Branton, MikeDirty Feet2001Independent

Branton, Mike - Dirty Feet - 2001 - Independent

Written by Warren Dallin

This CD is the debut release for Mike Branton which showcases his fiery guitar playing in front of a solid rhythm combo and the soulful Hammond organ drenched presence of Tortoise Blue. The album covers a wide variety of blues sounds which all ooze a down and out situation.

Mike's style incorporates quick repeated runs with lots of note bending and holding that create a contrast of urgency and soul that tugs at your stomach. The kind that makes you shut your eyes tight and slowly move your head from side to side.

The title track starts out as an instrumental game of cat and mouse between the guitar and Hammond organ, which sets the stage for a tight knit combo throughout the recording.

The song with the strongest conviction is Once Again, which laments the power of fragile love lost expressed by a raw razor sharp steel slide gliding over a pounding, relentless, hammering beat.

The Times Not Right is a different style of song that showcases how Mike can play a 1930's Delta moan. This song echoes some crisp, clean conviction and authenticity that has the listener believe in his efforts to beg for mercy from a lonely deathbed. This probably would be what the old blues masters would have sounded like if they had recorded with modern equipment.

A funkified loosely based version of John Lee Hooker's Serves (You) Me Right To Suffer has Mike taking it upon himself to do the crying best expressed through his stirring galloping guitar. Find Yourself A New Fool has a great harp driven lead by Les Smith in front of a slow swinging bounce. The vocals are mature and deep. The sound is rounded out with quick bursts of guitar stings, like a hornet defending its nest. The announcement of him taking care of some Unfinished Business gets working after he says bye to his baby and plays a guitar solo that could buzzcut a redwood tree. The echo of the harp solo almost talks to the birds to warn them of Tortoise Blue, whose solo is going to move the earth when his Hammond floods over.

Give Me One is the closing song of the listed tracks that grows to a steady rise of repentance, boiling the demons straight out of the organ pipes. Branton then rips into a trademark solo that contains a few fast runs and vicious string pulls that hold the blues notes till you just can't take it no more. The track lists at 6:04 minutes, but registers at 21:22 minutes with a hidden track beginning at 11:10. The hidden instrumental courses in the vein of As the Tears Go Passing By by Albert King, but has one hell of a haunting harmonica solo that stirs up some long lost ghosts.

In short, this disc defines the blues.

Copyright 2002. Review by Warren Dallin.

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