Mickey Wynne

We’re late in reviewing this one, but Mickey Wynne’s guitar playing and songwriting defy the ravages of time: the Liverpool-born rock vet delivers vivid, smartly played, smartly written Americana rock. As befits a guy with an Electric Ladyland/Abbey Road Studios pedigree, the song are superbly produced, blending rustic acoustic textures with a savage, electric, early 70s psychedelic bent, guitars swirling, bending, phasing in and out. Perfectly illustrative song: the lush ballad Against All Odds I’ll Do It, with its layers of acoustic guitar and mandolin that build to a big, sweeping crescendo before coming back down again with a majestic grace.

The tour de force here is the fiery, insistent Bush era parable All Quiet on the Eastern Frontier, funky acoustic guitar giving way to macabre, reverb surf guitar on the chorus and an equally nightmarish outro. It could have been an A-list Dire Straits album cut from 1982 or so. The title track is a shapeshifting John Lee Hooker-style blues with sparse, incisive slide guitar accents that morphs into pounding Led Zep style riff-rock; the hallucinatory, reverb-drenched French Blooze evokes recent work by Spottiswoode or Marty Willson-Piper. Wynne plays the usual UK roots music haunts: the 12 Bar, et al.; the live tracks up on Wynne’s site confirm his reputation as a dynamic, intense live performer. - Lucid Culture (New York)

"Mickey Wynne has other ideas on his debut solo EP. Even a fleeting glance at his credentials and it’s quite clear that he’s something of a virtuoso on the guitar, so it is very pleasing to discover that he is more interested in song structure and subtly weaved textures "
-Ian Fildes, - Americana UK

Backed by just bass and drums, guitarist / songwriter / singer Mickey Wynne keeps things simple on stage: his rhythm section is tight, his playing is expressive without being flashy and none are shy of keeping the volume turned up. The first three tracks were all from the EP "Running on Empty" which was being launched. "All Quiet (on the Eastern Frontier)" did not work as well as the recording and yet, "Against All Odds (I'll do it)" introduced as "not the Phil Collins Against All Odds" was much better live. I was as impressed with "French Blooze" here as I was on the EP.

It was after these three that things got really good. Sitting on the front of the stage with legs dangling as if he was cooling of by the side of a swimming pool an acoustic was whipped out for the country styled "Love and the Bottle" which featured some brutal slide. The acoustic was put away for "Fooled By You" but the slide remained. Wynne's slide playing is as subtle as a Sun headline and harder and faster than an Andy Roddick serve. "My Own Tears" a "my baby left me" blues track seemed very tame in comparison but gave us chance to catch our breaths before the Stevie Ray Vaughan styled "Love Of A Woman" and the final song (and EP title track) "Running on Empty" which, like "Against All Odds", works much better live than recorded.

Whilst I had mixed feelings about "Running On Empty" the EP I know exactly what I think of Mickey Wynne as live musician: one of the best.

The Jacket - Fatea Magazine

Artist: Mickey Wynne
EP:Running On Empty
Tracks:4
Label:Harmonia
Website: www.myspace.com/mickeywynne

As a precursor to a full album due to be released later this year, "Running On Empty" by Liverpool born (but Brighton based) guitarist/singer/songwriter Mickey Wynne is an eclectic mix of styles.

The title track is hard and heavy bluesy rocker. "I'll do it" is gentler affair, much like the obligatory second single by any self respecting eighties hair metal band would release in an attempt to sit on bar stools for an episode of MTV unplugged. "French Blooze" is an atmospheric piece that although talks of heading to a resort in south west France as "Paris is broken too" it feels more south eastern USA than south western Europe. The final track "All Quiet (on the eastern frontier)" reminds me of the best work by Jackie McCauley.

Four tracks, four styles some work better than others. "Running on Empty" is unremarkable and "I'll do it" exposes (like many great guitarists) a no more than adequate voice. "French Blooze" and "All Quiet" more than make up for the failings of the first two tracks: they are both intelligent, interesting tracks that are well written and well played.

The only real disappointment about this EP is that it is only an EP and the album is half a year away. I am hoping that the majority of the tracks are like the second half of the EP and not generic rockers and ballads.

The Jacket - Fatea Magazine

Backed by just bass and drums, guitarist / songwriter / singer Mickey Wynne keeps things simple on stage: his rhythm section is tight, his playing is expressive without being flashy and none are shy of keeping the volume turned up. The first three tracks were all from the EP "Running on Empty" which was being launched. "All Quiet (on the Eastern Frontier)" did not work as well as the recording and yet, "Against All Odds (I'll do it)" introduced as "not the Phil Collins Against All Odds" was much better live. I was as impressed with "French Blooze" here as I was on the EP.

It was after these three that things got really good. Sitting on the front of the stage with legs dangling as if he was cooling of by the side of a swimming pool an acoustic was whipped out for the country styled "Love and the Bottle" which featured some brutal slide. The acoustic was put away for "Fooled By You" but the slide remained. Wynne's slide playing is as subtle as a Sun headline and harder and faster than an Andy Roddick serve. "My Own Tears" a "my baby left me" blues track seemed very tame in comparison but gave us chance to catch our breaths before the Stevie Ray Vaughan styled "Love Of A Woman" and the final song (and EP title track) "Running on Empty" which, like "Against All Odds", works much better live than recorded.

Whilst I had mixed feelings about "Running On Empty" the EP I know exactly what I think of Mickey Wynne as live musician: one of the best.

The Jacket - Fatea Magazine