Best of WNY.com - Music Reviews

Best of WNY.com/Reviews / Best of WNY Music.com

CD Review
The Ron Mendez Band
"To Hell and Back"

By Bob Silvestri
"Promo Copy for Industry Pros"
Artwork by "Dave Man"

       The Ron Mendez Band has a new CD out titled “To Hell And Back”. The seven song CD was recorded live at Long Meadow Park in Sinclaireville, NY. The band, Ron Mendez (vocals, harp, guitars), Mike McCean (bass), Jim Prime (lead guitar) and Rick Dranger (drums), play a Southern blues/rock reminiscent of The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws and The Marshall Tucker Band. Mendez and Dranger were members of the Peer Pressure Project a well-known local band.
      The CD features clean clear guitar solos and crisp drumming throughout from Prime and Dranger respectively. Highlights include “Walking On Sunset” with its outstanding drumming from Dranger. “Rock The Sky”, a shuffle blues number, lets Mendez show his harp playing to the max. “Rolling Down The Road”, a slow blues rocker harks back to the old Stillwater tune “Mindbender”. “Bloody Red” is closest to an Allmans jam with Prime doing some Dickey Betts inspired playing. “Shack In The Woods” is a mellower number with a lengthy guitar intro that sounds like Toy Caldwell the late great guitarist for the Marshall Tucker Band.
     The Ron Mendez Band’s “To Hell And Back” is another feather in the cap of this longtime local musician. For more information on The Ron Mendez Band go to www.dolphinrocks.com

Best of WNY	Lifestyles	Business	Sports	Weather
Links	Message Board	Photo Gallery	WNY Page	Contact