Album Notes

With thoughtful, edgy songwriting, passionate vocals, and a ton of virtuosic blues-rock guitar, the Monster Mike Welch Band's Adding Insight to Injury gives the blues a highly original shot in the arm. Welch, who first came to prominence as a young blues guitar prodigy in the early 1990's, fuses the deepest blues with clever rock and pop sensibilities to create a sound that thrills audiences worldwide. AI2I is Welch's first original CD in six years, a period in which he appeared on CDs by Johnny Winter, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, and Shemekia Copeland.

The opener, "But For the Grace Of You," establishes the tone, with a slamming Ray Charles-influenced groove, biting SRVish guitars, and a shimmering Abbey Road middle eight. "Get Over Me," originally written for Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, is recast here as a Lennonesque blues wail, with Welch's throaty vocals right to the fore, and a guitar solo that recalls early Freddy King without ever quoting the big man.

"Lose You" stakes out the MMWBand's unique place in the world of music, recasting the West Side Chicago minor blues that Welch grew up on with gorgeous, complex chord changes, and wordplay that brings to mind Elvis Costello or Bob Dylan. The guitar solo brings it all back home, though, with stinging tones that Welch may have learned from fellow New England guitar hero Ronnie Earl. "Good At Goodbye," written with Tom Hambridge (writer/producer of Susan Tedeschi's hit album Just Won't Burn), slows the pace for a contemplative yet intense blues ballad that builds up to a screaming climax. Here, Welch displays just how much his vocal prowess has grown since his prodigy days, giving a reading that is tender but raw, lamenting lost love.

"Slapback" is pure blues-rock, a tale of dead love with slabs of filthy guitar and a big drum shuffle. "Thunder in the Distance" is the kind of slow blues upon which Welch's reputation rests, featuring brilliant extended soloing with the dynamics of a young Buddy Guy. Welch uses the slow tempo to dig in vocally, milking all the feeling from the lyrics.

"I Don't Want To Come Down" mixes sunny pop with deep Delta blues over a throbbing jungle groove from drummer Ephraim Lowell and John Lee Hookeresque rhythm guitar from Barrie Anderson. Lowell, Anderson, and bassist Pat Christman display their astounding versatility on the Sly Stone-like funk of "Do You Know Who You Are", underpinning the multitracked Welch's bitter, soulful ranting.

The late blues legend Johnny Copeland was a mentor and friend to the young Monster Mike, and here Mike joins with Boston blues hero Matt Woodburn to cover the master's "Flying High." Welch and Woodburn share the singing, and share lead guitar duties with Barrie Anderson for a heartfelt tribute. Bob Dylan's virulently anti-war protest classic "Masters Of War" is reimagined by the band as a West Side minor blues in the tradition of Magic Sam and Otis Rush, with a burning intensity that leaves no doubt where Mike and the band stand.

"Tomorrow Morning," previously featured on 2003's Sugar Ray and the Bluetones Featuring Monster Mike Welch in a different arrangement, combines a Howlin' Wolf-influenced drone with a D'Angelo-like hip-hop soul groove to modernize the deepest of the Delta blues in a very hip way. "Into Thin Air" has stinging guitar solos from Barrie Anderson, and a passionate vocal from Welch on some of his strongest lyrics yet. The CD comes to a close with a Pat Christman composition, a gently psychedelic blues ballad called "Kings And Pawns" with Welch's sweet and sour lap steel.

With AI2I, the Monster Mike Welch Band is poised to once again take the blues world by storm with a new, original vision for the music. Welch's first CD was called These Blues Are Mine; the blues on Adding Insight To Injury could be no one else's.