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Monster Mike Welch - website
"A young teen who can rip off the top of your head and cram your brains into your neck with his blues guitar work." - Rolling Stone -
Years ago, while playing the opening of the House of Blues in Cambridge, no less a blues brother than Dan Aykroyd gave this young Bostonian singer/songwriter/guitarist the moniker "Monster" Mike Welch. The appellation has served him well: Welch recorded two widely-acclaimed albums for Tone-Cool which won the ears of critics varied from Musician to People magazines and garnered a loyal fan base. "One day I’d never been in the newspaper," he says, "and the next day, there I was in print with a name I hadn’t had ‘til the night before, ‘Monster’ Mike Welch." But now, on the dawn of his third and best album, Catch Me, Welch feels the time has come to give it back. "I never particularly identified with it," he confesses. And, just as importantly, the new album marks a new beginning as Welch expands upon his initial influences to create new songs that maintain the blues foundation while pushing forward into pop territory.
"I’ve always listened to the Beatles and Elvis Costello right alongside B.B. King, and Freddie King, so this direction feels very natural to me," he says. "This record is about letting out all I want to play. "However, the blues is there," he adds, "and I think it’s more authentic in terms of emotional expression than anything I’ve recorded before."
One listen to Catch Me tells the whole story. "As Good As Gone" is as catchy a pop song as you’ll hear this side of the Beatles, and yet driven by a chunky blues groove. "Make Up Your Mind," which Welch wrote with two friends from high school, could have sounded right at home on an Otis Redding album. And "Catch Me" is a 2-1/2 minute pop song that Welch wrote around the time of the first album. "The trouble was, it didn’t work with my repertoire then," he says. "but some of the new songs have built up around it. One of the things I love about this album is that we finally gave this song a context."
And yet blues fans will have plenty to chew on. Pianist David Maxwell, who according to Welch "can legitimately be called a genius," accompanies him on "Don’t Worry" and the classic "Worried Life Blues," illustrating Welch’s deep love and undeniable prowess for the blues.
Abbildung: Mike at home (fall 2000) -
Abbildung: Mike und Johnny Clyde Copeland (1995) -
Welch’s influences date back to the young age of seven when a musical cousin turned him on to the Beatles. "To be seven and have a 13-year-old cousin who plays ‘Twist & Shout’ was the coolest thing," he says. He appropriated a used guitar in the closet and ran with it. And then he started to pilfer through his father’s record collection. "He had a prototypical ‘60s record collection—Beatles, Hendrix, every record Eric Clapton played on, plus one Muddy Waters, one Albert King, one Howlin’ Wolf and so on. From Cream’s version of ‘Crossroads,’ I sought out Robert Johnson. From 11 to 14, I was totally immersed in blues."
By the time Welch turned 15 and prepared to make his first album, These Blues Are Mine, his tastes had broadened. Rolling Stone called him "a young teen who can rip off the top of your head and cram your brains into your neck with his blues guitar work." He was named the winner of the "Outstanding Blues Act" category in the 1995 Boston Music Awards ands was featured on "Entertainment Tonight" and an HBO documentary on the life of Sonny Liston, and he shared the stage with heroes Johnny Clyde Copeland, Junior Wells, Hubert Sumlin and James Cotton.
A year later, the second album, Axe To Grind, was released to equal fanfare, solidifying his place as an artist to watch. He was profiled in Musician and on CNN, and named a "Best Bet For Stardom" in USA Today.
And now, on Catch Me, the band has changed to include stalwarts George Lewis on Leslie guitar and Warren Grant, drums, plus Dave Hull on bass. His touring band includes Brad Hallen, bass; and Jack Hamilton, a high school friend of Welch’s, on organ.
Welch has one simple wish for Catch Me as he prepares to tour the nation and world in the latter half of 1998: "I’d like more people to hear it than heard the first and second ones," he says.
Give it a spin and you’ll find it hard to resist telling everyone you know.
Abbildung: Mike und James Cotton (2001) -
Discography
Monster Mike Welch , "These Blues are Mine" (Tone Cool Records, 1996).
Monster Mike Welch, "Axe to Grind" (Tone Cool Records, 1997)
Mike Welch, "Catch Me" (Tone Cool Records, 1998)
The Repeat Offenders, "The Best Defense" (Mostly unreleased - some people have it on Napster - 1999). This is a side project I put together to play some original rock/pop tunes (kind of like the non-blues stuff on "Catch Me", but a little heavier) that didn't really sit well with blues club audiences. Most of the people who have this are musician friends of mine.
With others:
Brian Templeton, "Home" (Stone Cold Records, 2000) I produced and played guitar on this whole record. I also sing some background vocals. (www.stonecoldrecords.com)
Tom Hambridge, "Balderdash" (Artemis Records, 2000) I play guitar on "Opposites Attract," "Long Way Home," "Big and Empty," "Rachel Fay," "Highway," and "Rock Me Right." I sing harmonies on "Rock Me Right".
Shemekia Copeland, "Turn the Heat Up" (Alligator Records, 1998) I play guitar on "Ghetto Child".
Mark Hummel, "Low Down to Uptown" (Tone Cool Records, 1998) I play guitar on "Underhanded Woman" and "Let it Happen".
Mike and the Mellotones, "Mike and the Mellotones (featuring Monster Mike Welch)" (New Road Music,1997?)
I play guitar on "Don't Raise Their Kids No More," "Things I'd Do For You," "Don't Put Me On Hold," "Cold Hands," and "Things That Might Have Been," and I sing co-lead vocals on "Don't Put Me On Hold".
Skavoovie and the Epitones, "Ripe" (Moon Records, 1997) I play guitar on "Drunk".
Skavoovie and the Epitones, "Riverboat/Beardman Ska" (Moon Records single, 1996) I play guitar on the B side.
Various Artists, "Keep the Pressure On" (Kingpin Records, 1996) I play guitar on Skavoovie's "Wildfire".
Various Artists, "Skankaholics Unanimous (Moon Records, 1997) The same version of "Drunk" that's on "Ripe".
Various Artists, "Blues: The Next Generation" (or something.) The version of "Axe to Grind" that's on that record.
Various Artists, "New Blues Blood" (K-Tel Records, 2000) The version of "As Good As Gone" that's on "Catch Me."
Abbildung: MONSTER Mike Welch... -
Description
Fasten your seatbelts - Monster Mike Welch is behind the wheel! After four years with a "learner's permit" in the blues, this 16 year old phenom brandishes one of the country's hottest guitars. Few releases kick off as energetically as ths debut. "I was born to play guitar." Mike Welch knew his vocation at age nine when he uncovered an Albert King record in his father's blues collection. He had already started playing a borrowed guitar at age seven. "But when I discovered Albert King, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life." This was to be the direction his life would follow.
Tracks
Freezer Burn
These Blues Are Mine
It Might Not Be Me
I Forget
Texas Girl
Lover and a Friend
Jessie's Blues
Looking Back
Honest Love
Keep On Doing
Leroy's Mood
Cold Poison
Abbildung: These Blues Are Mine - at amazon.de -
Description
"Monster" Mike Welch has erupted on the national music scene! This 17-year old fiery guitarist follows the success of his debut release (These Blues Are Mine, which reached #3 on the Living Blues Radio Chart) with another album of all-original, hard hitting blues. Axe to Grind highlights the incredible songwriting, singing and guitar playing of this blues disciple who was recently profiled in People Magazine, Blues Revue, The Los Angeles Times and has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, A Current Affair and NBC London. With a cross country tour slated for 1997, including performances at the major blues festivals, Monster Mike is ready to take the country by storm. If you don't believe in Monsters yet . . . this one will convince you!
Tracks
Did She Say
Palm of Her Hand
Axe To Grind
Elkmont Stomp
Every Time You Lie
Afraid Of My Own Tears
Take Your Best Shot
She Couldn't Know
Time Stands Still
That's My Sin
My Emptiness
Cruise Control
Abbildung: Axe To Grind - at amazon.de -
Description
Guitarist Mike Welch builds upon his already impressive body of work with this, his third Tone-Cool release. Mike's debut (These Blues Are Mine) was issued in 1996 when Welch was but 16; he was quickly hailed as one of the best young guns of the blues. His 1997 follow-up (Axe to Grind), helped turn the young guitar-wielding monster into an internationally recognized blues star, with television and media praise from CNN, People, USA Today and Billboard, among others, and club and festival appearances around the world. For Catch Me, Mike Welch has dropped the nickname and turned out a provocative set of deep blues, rock 'n' roll and R&B. /// Mike Welch, guitar / David Hull, bass / Warren Grant, drums / George Leroy Lewis, Leslie operator
Tracks
As Good As Gone
Make Up Your Mind
If I Love You
Mole's Blues
Changing of the Guard
Catch Me (Nothing Lasts Forever)
Worried Life Blues
Can't Reach You
My Love Belongs To You
A Price to Pay
Blues for Cara
Money (That's What I Want)
Don't Worry
Abbildung: Catch Me - at amazon.de -
Brand new Sugar Ray & the Bluetones CD featuring Monster Mike Welch is out. Once again the Bluetones deliver their signature brand of dynamic Blues complete with scorching guitar, bold harp and an expressive performance by one of today's premier vocalists.
Abbildung: Sugar Ray & the Bluetones feat. Monster Mike Welch - - at Severn Records