The seductive opening notes of the classic "Tough Times" resplendent with a vintage tube vibrato will slide down your ear canal, through your ear drum and surround your brain before it blossoms into a snarly, ragged, gritty Delta-infused blues romp replete with a quintessential gravelly voice urging your body to sway and your toes to tap like only true-blue blues can. The organic, full immediate quality has "smoke-filled blues club" oozing from every note and sets the tone for this collection of originals and blues covers. There isn't a lazy dog on this entire CD. Faded But Not Gone, Big Dave McLean's debut for Black Hen Music, is as satisfying as a blues disc can get. From smoking covers with blistering and tasty leads like Oliver Wood's "One More Day" to the so real you feel like you're there quality of Tom Wait's "Mr. Siegal", this disc is a treasure of pleasure for any blues aficionado or even a casual blues poser. By the time you get to the last two tracks, the seductive, painful and pathos filled "Oh - Mr. Charlie - Oh" and the stripped down acoustic cover of Nehemiah James's "Devil Got My Woman" you'll be convinced that Big Dave McLean has a firm grip on the what makes the blues the most powerful form of music on the planet: honesty, inte-GRIT-y and soul. To seal the deal just listen to Big Dave's take on Ray LaMontagne "Devil's In The Jukebox" and the blistering slide work of Steve Dawson. Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada McLean enlists some big time help here including Steve Dawson, Kevin McKendree, Colin James and the McCray Sisters. Rumor has it Big Dave had his first guitar lesson from John Hammond and opened for Muddy Waters? Talk about pedigree. As Big Dave puts it, "I'm a Canadian Prairie Boy I play the Blues to pay my rent..." Keep playing, keep playing...