It seems difficult to believe that the singer-songwriter and acclaimed guitarist Damon Fowler is here already with his eighth solo album. Fowler made a name for himself with a string of strong releases on Blind Pig, mixed in with self-released efforts and his wildly heralded brief stint with the southern super group Southern Hospitality. Consider that Fowler has worked with these folks: Delbert McClinton, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Chris Duarte, Jeff Beck, Robin Trower, Gregg Allman, Victor Wainwright, Junior Brown, Jimmie Vaughan, Little Feat, Butch Trucks, Dicky Betts. and the Radiators. Yet, for many, he likely remains under the radar. And even those who recognize him, do it in the vein of a fiery ax-slinger instead of the fully formed singer-songwriter that he has become. Alafia Moon, his debut on Michael Rothschild’s Atlanta-based Landslide Records, is testimony to that.
Fowler fronts a hard-rocking blues quintet with the conventional instruments and has the potent Betty Fox on background vocals. The album was produced by Fowler and George Harris (Cheap Trick, Rick Derringer, Brian Johnson, AC/DC). Since Fowler has long established his cred as a superior guitarist, especially on lap steel and dobro, he is free to focus on the entirety of the song, lyrics, and expressive vocals. Accompanying him is his buddy from Butch Trucks Freight Train band, keyboardist Mike Kach, and acclaimed Florida harmonicist T.C. Carr. Bassist Chuck Riley and drummer Justin Headley round out the rhythm section. While it’s tempting to call the Tampa-based Fowler a blues player, and he does feature plenty of blues in all his sets and albums, he has enough country in his voice and enough pop hooks in his songwriting to paint on a wider canvas than that. His mix of swampy mix of blues, bayou R&B, country, rockabilly, sacred steel, and swing has, at this point, fully formed his style which ranges from rocking blues to a haunting tension accentuated by his comfortable, distinctly Southern, natural vocals.
The first two, “Leave It Alone” and the standout “I’ve Been Low” are raucous blues-rockers before Fowler settles into the mid-tempo B3-fueled title track. “Make the Best of Your Time” is a funky hard blaster with potent organ and reverberating guitar with piercing slide, that may have benefitted from a shorter length as the riff gets a little repetitive. But, with a clean sense of sequencing, Fowler regales us acoustically with a story of a pawn shop guitar in the Guy Clark/Verlon Thompson titled “The Guitar” which is a nice touch, revealing some fine picking. “Hip to Your Trip” and “Some Things Change” return to hard-charging sound with Carr and Fowler combining to stir up quite a stormy sound on the latter.
“Taxman” is not the famous George Harrison song of the same title but is a defiant, declamatory statement filled with lap steel and just a few touches of Tabasco. “Wanda” is another organ-fueled rave-up with Fowler’s guitar resembling horn parts, which would be a perfect add for this one. One can sense the chemistry from Kach, and Fowler has they have their share of fiery exchanges.
The epic “Umbrella” is filled with the sound of bottles and background noises courtesy of Josh Nelms, as Fowler narrates the story of his first tour at small, no longer in business club in Arizona that was scarcely attended. The only fan keeps requested “In a Gadda Da Vida” but the bartender told that fan to stop. Fowler’s band kept playing their own stuff. As the bartender threatened to kick the drunkard out with one more mention of that song, the drunkard said, “you can go fly an umbrella.” Thus, the name of the song and the closer “Kicked His Ass Out.” These two cuts are somewhat interesting the first time through but don’t hold up well for repeat listens. If the album had ended with “Wanda,” that would have been just fine as the hard-driving blues is still the essence of Fowler’s powerful sound.
