While I try to take Mondays off, I couldn’t pass up a chance to take in the return of the Tom Savage Trio at the Slice, May 30.

 They didn’t have many people, but brought it anyway.

 The Kingston, Ontario alt country blues trio started off with several tracks from their excellent debut CD “The County Line,” including the title track as well as “No Win Situation,” which they expanded with a  long trippy, psychedelic bluesy solo. Superb solos were the highlight of this show, especially the first set.

 the trio played tight and frontman Savage told a variety of stories about  driving for days across Northern Ontario and played a song from his solo acoustic CD about the experience, but electrified and amplified. He ended the first set with a “Arizona,”  a mellow note from “The County Line.”

 He eased into the second set of all new blues inspired material, a slight departure from their Drive-By-Truckers alt-country sound
 I’m looking forward to their next CD if what I heard is any indication. They had plenty of superb playing and catchy hooks especially on one  called “Tijuana Sun” and another I think called “Come On Down the Road.”
throughout there was some slick slide guitar playing and endless energy.