Benefit was the album on which the Jethro Tull sound solidified around folk music, abandoning blues entirely. Beginning with the opening number, "With You There to Help Me," Anderson adopts his now-familiar, slightly mournful folksinger/sage persona, with a rather sardonic outlook on life and the world; his acoustic guitar carries the melody, joined by Martin Barre's electric instrument for the crescendos. This would be the model for much of the material on Aqualung and especially Thick as a Brick, although the acoustic/electric pairing would be executed more effectively on those albums. Here the acoustic and electric instruments are merged somewhat better than they were on Stand Up (on which it sometimes seemed like Barre's solos were being played in a wholly different venue), and as needed, the electric guitars carry the melodies better than on previous albums.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream are among the first groups that come to mind when discussing classic power trios. Ireland's Taste, led by guitarist Rory Gallagher, were also there at the beginning. They were raw, rocked hard, and were more devoted to the blues. Gallagher kept the trio format long after going solo, and became a fine songwriter as well. Crow Black Chicken are his countrymen. Christy O'Hanlon (vocals, guitar), Stephen McGrath (bass), and Gev Barrett (drums, backing vocals) have soaked up his and his contemporaries' influences, as well other loud and proud trios: ZZ Top, Mountain, Gov't Mule, etc. Electric Soup is their debut long-player. It's an excellent showcase for CBC's stunning playing and excellent songwriting – the latter is something many of their contemporaries never learned. These are not mere riff-heavy stoner rock jams, but songs. While they keep things basic, CBC understand the place of melody and dynamics; they've soaked up their share of folk and country in addition to blues and guitar rock.

The debut album by Alabama-born soul singer Ellis Hooks is a breath of fresh air on the blues and R&B scenes. For starters, Hooks' songs and sound are entirely unaffected by modern notions of sterility and restraint, or even worse, revivalism. These 13 songs burn with the same fire that the great Southern soul and R&B tracks did from the days of yore – without sounding like them. With producer Jon Tiven – who, along with wife Sally, also co-writes with Hooks – the singer has crafted an entirely upstart outing, one that touches upon Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding, but feels like one of the gritty New York streets Hooks has busked upon. The brokenness and hope that lie in the rough grain of Hooks' voice in "Everything's Falling Around Me" feel as much like a prayer as a wish for transcendence, supported by the biting chunkiness of Sally Tiven's popping bass strut and Jon Tiven's knotty six-string fills. Hooks goes into the groove and lets it cover him; he's singing to the heavens, but also to anyone else who is in earshot and can provide help.