Afton Wolfe & The Snake Hunters – Live From the Fallout Shelter
Cutting through with a cross-blended approach of Tom Waits & the late Jon Dee Graham, the skillful & bearded Afton Wolfe, with his signature fedora, is no imitator. He has a smartly conceived repertoire, bluesy tact & sincere bellowing tone. Some tunes have a bittersweet edge, & the songs aren’t presented in a way that suggests an influence of Waits. And this is where Afton & Tom part company, in comparisons, but the rockier, late Jon Dee gradients remain. The Mississippi-born Afton, based in Nashville, TN, opens with “Crooked Roads,” recorded live at the Fallout Shelter in Norwood, MA.
“Crooked Roads” is peculiar thematically, while other songs are edgier, like “Steel Wires,” laid out like a thick hot fudge sauce on vanilla ice cream. There are 15 stylistically diverse tunes to Live From the Fallout Shelter (Drops August 23/Grandiflora Records). Afton (guitar/vocals) doesn’t rock like Jon Dee, but that’s where Wolfe’s more sophisticated presentation forms. It isn’t as heavy as it’s cranked out with bellowing vocals & leaden brass for accentuation. Instead, it’s for a more lavish thrust. This is why the sax & flute additions are so attractive.
Heavy-duty Hammond organ pumps over the funky drums of “Forgive Yourself,” adding another layer to Mr. Wolfe’s showcase. The set is tight. Absorbent. There’s nothing juvenile or thin about Mr. Wolfe’s voice. His lines are authoritative & closer to the timbre of The Call’s late lead vocalist Michael Been (“Let the Day Begin,” “Oklahoma,” “Upperbirth”). Not always, but at certain times.
With “Last King of the Blues,” Afton displays a growly blues-infected tone supported by a sultry sax. The Seth Fox sax has added character to Afton’s muscular voice & musical signature. With the addition of flute, the program adds an even wider array of musicality. It almost reminds older listeners of how Mark-Almond used to add such instruments to their classical-cum-jazz repertoire. But that type of brass work is always crystalline.
Afton would benefit from better audience banter between songs (as Tom Waits often does, & Randy Newman, John Prine). It would enlighten the performance, make it more personal, & relieve the occasional stiffness during the lull between tuning up, drinking water, changing instruments, & announcing the next tune. In some circles, musicians feel that banter is as important as the performance itself.
The live recording at The Fallout Shelter is actually captured impressively. Afton Wolfe sounds good throughout the show. “New Orleans Going Down” is masterful in its intensity & one of Afton’s best. If Janis Joplin were alive today & still performing, I’d bet she’d cover this.
Highlights – “Crooked Roads,” “Steel Wires,” “Last King of the Blues,” “Forgive Yourself,” & “New Orleans Going Down.”
Musicians – Madison George (drums), Connor Quigley (bass), & Alan Bailey (keys).
Color image courtesy of Jeff Fasano. CD @ iTunes, Amazon & Bandcamp + https://aftonwolfe.com/
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: Interview: Afton Wolfe on Ophiuchus