Afton Wolfe
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If you’re tired of wimpy mainstream vocals of pimply vocalists who haven’t lived yet — this is the cure. Wolfe sings with authority, experience & realism. He pours it dramatically but never artificially. – Americana Highways
In Afton Wolfe’s latest EP, Twenty-Three, the Nashville-based artist, vocalist, musician, songwriter and collector/inhabiter of powerful songs, finds those rare and unusual spaces between dreams and wide awakenings, sorrow and joy. Although he jokes as being “pathologically insecure and awkward,” the songs on this five-song release are hardly shy or reserved — balanced with emotional elegance and fearless sentiment, and presented with vocal confidence backed by soul singers, Regina McCrary and Melanie Dewey, rich saxophone and trumpet sounds, and melodies that stretch deep into your “Late Night Radio” visions.
Afton Wolfe has worn the hats of many humans from philosopher to lawyer, neuroscientist to bartender, from Washington to Tennessee, but his roots are in those of the rock, blues, and soul music of Mississippi. Armed with an additional deep love for Oscar Wilde, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Elvis Costello, Wolfe’s music aptly sits somewhere between these influences and his youngest musical experiences singing onstage with his mother at the State Boulevard Baptist Church in Meridian, MS. With a few starts and stops in recording and touring, between studying and sampling alternate means of making a living, sometimes a defender and sometimes a defendant before judges, Wolfe has remained a consistent songwriter reflecting on all facets of his wandering.
So far in 2023, Wolfe has toured the East Coast, appeared for the second season at the Tropic of Cancer Concert Series in Todos Santos Mexico hosted by the band Cordovas, released Twenty-Three and the video for “ Cry .” And he can always be found as a featured guest at the legendary East Nashville annual Tom Wait’s tribute to raise money for Second Harvest, led and curated by Mary Sack with a collection of OG artists that
have had a significant impact on the birth and growth of the highly revered East Nashville music scene.
The “Cry” music video was directed and produced by Duende Vision, one of East Nashville’s most creative teams in Americana Rock n Roll visuals, and also creators of the emotionally and visually stunning video for “ Late Nite Radio ,” starring East Nashville artist favorites Laura Rabell and Tom Mason. Staying true to his love for his artist community, Wolfe enlisted Tommy Womack, author, songwriter and member of the band
Government Cheese, to play the main character in “Cry” – a story of mourning that unfolds into profound joy when Wolfe’s young niece appears in a tutu with a whoopee cushion.
Other highlights in Wolfe’s catalog of releases include his 2021 album release King for Sale, said by Blues Matters , “Musically, it staggers between rough country blues and Steely Dan getting in a brawl with a proper jazz band.” In 2022, Wolfe also teamed up with Mississippi artist, Cary Hudson, for a single and video release of the popular “ Ooh La La ” by Faces.