slower tempo for a moment, and then speeds back up.

The third track “The Sky Is Crying” is a straight up slow blues classic. The heavy bass and drum rhythm section is the back bone to the song allowing the guitars to flourish with dynamic leads. The vocals add such a great prod to the song, really authenticating the band’s sound and approach. “Ilsildur’s Bane” is a nine plus minute tour de force showpiece. It begins with an unrushed low end bass riff and crawls into a plodding rhythm. The accented slide guitar gradation adjoins a colorful vibe to the slow bluesy elements. The song builds into a trippy soundscape as it progresses and utilizes the swampy style distortion in the guitar sound. It’s a very interesting piece of music that augments the blues rock with a compelling and airy psychedelic doom component. The natural flow of the music catches you off guard when you then realize where the song takes you. Shotgun Sawyer effortlessly leads the listener back into the blues and plays out as the song fades into silence. Just when you think it’s over, the bass and drums come back for a measure and then it finally ends.

“Master Nasty” begins with a quick drum roll solo and a “yee-ow!” as the heavy rocking rhythm kicks in. The song is a fuzzy and crude grooving number. The head bobbing tones are all there with a catchy chorus too. This track visits a more classic rock sound and is just wonderful all around. “Hopeless” dials back into the heavy blues tones with twangy and gritty guitars. Jarman sings about internal yet interesting, entertaining, and mixing in some tongue in cheek topics that really elevate the subject matter on Shotgun Sawyer. “Hopeless” discusses the different times when he saw and met with the devil, who taught him how to play the guitar and such. He carries out an electrifying guitar solo that warps and pans from ear to ear. The next track “Going Down” is a definitive classic blues song originally written by Don Nix in 1969. Freddie King popularized the song and Shotgun Sawyer does a bang up job replicating the first-rate song. A great tribute to an old time classic.

“Tired” is next and pays homage to a prehistoric blues beginning, channeling a John Lee Hooker vibe before the song perks up. It cranks into a Led Zeppelin-esc groove for the duration until it drops back down at the very end. The final track on the album is called “That’s How It Goes”. It’s an entertaining song about the trials and tribulations about playing rock and roll and the struggles of being in a band, etc. The lyrics are funny and it’s an excellent closer for the record. The song has a catchy and viable rhythmic groove about it and boasts some electrifying and fuzzed out leads. The very ending just kind of collapses out which might be a hidden statement that Shotgun Sawyer is making, or not. Either way, I really enjoy this album a lot and appreciate the band for creating this kind of music. I hear influences of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, and a touch of Black Sabbath. It sounds primal and stripped down with a contemporary twist, and merges raw delta blues, classic and acid rock, and some heavy psych as well.