Good New Music – November 2005
By: Peter Hund
Papa Mojo's Roadhouse
Mel Melton & The Wicked Mojos
Louisiana Red Hot

Though his associations with Sonny Landreth, C.J. Chenier and Zachary Richard date back to the ’70s, this is only master musician/chef Melton’s third album under his own name.
His sound is hard to categorize, but the harmonicist/singer/songwriter often thinks his mouth organ is an accordion, and he’s got a swamp blues bag spiced up with zydeco, Cajun, R&B, and New Orleans jazz and funk.
And it didn’t hurt that the disc was recorded at Kudzu Ranch Recorders (owned by Southern Culture on the Skids lead picker/singer Rick Miller), an analog recording paradise boasting a huge collection of vintage amps, mikes and guitars.
Among the record’s highlights are “Ils Sont Parti” and the instrumental “Zydeco Razzle,” which feature slide guitar courtesy Landreth and Johnny Garcia (Trisha Yearwood), respectively.
But the one who nearly steals the show is Wicked Mojos guitarist Ricky Olivarez, who unfortunately has left the band to pursue his interest in Gypsy jazz guitar full time.

Musicmatters.com
Mel Melton & The Wicked Mojos
“Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse”
LRHR -1166

Mel Melton, the North Carolina native, has been cookin’ up the hot stuff, both on the stage with his vocals and harmonica, and in the kitchen, in Louisiana for a better than three decades now and just getting better. When he first came down to the Lafayette area he and Sonny Landreth put together a band and he later played on Sonny’s first CD, "Blues Attack." This singer, harmonica and rub board player, and chef has continued to grow and learn his crafts that is getting him noticed and for all the right reasons.
On this, his third disc and first for Louisiana Red Hot Records, Melton has a smoking affair in which he has enlisted the help of some of his friends. He enlisted Sonny Landreth to add some of his signature style flaming slide guitar on "Ils Sont Parti." Johnny Garcia from Trisha Yearwood's band contributes his slide guitar attack to Zydeco Razzle, which opens the disc. Melton wrote or co-wrote all but one of the songs on the disc, and his singing has only gotten more powerful with the passage of time. His timing and inflection has aged as well as a fine wine and gives his music that added pop that an experienced singer can bring. The variety of music he covers is expanding beyond just Zydeco, to include Cajun, swamp rock, and roadhouse songs, all of which he covers with equal verve and zeal. – Bob Gottlieb

Durham Herald-Sun
Melton’s mojo works to escape storm, crank out CD
Friday, September 16, 2005
PHILIP VAN VLECK Columnist

There's never been a more timely moment to get into some Louisiana-inspired music and Mel Melton & the Wicked Mojos have your Zydeco-blues on tap. Mel and his crew released a new album -- "Papa Mojo's Roadhouse" -- this week on Louisiana Red Hot Records, literally in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic visit to the Gulf Coast. As many of Melton's regional fans know, he spent his formative years -- both as a musician and as a chef -- in Louisiana. He worked with Zydeco legends Clifton Chenier and Zachary Richard, as well as current Louisiana artists Sonny Landreth and C.J. Chenier. His musical roots were laid down in the bayou, and, in something of an odd coincidence, Mel intended "Papa Mojo's Roadhouse" as a tribute to New Orleans.
The album is a lively piece of work. It's the best record Melton has ever released, primarily because Melton just keeps getting better instead of older. His vocal work has never been more forceful, or more polished, and his harmonica playing is simply unfailingly brilliant. There are a bunch of sharp musicians in North Carolina, but none of them are better at what they do than Mel Melton.
"Papa Mojo's Roadhouse" is a project that began rather unexpectedly and for a time resisted efforts to whip it into shape, before finally emerging as a winning CD."We recorded the tracks at Rick Miller's studio -- Kudzu Ranch -- and I love the way he does his Southern Culture on the Skids material," Melton said. "He likes to work his material before an audience and really get it polished before he puts it down on CD. I've never done that either with the stuff Sonny [Landreth] and I did or with my band."
"Every time I do an album, I tell myself, 'Well, next time I'm really going to have these songs ready to go.' We didn't have that luxury with this album, because the opportunity to get into the studio came so quickly." Mel and his band mates spent a week in Miller's studio and knocked out the basic tracks. After a couple of overdubs and the contributions of a few guest players, Mel and Rick Miller sat down to mix the album.
"The mix was more of a challenge," he said. "After the first mix-down I thought we'd got it, and we took a couple days to do it. After I let it sit for awhile, however, I could hear some obvious problems. "But, man, I'm not good at doing the mixing. I've never had that talent, plus I have a bad left ear, so I don't hear a lot of frequencies.
After the second mix also proved disappointing, Melton turned to a friend in Nashville, Johnny Garcia, owner of Busy At Play Studio. Melton had originally considered cutting the album in Garcia's studio, and now he turned to him for some help with mixing the recording. Garcia offered to mix a couple tracks. Melton then sent him the album, and Garcia ended up mixing it."Johnny knocked out the final mix pretty much right before the deadline," Melton said. "It came together, but there were moments when I wondered. I liked the songs and I liked the musicianship, so I always figured there was a record in there somewhere.
"It's not perfect -- none of them are -- but I'm real happy with it," he added. "I can listen to it." Given that Louisiana Red Hot Records was headquartered in New Orleans until Katrina blew into town, it's a marvelous thing that "Papa Mojo's Roadhouse" hit its release date this past Tuesday. Label owner Harris Rea scrambled to temporarily relocate his business in Charlotte and hustle Melton's CD to release. Despite Katrina, Louisiana music will rock on.