Monster Mike Welch

Nothing But Time

Gulf Coast Records

With Nothing But Time, Mike Welch cements the legitimacy of the Monster moniker that comedian and “Blues Brother” Dan Aykroyd dubbed him with when Welch was a 13-year-old blues guitar prodigy. Welch had recently come off a tough year and a half of long Covid when his friend and fellow guitarist Mike Zito convinced him to record this, his eighth solo album, and first for Zito’s fledging Gulf Coast Records. It was just the right kick in the ass at a crucial time and it resulted in an album that kicks unrelenting, heart pumping blues and blues guitar ass. Nothing But Time’s 13 songs (nine of them original) offer pure release for the artist and for the listener. Exactly what blues music is supposed to accomplish.   

     Tradition pulsates throughout Nothing But Time, but Welch and the band manage to make it all sound fresh and exciting. During “Losing Every Battle” and “Offswitch Blues,” Welch plays outrageously inspired guitar solos within runaway trainloads of blues that sound familiar, but then do not. Textures vary wildly, but their natural basis never does. Following the sweltering “Walking to You Baby” at the album’s outset, Welch tackles the first of two Robert Johnson tunes, a bold move given the multitudes of takes on Johnson’s material. “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day” (that title alone defines blues music) features electrified high-wire veracity, Welch delivering the mythical lyrics with a Howlin’ Wolf fervor to his voice. He takes a different approach on “Kind Hearted Woman Blues,” closing the album with it on an acoustic guitar and with a bullseye to the Robert Johnson sweet spot.       

     Kid Andersen, a champion of the blues and blues guitar himself, cut Welch fronting a band that includes legendary bassist Jerry Jemmott (Aretha Franklin, Gregg Allman, et. al.), pianist Bob Welsh, drummer Fabrice Bessouat, a full horn section, and backing singers. The various configurations of them click Master Lock-tight but afford Welch plenty of opportunities to pry open their grooves with voracious guitar. Whether playing staccato jabs, or runs that coexist with the melody, Welch plays like a man haunted, his shading nonetheless beautiful. In “Hard to Get Along With,” he suggests the late great Sean Costello, his voice acerbic, his guitar blazing along with a bass line flowing like a funky river.

     Anyone that can expose the blues within George Harrison’s “I Me Mine,” complete with angry guitar, so perfectly, is somebody to watch. Monster Mike Welch spent half his career thus far playing with the multi-faceted Rhode Island blues institution, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones. That tenure, besides his obvious passion and talent, served him well. Nothing But Time is stacked with award-worthy performances of the blues.    

Tom Clarke for MAS

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