Todd Wolfe Band - Stripped Down At the Bang Palace - Blues Leaf Records 2009

Wolfe, along with bassist Suavek Zaniesienko and drummer Roger Voss recorded Stripped at Scott Bradoka's Bang Palace Studio. Wolfe described the sessions as a "stripped down live in the studio type of thing with as little overdubs as possible." The result is a hot, and at sometimes really cool Blues record on Blues Leaf Records.

The stripped down approach works really well with the material from the record, which consists of ten covers out of the album's 13 total tracks. Covers range from the electric "Bad Boy" (Eddie Taylor), to an amazing, sliding version of Mountain's "Mississippi Queen."

Stripped Down At the Bang Palace starts with the Wolfe original "Wing Of A Dove," a nice number featuring acoustic guitar and slide, along with some backing vocals by Sarah Ayers providing some nice depth. "Roll Over" and "Light Of Day" are the other two songs on the album by Wolfe. "Roll Over" has a chugging rhythm that kept my head-bobbing throughout, before it launches into a heavy jam at the end. "Light Of Day," co-written by R.S. Bryan, is lyrically, the strongest original song on Stripped Down At the Bang Palace.

As I said before, the record is filled with covers. All of the songs included are tunes that Wolfe and company have either recorded in the past and performed new versions of here, or songs that they like to include in their live shows. The first of these tunes is the electric "Stranger Blues" by Elmore James, and features a great example of Wolfe's fretwork.

Wolfe arranges Muddy Waters' "She's Nineteen Years Old" in the vein of a slowed down "Crossroads" by Cream. An interesting interpretation, for sure, and an entertaining one, if for no other reason than to fool everyone who would immediately think he was launching into "Crossroads." Good stuff.

"Black Night" is a heavy version of Jessie May Robinson's classic Blues that has been covered by seemingly everyone, and T.W.B. do a good job, too. I really enjoyed Wolfe's rendition of Robert Johnson's "Come In My Kitchen," with electric slide guitar and more of Ayers' background vocal. Wolfe's guitar tone and playing on B.B. King's "Three O' Clock Blues" both sound terrific.

Voss and Zaniesienko flex their skills on Todd Wolfe Band's version of the Willie Dixon penned "Evil," a tune that immediately triggers the great Howlin Wolf in my memory. Speaking of the Wolf, Todd Wolfe pays tribute to him with a version of Howlin' Wolf's "Wreck My Life" to end Stripped Down At the Bang Palace. The song clocks in over eight minutes, and is easily the album's longest track.

Stripped Down At the Bang Palace is an eclectic Blues-Rock record filled with amazing guitar-work from Wolfe, and a look at many of his greatest influences. While I am always impressed by Wolfe's skill on the electric guitar, I enjoy his acoustic work even more, but that's just a personal observation.

Standout Tracks: "Mississippi Queen," "Come In My Kitchen," "Three O' Clock Blues," and "Light Of Day"

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