Occupying the ground somewhere between the Delta blues and the US folk tradition, Chris Whitley has often appeared a journeyman toiling worthily in the songwriting vineyard.
Hotel Vast Horizon isn’t going to change that perception, even though no less an authority than Bruce Springsteen is a fan. It’s a thoroughly decent record that finds Whitley working acoustically with the support only of drummer Matthias Macht and bassist Heiko Schramm. The problem is that someone like Ben Harper does this sort of thing with far more panache.
Advertisement