(...) He's tall and lanky, handsome and personable, and refreshing to talk with as he cites a love for James Brown and Lightnin' Hopkins. Most musicians his age would pepper their influences with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, but like Walter Daniels, Lewis cuts close to the bone.

A stylistic gulf exists between the Southern gospel funk of Brown and Hopkins' earthy Texas blues, but Lewis finds it easy to bridge using the Weary Boys. That's right, the Weary Boys, local heirs to rootsy bluegrass, three of whom played with Daniels on Lewis' record. Its four tracks jump from the shadows and confront the listener with the past in the present. Daniels praises Lewis' "talking blues," a distinctive honk and shout that definitely owes to the Godfather of Soul (...).

(from Austin Chronicles 'Black Joe Lewis: Close to the bone' article/interview by Margaret Moser - November 2005)