obby Messano has been playing guitar, singing and making records for over 40 years. He’s played pop, metal, R&B, soul and rock and backed a wide range of artists, including Gloria Gaynor, country star Rodney Atkins and Steve Winwood. On his own, he’s topped the Billboard Blues charts and appeared on Sirius XM’s B.B. King Bluesville’s playlist. For this album, his ninth, he assembled a band of session players and together they mimic the development of a live set, allowing the music to slowly build to an enjoyable finish. “The Bad Guys” kicks things off on an ironic note. It’s a celebration of narcissism that rides a folk/rock groove leading up to a brief, screaming, metallic solo. Messano’s distorted slide guitar fills introduce “Lemonade,” a slow blues that has Messano exchanging compact solos with Hammond B-3 player Bob Malone. It slips smoothly into “Junk Jam,” an instrumental with Messano’s guitar up front showing off his melodic inventions, backed again by Malone’s organ and Carl Dufrene’s driving bass. “It’s Just the Money That’s Missin’” is a funky number that sums up the singer/guitarist’s career in three snarky verses. Messano shows his sensitive side on “A Thursday in June,” a ballad that describes his anguish as he observes a loved one dealing with a troubled relationship. He sets the guitar aside to deliver an intensely sad vocal, supported by Malone’s dramatic piano. Elsewhere, Messano and Malone, thankfully, get to stretch out on “When It’s Black and White It’s Black and White,” a second line strut with the duo exchanging inventive solos on guitar, Hammond B-3 and piano.