Gulf Coast Records [Release date 29.05.26]

’13 Hours’ is Jason Ricci’s 3rd album for Gulf Coast (possibly his 15^th in all) and his second credited with partner Kaitlin Dibble, an expressive vocalist and fine songwriter.

It’s an honest, balanced and well produced band album, routed in the kind of life experiences that spark meaningful narratives and inspired playing.

It takes us on a conceptual journey from the fiery opener to the Zen like acceptance of the closing title track.

And there’s no better place to start than the heartfelt Jason & The Bad Kind penned ode to their former drummer John Perkins.

‘13 Hours’ brilliantly mergers a Canned Heat style boogie with evocative late night cinematic imagery, which their former drummer helped shape.

Dibble’s deep-in-the-mix bv’s give way to Brent Johnson’s intricate echoey guitar work and Ricci’s relaxed harp on a rock steady groove.

As the intensity grows with repeated notes and Ricci’s guttural exclamations, you feel part of an inexorable journey through the night, full of mesmerising slide and deep toned harp.

The song then moves to Dibble’s crystal clear phrasing of a great verse;

“I feel you in the high beams, In the rumble of the road,

The painted over peep holes, The cheap motels’

The long stories, We know too well”

There’s a magical moment at the 9.17 mark, when Ricci locks into groove with guitarist Brent Johnson, before Dibble’s Jim Morrison style poetry and Ricci’s final harp flourish gives way to the ether;

“We’re taking you with us, In the rhythm of the road

Around, and around, The long way,

The sleazy short cut, The Sam stops

The fluffy places we find us, 13 hours John Perkins.”

It’s a long way from the declamatory opener ‘Sick Of This Shit’, a song full of social, political and music biz observations, but illustrates the musical journey the album takes the listener on;

“Trying to keep my head up, Trying to keep my cool,

Don’t want to sink on this, Ship of fools.”

Dibble extends the prickly opening with an abrasive take on Johnny Winter’s ‘I’m Tired of Trying’, and yet there’s a celebratory feel of being part of a great band whose music has expanded organically due to the influence of their adopted home of New Orleans.

Ricci’s virtuosic harp playing ability is still centre stage, but always in the service of a song, which sometimes leads to more adventurous tracks such as “The Big DisEasey” with its signifiantly punned title.

The latter explores fractured funk with Mike Dillon guesting on vibes, while Ricci’ adds some hoarse stream-of-consciousness beat poetry.

They move from a funky strut to the gossamer light ‘Leo Watkins Rag’, on an up tempo, train-time instrumental which they transform into a booming guitar-led shuffle.

The other instrumental is the jaunty harp and guitar interplay of ‘Nuit Waltz.’

‘Long Twisted Night’ cleverly changes the narrator’s perspective, on a Brent Johnson and Kaitlin Dibble composition;

“My man’s got a demon, Some kind of hungry ghost,

Comes to me some nights and leaves, Wearing his clothes,

Says my love is nothing but a Weight on him,

Wanna keep my man gotta take his Devil in.”

The retro soulful stuttering rhythms of ‘Bubble Gum Pop’ diffuses the tension, and leaves enough space for a short, but telling harp solo at 3.33.

You can feel the musical flow as we are drawn into a cover of Percy Mayfield’s ‘River’s Invitation’. It’s re-imagined as horn heavy funky arrangement on which Dibble extends her vocal alongside a fiery trumpet and guitar solo.

She also impresses on ’Renegade’, a rallying call for independent thought.

The bass heavy, harp-led shuffle is full of conversational guitar, big breathy toned harp and a priceless first verse, which makes you imagine a possible conversation on the tour bus!

“Well I won’t join your club, Even if it’s right,

When you’re trying to make peace, I’m the first one to the fight.”

And so to the extended finale and the feeling of acceptance, not just at the loss of a colleague, but of the fact they have the opportunity to make the kind of meaningful music that makes ‘13 Hours’ such an excellent modern blues record. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 25 May 2026

BABY JANE Midnight Highway (Sped Up) (indie)
ASTRAL ROCKS The Flame In Me (Astral Rocks Prodns.)
INDIGO SYNDICATE dwn4smr (indie)
THE SKBS The Prying Eye (indie)
AGAINST THE CURRENT Dead Man Walking (indie)
ICONIC Tears Keep On Falling (Frontiers)

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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