Artist:     Leo Bud Welch

Album:     The Angels in Heaven Done Signed My Name

Label:     Easy Eye Sound

Release Date:     3.12.2019

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Gospel-and-bluesman Leo “Bud” Welch came to fame—such as it was— in his early 80s, and he released his first album, the gospel collection Sabougla Voices, in 2014. His second album, of blues, (aptly-titled if you read the double-negative) I Don’t Prefer No Blues came out the following year, and Welch wound up leaving Mississippi for the first time, taking his first airplane flight and touring nearly 40 countries in the middle of his eighth decade. A full-length, award-winning documentary film, Late Blossom Blues (2017), chronicled his life.

Welch passed away a bit shy of his 86^th birthday, leaving behind this strong album of gospel songs which range from the haunting “I Know I Been Changed” to the upbeat traditional “Let It Shine” (usually titled “This Little Light of Mine”) to the bluesy “Don’t Let the Devil Ride.” With primarily simple arrangements punctuated by some hard-bitten electric guitar and a strong rhythm section, Welch may have come late to the party, but he certainly belonged at its center.

—Suzy Nelson