Father and Son Blues, Pt. 1 (feat. Kevin McKendree & Yates McKendree)

#68 and #69 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, Father & Son Blues Pt.1 & Reprise, features the superlatively talented Kevin and Yates McKendree. I first heard Kevin playing keys with Mike Henderson at their legendary Monday night Bluebird Cafe gigs in Nashville TN more than 25 years ago and he was killin' it!. Everybody knew that Kevin had been referred for the Lee Roy Parnell gig by Allman Brothers and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell so his cool factor was already at a 10. Then Kevin and his wife, Laura, had a son, Yates, who surprise!, is a full on musical prodigy. Yates could play before he could talk. He's been wowing people as a keyboard player and a guitar player for years and he's only 18! (just check out the YouTubes). If you're reading this, you probably know that we don't normally have more than one guest on a track, but how could we resist enlisting both of these cats to play together on a track. When I heard Yates' multiple takes I couldn't bare not using both so I asked Kevin to play piano as well as the B3 so we'd be able to create two separate pieces of music. (hence, Part 1 and Reprise). Here's the "need to know" part; Kevin produced and played on the last John Hiatt record and Yates played lead guitar on it. They're both Grammy winners for their work on Delbert McClinton's, Tall, Dark and Handsome. Kevin's been a member of Delbert's band since 1997 and Yates has also been in the band for a couple of years now. When Delbert's off, you can catch Kevin with Brian Setzer or making records at his studio, The Rock House in Franklin TN. You can check out Yates' handiwork on the most recent Black Stone Cherry and Tinsley Ellis records. Enjoy!

The backing band on this track is Alvino Bennett (Dave Mason, Stevie Wonder) on drums and myself on rhythm guitar and bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Additional recording by Kevin McKendree at The Rock House, Franklin TN. The Grammy winning and extremely personable, Matt Winegar (Primus, Fantastic Negrito), mixed and mastered the crap outta this one!

Father and Son Blues Reprise (feat. Yates McKendree & Kevin McKendree)

George Floyd (feat. Rahsaan Barber & Roland Barber)

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." - The Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776

It's been almost six weeks since we've witnessed the brutal murder of George Floyd. And since then there have been more murders of Black people at the hands of police and some very suspicious occurrences that look a lot like LYNCHINGS in Southern California. I've had several conversations with other white people who are unwilling to move beyond, "yeah, but ALL lives matter"... Well, I am an artist and I feel it is my responsibility to use my art as a weapon against injustice, to question norms, to provoke thought, introspection, and conversation, and lastly to entertain, soothe or distract. I am beyond angry. I am out of patience. I have been hearing and singing We Shall Overcome, Eyes On The Prize, A Change Is Gonna Come, People Get Ready, etc...since I can remember, all the while recognizing the brutal hypocrisy of my own privilege.

The list of grotesque atrocities perpetrated on Black people in the United States of America is all the evidence we need to prove the case that Black Lives are NOT valued equally, and have never been. So the people have again rightfully taken to the streets in anger, because we all witnessed George Floyd slowly MURDERED by a white police officer while three other officers chose to stand by instead of de-escalating a fatal and unnecessary outcome. And then, if that wasn't enough trauma, we've since watched The President of the United States shamefully encourage more hatred, divisiveness and violence. I pray that this time we will not go home, fall back into our slumber of convenience and consumerism...the time for action is NOW. George Floyd needs to be the period at the end of the sentence. We need to stay woke and wake up anyone that is still sleeping. And that is why, I offer George Floyd (feat. Rahsaan Barber & Roland Barber) as an artistic expression of my anger, sadness, frustration, disgust, impatience, exhaustion, bewilderment, anxiety, ad nauseum.

I'd like to thank my good friend, John Deaderick, for hipping me to Saxophonist Rahsaan Barber and his brother, Trombonist Roland Barber, who brought the melody and emotion to this track. And Drummer Derrek Phillips for masterfully bringing the pulse and anger as well as putting me in contact with the Barber Brothers. I played bass and guitar, hopefully evoking the struggle as I've witnessed it in my lifetime. I'd also like to thank Matt Winegar for mixing and mastering and, as always, Brian Brinkerhoff for instigating.

There are a lot of organizations that need financial support right now as well as "thoughts and prayers" and social media posts. 100% of the proceeds from this release will benefit M4BL Movement for Black Lives.