Milwaukee blues band Katz Sass have a motto on their website and in a lyric on their latest long-player, Just a Matter of Time, and they pretty well live by it. “Take the music past where you found it,” vocalist Ronnie Long sings in Katz Sass’s tribute to their genre’s history. They incorporate shadings of ’70s Southern boogie rock, Credence Clearwater Revival swampiness and a post-John Mayall/Stevie Ray Vaughan blues attack. Original songs about sweet-talking hookers, women with too much time on their hands, staving off a lonely night and credit cards (?!) are primed for extended concert interpretations. Pun of a name and all, Katz Sass sound ready to follow fellow Milwaukee bluesmen Altered Five Blues Band into a wider spotlight for a familiar, yet inventive take on their music.
