Three Little Words

"Hubele lays down some blues-real blues, and builds on it with some rock, jazz and a touch of country. At times he sounds like a huskier Neil Diamond, at others like a more melodious Bob Dylan.He doesn't lie when he says his musical influences were the slide guitar of Bonnie Raitt and the songwriting of Tom Waits. Tying up the package is a kind of hypnotic electrified drone that Hubele achieves with fellow musician and CD co-producer Brad Steckel."

Jan Degrass-CoastReporter - Sunshine Coast, Canada

September,2004

*******

"This guy could sing the phone book and make it sound delicious.Outside of his obvious songwriting talents,Hubele has an engaging sense of humour that peeks through on some of the cuts.....  Yes, Canada should be proud of her rowdy bad boy!"

Independent Songwriter Magazine

*******

"He's written some of the best songs ever to come out of Alberta.  What comes through in his music is the honesty and hard work he seems to put into every song, the sort of blue-collar ethic that made Bruce Springsteen into a legend.   

"Key of "A"

CBC Radio One

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"I'm fascinated by this Canadian's Halfway To Everywhere CD, but I have no idea what "format" it is. Some tracks are dobro/steel acoustic. This one has a mesmerizing electric-guitar drone and spooky background vocals. But whatever the musical context, Hubele's hoarse, gripping, whiskey-soaked voice demands a listen. Check him out."

MUSIC ROW, by Robert K. Oermann

*******

"Hubele's fourth recording (someone please send me the other three) is a richly textured album that blends country, jazz, blues, and folk into engaging songs. A real winner!" RECORD TO WATCH, ROBERT BURTON HUBELE,

Gavin Americana, The Other Country, "Americana Inroads" by Chris Marino

*******

"Stirring, imaginative, passionate, invigorating.  His songs are totally original and defy categorization.  His lyrics are simple and his music is like a caress to the soul." 

1998 Independent Songwriter Hall of Fame, Independent songwriter Web Magazine, June '98.

*******

"Great listener response to 'Halfway To Everywhere'! Of the many 'Americana" recordings I receive-this recording makes its way to the top..(I'll) give it heavy rotation." 

Danny Lubovich, Music Director-Jazz/Americana,KURE - Ames, Iowa.

*******

Canadian Folk Music Bulletin - Fall 2003 - Vol. 37.3 - ISSN 0829-5344

"I'm taking it for granted that everyone has heard something about Robert Burton Hubele.  Maybe you heard his music in a movie or on a television show.  You might have heard him in one of the many honkytonks across western Canada.  But have you heard his latest CD, The Human Heart?  This is a live recording done in Cochrane, Alberta, with a very accomplished guitarist, Brad Steckel.  Robert and Brad do quite well together on these 19 tracks (some are preamble).

Hubele has a sound of his own, sometimes folky, sometimes jazzy and other times bluesy.  He is one of the best storytellers around, as you will hear when listening to this CD.  He does not just intro his songs, he takes you along and brings you inside.  Hubele is a working person's man.  One can feel this in the way he presents himself in his music and how he talks to the audience.  Hubele has great voice and can bring a smile ear to ear and then can make you reach for the kleenex as he takes you through life's ups and downs.   All the songs are written by Robert, who is a truly fine writer.  I found this new CD to be leaning more to the blues, although a couple of numbers have a country swing to them.

The Human Heart is on Robert's own label.  If you can't get out there to see him live, well, this is the next best thing.  I can assure you an evening listening to Hubele is an evening well spent."

Terry St. James, Montreal, Quebec

*******

Vincente Zumel, "La Hora del Blues" Barcelona, Spain.

English Translation:

A huge vocal suppleness and spicy guitar solos from and artist with a great sensibility who combines with imagination and quality blues and jazz together with pop influences, which gives as a result a relaxed bright and colorful music. Robert abilities can be appreciated not only on his performing but also on his natural gift as song writer with so suggestive tunes like ‘The Only One’, Your Baby’s Tears’ or ‘The Human Heart’. Robert Burton Hubele unpretentioulsy tells us from his own experience different stories about love and human conditon. always giving a positive message full of love, understanding and hope. VERY GOOD   

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Three Little Words, Hubele Arts Music Co. FRCD 0304.
 
Robert Burton Hubele is a Canadian singer-songwriter who found himself in blues and jazz. Robert isn’t just a ‘guitarist’, but first and foremost a tunesmith who writes songs for years at an incredible tempo. As so often, grandparents and parents provided the fundaments. From J.J. Cale he went to the big blues boys like Muddy Waters. Bonnie Raitt’s slide, a decisive influence, brought him to Fred McDowell. He discovered jazz and the great tunesmiths: Tom Waits, Mose Allison, Paul Simon, Fats Waller. It’s a not unusual, but it’s of course an ever good choice. On www.hubele-arts.com you find surprising stories, amongst them that he only found out later on that he was probably partially deaf, which forced him to invent lyrics to existing songs himself, a good schooling indeed! Three Little Words is his sixth record since 1978. We cannot compare with the previous ones but you can hear you’re dealing with an experienced musician. Three Little Words is filled with songs that keep on growing. They don’t equal the best of the great names we mentioned, but that would be an unfair comparison anyhow. His songs at least have a theme that comes right out of everyday life and are well written. Hubele sings them well also, although the comparisons aren’t relevant. Dylan? Waits?? We mostly hear Hubele, so take him for what he is: Life Is Good is a fiery ode to life, but brought with the necessary tongue in cheek. Simple everyday love is the theme of She Brings Him (Coffee) and it’s a gem in observation: the lover waits…and keeps on waiting, humbly and patiently, never giving more than a hint! Willy De Ville would certainly adore Same For Me. The title tune with its tasty riff didn’t steal its status. Mose Allison shimmers through music, lyrics and diction (parlando) of  Too Many Kisses. We find Your Baby’s Tears, with mandolin and accordion, to be a great song: with this Neil Diamond (of the good years!) would in turn have been happy. The three closing songs have a little more punch with the last one, The Human Heart, growing to a climax. Three Little Words is home made stuff of the better kind and there’s nothing wrong with that.
 
Antoine Légat - BluesFreePress January, 2005 (Hansbeke-Belgium; original: November 1st 2004; this translation: November 7th)

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Bobtje Blues Site - Spring 2003

"From Alberta, Canada there was Robert Burton Hubele. Doing jazz, folk, country, and blues and telling funny stories in between.   He took the audience on a ride through all his music styles. Robert's instruments are a national steel slide guitar and an acoustic folk guitar, add his strong and intriguing vocals, and you have Robert's very own style, partly influenced by Hank Williams and Muddy Waters. A very special style, for which he is known in his home country and where he's called the blues troubadour. He did songs from his latest album The Human Heart which is a big success in Canada, 'Everything But The Blues' and the sensitive 'I Was Wrong'. He proved to be a very good songwriter with 'Black and White and Blue', a song he wrote only three weeks ago. And there was the day he was riding (his horse) through the mountains, with only silence as his companion, when suddenly a jet fighter disrupted this pretty picture. He wrote 'A Little Too Much' about that. I think it's about time Europe got to know this extraordinary talent."
    

     Review by Belgian Blues Reviewer Bobtje on www.bobtjeblues.com

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