Charles Tiner was a new name to me when his self-released album, Good Soul, arrived in my inbox. It took just a few minutes of hearing his beautifully soulful voice on the dozen original compositions to convince me that Tiner ranks among the best singers on the scene today.

It begs the question as to why this Chicagoan isn't already famous.

Good Soul is Tiner's second album, following his 2021 debut release, N'Treble, which led into a 2022 appearance in the finals of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. (A quick online sampling of this previous album has me making a note to download it soon!).

Kicking off Good Soul is the up-tempo soul/blues, "Be A Man," highlighted by Tiner's driving vocals and complemented by his organ playing. This man is doubly talented. The blues shuffle "Bad Woman" has him telling the tale of a woman for whom he's searching but knows he should avoid, highlighted by sax breaks from Theo Fisher and hot guitar work from Clipton Smith.

"Blue Moon" is straight ahead Chicago blues, this time with the blues guitar licks coming from Travis Aldridge. Tiner sings about his upbringing, not having been born with a silver spoon. This one goes on for close to six minutes, but it ends just too soon. Adding to the tune is the background vocals of Regina Stewart-Byrd and Sandra Chappel.

"Don't Bau Me None" is a haunting, gospel-ish blues, with limited instrumentation coming from "Ready" Eddie Smith's acoustic guitar and Chris Camp's harmonica and washboard, with Tiner continually stating that "... it doesn't bother me none ...". If you're already thinking that Mr. Tiner is very versatile in his music, you're right on target.

"Night Rider" is a mid-tempo blues giving Smith time for very tasteful jazzy guitar solos, with our backing singers again augmenting Tiner's vocals. "Peace By The River" opens with the sound of thunder and rain before Fisher returns with a wailing sax solo. Tiner has more growl to his big inspirational vocals here.

The slow blues, "Stick Around," opens with guitar from Conrad Lee and nice piano from Tiner, whose vocals show more power as he soars through the octaves, singing that the blues is consistent and will always stick around. There's another hot guitar solo from Lee just to pump in even more blues content. "She Made A Move On Me" is funky and kind of jazzy, with piano from Tiner and vocals straight out of the church.

Tiner keeps it in church for the slow "Two Wrongs Don't Make It Right," with impassioned vocals while he doubles on piano and organ, and Smith is back with his customary exquisite blues guitar. Lee returns with some tasty B.B. King-style guitar on the mid-tempo blues, "Don't Be A Fool Too Long." It's back to the choir loft for a blues with plenty of gospel overtones on the funky "Don't Let The Devil Ride," with Smith back on guitar and Tiner on organ.

Closing the album is "Put Your Money On Me," a pleasant, jazzy blues, with plenty of satisfying harmonica from Camp, piano from Tiner, and upright bass from Charles Fox. The combo of Chappel and Stewart-Byrd join in on vocals as our star is encouraging that special someone to believe in him.

Good Soul gets a very, very strong recommendation. Talented bluesmen like Charles Tiner find a way to succeed in this difficult business, so I expect to hear more from him before long. He deserves a bigger audience, and as the message in his last song encourages me to do, I'm putting my money on him.

--- Bill Mitchell