Blind Pig Records, 2014
By Phillip Smith;
February 8, 2014
Damon Fowler’s latest solo
album, Sounds of Home is a grab-bag
of Americana at its best. Soon after finishing
the tour with the band, Southern
Hospitality, which released one of my favorite albums last year, Easy Livin’, Fowler returned to the
studio with bassist Chuck Riley and
drummer James McKnight. Tab
Benoit not only produced, recorded and mixed this eleven track album, but
he sits in on several songs as well, pitching in on vocals, acoustic guitar,
and pedal steel.
The album is a heavy mix of
Country and Blues music. Fowler breaks out some really thick slide, on opening
track “Thought I Had It All”. This one
gets the energy flowing, as Fowler makes his slide scream. It almost borders on Southern Rock.
Title track, “Sounds of Home”
puts a smile on my face, as the guitar riffs bring to mind Steve Cropper, while the backing rhythm is very reminiscent of
those cool early days of Stax Records.
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux also makes
a guest appearance here, pitching in on vocals and tambourine.
Fowler tackles Elvis Costello’s “Allison” with a
slightly different approach as he brings a little country twang to the vocals
and melody, and an outstanding guitar solo on the bridge. While on the subject of outstanding guitar and
cover songs, Fowler brings it on again with a very swampy bluesy rendition of Johnny Winter’s “TV Mama”. It’s so fun just to hear him play guitar,
especially on songs like this.
Fowler digs deep and goes
really ‘old school’, as he dusts off the classic spiritual, “I Shall Not Be
Moved”, and plays it in a very traditional sense as he is joined by Benoit on acoustic guitar and harmonizing
vocals. Beautifully played, I thought
this was a cool song to close the album with.
Albums like “Sounds of Home”
are so welcome to hear, as it allows the artist’s raw talent to shine through,
and not be muddled by special effects and over-production. This album is a “keeper”.
