Casey Van Beek and the Tulsa Groove Reach Heaven on New Release

From the shuffle-tinged groove of the opening track “Roberta” to a convincing cover of J.J. Cale’s “Since You Said Goodbye” and on to the rest of the rewarding cuts on Heaven Forever, bassist Casey Van Beek (who has loaned his skills to Linda Ronstadt and members of the Eagles, among other notable artists) finds solid ground. Van Beek and his crack outfit of Tulsa-Sound practitioners echo Cale, Clapton, Leon Russell and the down-home blues grooves of sawdust barrooms across the heartland. Easy vocals, plenty of gritty guitar work, rolling keys, pedal steel, mandolin, sax and dobro combine to deliver a collection that lends itself to long road trips, singing along and repeat plays.