Damon Fowler is one of the bright young blues musicians playing in the
southeast at this time. Damon filled in for an ailing Johnny Lang as an
opening act for Jeff Beck, and opened for Robin Trower, Greg Allman and
other national acts and has always impressed the audience. If you get a
chance to see his live show, I highly recommend that you check him out.
He doesn't just play the blues, he feels it and it shows in most
everything he does. He has the style and guitar chops to please the
guitar freaks and the singing ability and personality to please the
women in the audience.
This CD is his second and shows considerable growth from his first one.
His previous CD was produced by Rick Derringer and was recorded when he
was only 17. He is now just 22 and this CD shows a much wider range of
styles and playing.
The CD contains eleven tracks plus one "secret" track at the end, all of
which were written by Damon and Bobby Fowler. The styles range from slow
blues, to tasteful jazz/blues similar in style to Robben Ford, to
acoustic finger picked instrumentals which remind me of Leo Kottke. This
is a diverse CD that ranges from screaming guitar leads to laid back
acoustic instrumentals.
The CD opens with 'Your Gonna Do Me Wrong', which reminds me a lot of
Robben Ford in style. It has that tasteful jazzy blues type of groove
going for it. 'Didn't Seem To Miss Me' is a little funky blues tune. 'I
Do What I Have To Do' is driven by a heavy sounding guitar lick which
sort of stomps its way to the heavy guitar lead. The guitar switches
from Fender strat to slide in the middle and then gets mellow before
crashing into the heavy guitar again. 'Tall', the first instrumental on
the CD is dives into blues/jazz territory. It's a very laid back tune
with a pretty cool bass line that clocks in just over two and a half
minutes. 'Jack' is one of my favorite songs and it could be a blues song
or part of the new music heard on your average new rock station. It has
soft verses and heavy chorus's and works real well in a live setting.
'Stirling' is another instrumental, which runs from jazzy blues to
soulful blues to county double stops. This one is all over the place and
keeps your interest. 'Red Headed Woman' is the shortest song on the CD
at 2:21 and is a straight-ahead, just plain fun, rock-a-billy song that
reminds me of something Brian Setzer could have done. Following the
shortest song is the longest song, 'Pride', which clocks in at just over
12 minutes. This is a slow blues number that has soulful licks with tons
of feeling to screaming guitar. This on always gets a big applause when
played live. 'Sugar Lee' sounds like something from Robert Johnson with
a vocal sound that's raw with a slide guitar backing. This is very
stripped down, raw and basic blues. 'The Last One' is a short acoustic
toe tapper and reminds me of Leo Kottke. Stick around for about 40
seconds after the last song and you get the 'secret song' on the CD. I'm
not quite sure how to describe this one, except that it sounds totally
different than anything else.
Bottom Line: I really like this release. The range of styles and playing
keep your interest. You certainly won't get bored with this CD. If you
don't care for one song, wait till the next one. Everyone should find
something they like of this CD. The production is excellent and the
sound really represents Damon's live abilities. If you like a mix of
Robben Ford, great guitar work, Leo Kottke, Brian Setzer and points in
between, you should like this CD. I give it four stars out of five.
Web Site: www.damonfowler.com
Damon Fowler Group (813) 248-2208
Booking - otismgt@mindspring.com
Damon Fowler - Guitar & Vocals
Aaron Fowler - Drums
Reece Smith - Bass
Rob Stoney - Keyboards
Murf....
Email me at "murf01@bellsouth.net"
Visit my Web Page "http://personal.mco.bellsouth.net/~murf01/"
Visit the GUITAR FACTORY
http://personal.mco.bellsouth.net/~murf01/gftop.htm
This review is copyright © 2001 by Robert Murphy, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission. For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.