View 02/14/02

View – Mike Branton (February 14-20, 2002. Vol. 8 No. 7 Pg. 13)

“I’ve Learned all kinds of things, but it depends on who you’re playing with,” muses blues guitarist Mike Branton about why he still accepts outside gigs after having officially announced himself as a band leader with the recent release of his critically acclaimed, solo debut CD Dirty Feet. “If you are just there to play and chuck through a bunch of songs that you don’t really care about, there is no point. I see so many guys do and it ruins them. It crushes their spirits, their will to live.”

A lifelong student of the guitar and the blues, it seems that Branton is always looking for greater insight into those familiar 12 bars.

His first teacher was his father Don, who in the sixties was a part of the vibrant Toronto musical community. His dad’s record collection awoke an awareness of the blues’ rich heritage, but it took the explosion of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the early ’80s to turn curiosity into passion.

But unlike many of his peers who never look past Vaughan’s tremendous gifts, Branton used Vaughan as a doorway back into the history of the blues, which allowed him to absorb the lessons of artists like Albert King and Jimmy Reed.

The awareness of genre and heritage, combined with an obsessive love of his instrument has helped this twenty-something musician get noticed, first by U.S. based guitarist Stu Heydon and subsequently by the late great vocalist Chicago Pete. Closer to home, Branton’s talents were appreciated by Toronto harp legend Michael Pickett, who now calls upon him whenever he can.

Most recently, Branton has become a part of Harrison Kennedy & The Bllue Angels, a quartet built around the considerable reputations of vocalist Kennedy (Chairman Of The Board) and bassist/band leader Prakash John (Funkadelic, Alice Cooper). Rounded out by John’s son Jordan on drums (who, at age 15, has way more chops then he should) this still raw unit, has the potential to become one of the best live bands the area has seen for a long while.

Still, his solo career and his still-fresh CD Dirty Feet which seems to remain on the forefront of his mind. A collection of 10 songs (plus a hidden track), the CD is packed with searing guitar licks, washes of Hammond organ and cutting harmonica punctuations. The collection often sounds like a geography lesson, taking the listener from Chicago, to Memphis, to Mississippi and to New Orleans at any given moment. Its stylistic leaps help to keep things moving while at the same time showing the range of Branton’s talents, abilities and vision.

“It was more out of necessity, so it didn’t all sound the same,” smiles the musician, explaining why he chose to touch upon so many different sounds on his first outing. “I tried not to repeat grooves and I tried to make the bass lines different because there is a thing in blues where the bass line usually make the tune, most guys over look that and I wanted to make sure to sneak that in the back door.”

“Most of the stuff on Dirty Feet obviously comes from somewhere else,” he adds. I can listen to it and say “Well, OK, that drum beat I heard in a Bo Diddley song and I liked it, so now we are applying it to a different kind of tune.”

Dirty Feet is reverent to its roots bu remains exciting in its execution, while a combination of taste and impeccable musical support (harmonica player Les Smith is an undiscovered gem) are in part, responsible for its undeniable power, ultimately it is Branton’s trademark combination of old soul and youthful energy that defines its best moments.

“We recorded it in two days” confesses Branton. “There are certain things I would have changed to refine it, but I wanted to make the best blues record that I’ve heard in a while and I think it came out that way.”

[Alex Erasmi]