Name the Day!

John Németh came out of nowhere—well, actually he hails from Boise—to great acclaim with the release of his first Blind Pig recording, 2007’s Magic Touch. Prior to that he’d worked with guitarist Junior Watson awhile before landing in San Francisco in 2004, where he hooked up with guitarist Anson Funderburgh and The Rockets; after which a solo career beckoned. Name the Day! is his third Blind Pig release, and he gets terrific support from the band, which includes a three-man horn section, on the disc’s 11 songs. I’m not ready to say, as one writer did, that he “may be the best white blues singer ever”—hey, what about Curtis Salgado?—but he does have a pretty nice set of pipes. In spite of all the accolades and blues awards laid on him, there’s not much here for blues fans. Unlike, say, Kim Wilson, who sings and really blows the harp, Németh is more of a soulster who dabbles with the harmonica. That said, this is a lively disc whose songs throb with feeling, especially on the two ballads.