1.Down Loaded	3:24 	
2.Before I Leave This Town	2:27 	
3.I Have My Troubles	3:36 	
4.A Girl I Once Knew	2:37 	
5.Gambling Blues	2:47 	
6.Down Baby	3:02 	
7.Ramblin' and Wanderin'	3:15 	
8.You Never Can Tell	2:21 	
9.Wondering and Worrying	2:48 	
10.Texting Blues	2:41 	
11.Rockin' My Boat	4:05 	
12.That's Enough	3:15 

Sunny Lowdown - solo performer

Some people might have a hard time imagining guitarist Louie X. Erlanger as a blues musician, given that he was a member of Mink Deville, a band that straddled the line between punk and rock, with plenty of soulful touches. What most people don’t know is that Erlanger was a sideman to John Lee Hooker, played with other legendary blues artists, and produced award-winning projects for R.L. Burnside and Paul Oscher. He definitely has a feel for the music.

That becomes apparent when you listen to the second release under his Sunny Lowdown persona. The first seven tracks are solo acoustic tracks delivered with Erlanger’s somber vocals. The title track opens the disc with some fine finger-picking, followed by “Before I Leave This Town,” which has a distinct Burnside influence. On “A Girl I Once Knew,” Lowdown switches to slide guitar, playing some taut licks over a droning rhythm.

The slide is also utilized on the traditional tune, “Ramblin’ and Wanderin’,” that pays homage to the Muddy Waters sound. A cover of the Lightnin’ Hopkins number, “Down Baby,” is a harrowing lament peppered with more intricate picking. Lowdown creates a chilling portrayal of a man swirling in a sea of despair on J.B. Lenoir’s “I Had My Trouble”. The energy level picks up considerably on “Gambling Blues,” a Li’l Son Jackson tune with a forceful vocal.

While the acoustic tracks are slower, dark odes to life, the final five cuts step things up several notches with the addition of a rhythm section and a switch to electric guitar. “You Can Never Tell” is a snappy shuffle, followed by “Wondering and Worrying,” built on a standard progression with Lowdown blowing like Jimmy Reed on his harp. “Texting Blues” is a humorous look at some of the issues of communication in modern relationships.

The rhythm section members are listed as Sunny Bottoms on bass and Sunny Tubbs on drums. There is nothing to indicate if it is Lowdown himself playing the rhythm or both are real, but unidentified, musicians. Either way, the steady-rolling nature of “Rockin’ My Boat” is catchy enough to stick with you. The final track, “That’s Enough,” shows that Lowdown can handle a guitar, riffing with gusto while Sunny Keys adds some flavor on an electric keyboard.

Sunny Lowdown’s latest is a solid offering from a guitarist who is equally at home in acoustic and electric settings, avoiding the traps of excessive volume and endless runs of notes that go nowhere. This one is made for listeners who relish real, traditional blues, served up by an artist who has learned from some of the greats. ---Mark Thompson, bluesblastmagazine.com

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01. Can't Be Satisfied (3:04)
02. Hobo Blues (3:04)
03. Mean Old World (3:25)
04. First Chance Blues (3:03)
05. Texas Blues (3:07)
06. Tear My Playhouse Down (3:22)
07. Cairo Blues (2:38)
08. Big Town Playboy (2:38)
09. Worried Life Blues (2:45)
10. Red Devil Blues (4:00)
11. Shotgun Blues (3:35)
12. Ice Cream Man (3:19)
13. Can't Be Satisfied (Banjo) (0:26)

Sunny Lowdown – vocals, guitar – solo performer

So says a proverb as old as the hills, and so proves Sunny Lowdown on his debut album, The Blues Volume Low. Out of his thirteen IPO’s, initial public offerings to the blues world, eleven of them are covers. Originally from Horizon, Arkansas and now residing in Vermont, he draws from such renowned and masterful sources as Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Duane Allman, John Brim, and John Lee Hooker, whom he first backed up when he was only sixteen years old.

According to his promotional information sheet, “He went on to work with many of his favorite blues musicians: Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Muddy Waters pianist Pinetop Perkins, Chicago blues legends Otis Rush and George ‘Wild Child’ Butler, and Fat Possum recording artists R.L. Burnside and Cedell Davis, among others…. ‘I always liked the signers who could sit with just their guitar and tell you a story,’ he says. ‘Whether they had written the song or not, they made it their story.’”

That’s what Sunny attempts to do on this CD, with mixed and uneven results, but there’s no doubt that each song is pure blues. With him are bassist Sunny Bottom and drummer Sunny Tubs. These three tracks reviewed below are the only two originals and a familiar opener:

Track 01: “Can’t Be Satisfied” – When asked to name ten blues songs off the top of their heads, most fans would list this Muddy Waters hit in their primary mental collection. Sunny Lowdown’s version may be a cover, but it captures the essence of his whole debut perfectly. He plays great guitar, which reverberates cleanly throughout the venue of GPI Studios. Sunny Tubs’ rat-a-tat drumsticks add extra pep. Is this song good? Yes. Is it fantastic by comparison? Maybe. It all depends on how many times, and how many different renditions, that one has heard before.

Track 04: “First Chance Blues” – All of us have to start somewhere, and for most Americans, that place is school. Yet the academic track (and, failing that, the fast track) aren’t for everyone: “You know I tried to get an education; but each examination did I fail. Even when I went night- clubbing, you know I always wound up in jail.” This is straight-up blues, featuring one man and his guitar. What you hear is what you get, without overdubs or studio prestidigitation.

Track 05: “Texas Blues” – Number five isn’t so much about Texas as it is about the gal who tried to “quit” our narrator in the Lone Star State: “Little girl named Eliza. Everybody called her Jane [huh?]. Got a way of loving – drive me insane. Whoo, she’s the sweetest girl in town.” It’s catchy, but also a bit reductive.

Based on his fretwork alone, one can easily see why Sunny Lowdown got to back John Lee Hooker. However, one will wish he had more new blues stories to tell on “Volume Low.” --- Rainey Wetnight, bluesblastmagazine.com

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