Jonah Tolchin has got a soul that speaks through a gravel toned vocal and an energized, scorching bluesy guitar playing style that can light a room on fire. Last Friday he joined our other pal Christopher Paul Stelling for an early show at Thunder Road in Somerville, MA. I have to admit, this was my first time and I was skeptical about a spot called “Thunder Road” being geared towards a perhaps more meatheadish, cover band type atmosphere, but the room was great, the sound was good, and it had a really good vibe with the two fantastic songwriters and their band cohorts putting on one hell of a show.

Jonah tore through a quick set with upright bassist extraordinaire Matt Murphy holding down the low end and this take on the blues standard “Walking Blues” was an impassioned and invigorating take on the original. Check it out be on the look out for Jonah (he plays at The Grange in Providence later this week and around New England over the course of the summer).