As old Keith Richards used to say: “Everyone has their own note. If you’ve found it – you’re a lucky one.” JD Kucharik not only found his note, he bought up the entire antique shop where those notes were stored, carefully wiped them with flannel, and arranged them on the shelves of his vintage studio. In his recordings you will never hear autotune or computer “cut-and-paste.” Like he says, “Maybe I’m just a purist, but I’m passionate for instrument by instrument, organically recorded music, where you have to work very hard to get those (real-time) recorded sounds………..and then just maybe, you might reach those listeners receptive to your sound-craft and lyrical message.”

JD Kucharik – has long not needed to prove anything to anyone. More than fifty years in music, a home studio stuffed with vintage equipment, behind him – an entire biography of parallel projects: jazz-rock bands with horn players from Juilliard, session work, production, friendship with Rachel Bolan from Skid Row, his own solo records. He doesn’t seek hype — hype doesn’t concern him. And in the summer of 2025, he called his friends. Those with whom music happens, rather than is produced. The recording features: Pete Wagula (Guitar & Slide), Larry Youngblood (Bass and Backing Vocals), (Drums/Percussion), Paul Fosgreen (Guitarist). The result – new EP “HURD ROAD RHYTHM SECTION” – four tracks evoke memories of the summer of 1975, smelling of heated amplifier tubes and light smoke in the studio control room. In the very best sense. A dreamy and sensual atmosphere, with magnificent guitars and keyboards, and a rich, experienced vocal.

The opening “Laughed At Your Heartache” sets the tone from the first seconds – the guitar sounds as if it’s slightly smiling, and the rhythm section doesn’t so much lead as gently nudges forward, lazily but confidently. A measured and full of contemplation conversation between instrumental sections and vocal. The keyboards stay slightly behind, like an experienced poker player who doesn’t rush to reveal their cards. Drums and bass form a rhythm section – dense, breathing, without a single unnecessary hit. JD’s unmistakable, recognizable voice sounds without strain, flows easily and evenly. The rhythmic pattern changes on the second “Wisdom Momma Said”, timing just over 7 minutes. Swamp-blues viscosity manifests not only in the guitar lines, but in the rhythm itself – it seems to stick to the soles. A drawn-out guitar leads – emphasizing inner tension, like cracks in old lacquer. The sensual atmosphere of the track holds on a special balance between laziness and passion – exactly what makes swamp blues such a hypnotic genre.

The lines from the song:

“Momma said, don’t you run around with all of those bad boys.
Momma said, looks like you’re headin’ out later tonight.
Momma said, I hope that you will always remember and just do what’s right. I know that one day you’ll find that someone.
She’ll build you right up and stand by your side.
Treat her like a queen, and always remember what your momma said,
’Cause momma don’t lie.” – made a strong impression on me. I learned them by heart and will definitely repeat them to my sons as important life advice. Kucharik sings about this with the tired wisdom of a person who has tested this statement in practice – several times and not always with a good result.

After the density of “Wisdom Momma Said,” “So It Goes” sounds philosophical. The rhythm evens out, more air appears, guitars smooth, keyboards create space. The work of the whole team is especially noticeable: bass softly holds the melody in balance, and guitars carefully intertwine. Backing vocals add warm texture that no plugin simulates. The track carries something of fatalistic tenderness: like, everything happens the way it happens, and there’s beauty in that. A track-reflection, where the main thing is not the climax, but the process of movement.

The final “What Was I Thinkin” returns to a more daring mood, but already with a shade of self-irony. If at the beginning of the EP there was light skepticism toward others’ dramas, here – irony over one’s own decisions. Drums sound thicker, guitars – slightly more aggressive, but all this doesn’t slide into heaviness: Kucharik holds the balance between drive and lightness. Mister Slowhand, calmly, without strain, invisibly touches secret strings, extracting only the necessary sounds, and the melody flows like a river. JD guesses the very essence of long-known things, revealing their true colors, often giving them the only correct mood, which (it happens!) even the author didn’t know about.

“Hurd Road Rhythm Section” doesn’t claim to be a revolution – and benefits from it. Listeners are offered music by people who long ago figured out what they need to say, and now say it calmly, with pleasure, and without looking back at streaming platform algorithms. Half of new releases sound as if assembled by a very diligent but not very living organism, such a record – the absolute opposite.

As is known, momma doesn’t lie.

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