Old friends and veterans both, a twenty year performing partnership is documented here. The one name you might be unfamiliar with is Sam Hurrie. He was a member of The Churls, a Yorkville-era rock group that briefly made the big time in New York, opening for Muddy Waters and Blood, Sweat & Tears among others. He moved out west in the early 70’s. BC’s Doug Cox should be more familiar: he is a multi-instrumentalist who specializes in the dobro and seeks out multicultural partners like mohan veena player VM Bhatt and Rwandan-Canadian bandleader The Mighty Popo. They share a deep love of the blues as this disc will attest. Hurrie is on acoustic guitar throughout and lead vocals with Cox on various guitars and occasional harmony vocals. Beginning with “John The Revelator” the songs show the effortless communication they share, something many of us watched them do live at their Blues Summit Showcase. Muddy’s “You Can’t Lose What You Never Had”, with Cox on mandolin, is an acoustic delight with Hurrie’s wizened vocals adding just the right touch. “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” has a drone-like arrangement that gives it a new twist. Charlie Patton’s “By And By (Poor Me)” on guitar & dobro is one that is not often heard and surely not this well performed. John Hurt’s “PayDay”, on two guitars, may have Hurrie’s most effective vocal. The bottleneck-driven “In My Time Of Dying” is a further remarkable example of the two-guitar interplay-what a way to end the disc! Earlier on though, there are a few more songs that deserve mention. The hugely influential Willie P. Bennett is celebrated with a stunning performance of “Rains On Me’’, a seven-minute tour de force with Cox on vocals. Guy Clark’s “Old Friends” and Hank Williams’ “Angel Of Death” get performances that not only add variety but also show how artificial genre boundaries can be. Add in a couple of Doug Cox instrumentals and you have one fine acoustic CD. As they write in the notes: ‘no overdubs or auto-tuning – real music’. The web site is www.coxandhurrie.com