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Homemade
Studio album by Cephas & Wiggins
Released	1999
Genre	Blues, Piedmont blues
Label	Alligator
Producer	Joe Wilson
Cephas & Wiggins chronology
Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad (1998) Homemade (1999) From Richmond to Atlanta (2000)

Homemade is an album by the American musical duo Cephas & Wiggins, released in 1999. It was their second album for Alligator Records. The duo supported the album with a North American tour. Homemade was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award for best "Traditional Blues Album".

Production

The album was produced by Joe Wilson, who also cowrote a couple of the songs. Cephas helped write eight of the songs; Wiggins worked on one. Wiggins considered the selections to be enlivening rather than sad or depressing. The album opens and closes with covers of Blind Boy Fuller tunes. "Slow Blues" is a version of the instrumental Reverend Gary Davis song. Two originals, "Jelly Roll" and "Meeting the Mule", explore the differences between life, and women, in the metropolitan North and country South. "I Was Determined" is an autobiographical song about wanting to play the blues after hearing neighbors singing blues standards.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Star Democrat	6/10
The Sunday Age

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that "Cephas plays in ragtime-like guitar rhythms, with Wiggins's airy harp a perfect complement... Cephas's vocals are fittingly light, even though the blues are still the blues." The Sunday Age said that Cephas "succeeds where few have dared, mimicking Skip James's keening vocals and unusual tuning on 'Illinois'." The Toronto Star deemed the album "accessible rural dance music with low-key engaging grooves." The Washington Post determined that Wiggins and Cephas weave "voice and guitar together so seamlessly that one mind seems to govern both mouths and all four arms." The Star Democrat considered the album forgettable and an example of "generic" blues.

AllMusic noted the "rustic, laid-back charm."

Track listing

References

1. Wiggins, Phil; Matheis, Frank (2020). Sweet Bitter Blues: Washington, DC's Homemade Blues. University Press of Mississippi. p. 255.
2. Lien, James (Feb 15, 1999). "Roots 'n' Blues". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 57, no. 605. p. 27.
3. Cochran, Rebekah (12 Jan 2000). "Cephas & Wiggins brings Piedmont blues to Carnegie Lecture Hall". New Pittsburgh Courier. No. 4. p. B5.
4. Cooper, Matt (9 Apr 1999). "Piedmont Blues Greats Cephas, Wiggins to Play Museum Next Week". Yakima Herald-Republic. p. E1.
5. Ellis, Bill (15 Jan 2000). "Walker Tops Nominees for Coveted W. C. Handy Blues Honors". The Commercial Appeal. p. F1.
6. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (9 Apr 1999). "Cephas & Wiggins 'Homemade'". The Washington Post. p. N14.
7. Hillis, Roger (Jul 30, 1999). "Cephas & Wiggins". Go!. The Daily Times. p. 4.
8. "Acoustic Stage presenting concerts". Hickory Daily Record. Mar 25, 1999. p. 3B.
9. Fontenot, Robert (March 1999). "Cephas and Wiggins, Homemade". Reviews. OffBeat.
10. ^ Schwartz, Larry (14 Mar 1999). "Music". Applause. The Sunday Age. p. 10.
11. Isola, Gregory (Jun 1999). "John Cephas: Homemade Piedmont Blues". Guitar Player. Vol. 33, no. 6. pp. 29, 32.
12. ^ "Homemade Review by Thom Owens". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
13. The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 113.
14. ^ White, Jim (28 Feb 1999). "New Blues Releases to Check Out". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. G5.
15. ^ Mangold, Mark (Apr 9, 1999). "Bluesmen get it right, but don't excite". Weekend. The Star Democrat. p. 2.
16. Chapman, Geoff (27 Mar 1999). "Blues Reviews". Entertainment. Toronto Star. p. 1.

• 1999 albums
• Alligator Records albums
• Cephas & Wiggins albums