Aquarian Weekly

St. Louis Times (Black Hen Music) by Jim Byrnes is the singer/songwriter/actor’s 10th album in 33 years. For this project, the transplanted Canadian wrote some poignant originals to go with songs that he heard growing up in St. Louis by such St. Louis artists as Chuck Berry, Stump Johnson, Little Milton and Peetie Wheatstraw.The disc coincides with that town’s 250th birthday. John Hammond, Jr. is around to sing and add steel guitar and harmonica. Add jazzy clarinet, bluesy guest vocals by red hot mama Colleen Rennison and even some spoken-word poetry about the town he remembers from the ‘50s and ‘60s, and you’ve got quite the soulful travelogue.