The Snake Charmers - Been Gone Too Long (2009) Lossless / 320

Been Gone Too Long, features ten contemporary blues tracks written by The Snake Charmers' own Marie Angell. The album - the first for the Houston, Texas based band - is eclectic mix of blues, blues rock, and The Snake Charmers own brand of charm itself. Been Gone Too Long features music that leads the listener through the breadth of their music, capturing slices of life that everyone can relate to: The full-of-life (I Wanna Be a) Hoochie Mama, the misery-when-life-goes-wrong blues ballad Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, the standard 12-bar of Move On Blues, the roots/rock meld of Can't Trust a Heart, the Southern Blues/Rock No Mercy, the New Orleans-flavor of Big, Big Love and the seductive blues swing, I Wanna Do Right. The title track, Been Gone Too Long, with a touch of the spirit of The Doors warns that the heart hardens after it's been broken. Half a Cup reminds us that something is better than nothing while Just a Little Kiss can lead to more.