This Is Our Last Chance (feat. D.J. Williams)

Greetings Friends, Family, Associates, Acquaintances, Comrades & Accomplices,

#76 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, This Is Our Last Chance, features a cat known more for his deeply funky rhythm playing than his soloing, but looky here, D.J. Williams sure can solo too! Born in New Jersey, raised in Liberia, and settling in Richmond VA, D.J. began his musical journey on classical piano and then heard the light of Curtis Mayfield from his Mom's record collection, which set the course that he's still following today. D.J. has been a member of Karl Denson's Tiny Universe since 2011 and is also the leader of the all-star collective, Shots Fired. We were lucky enough to catch up with D.J. while he was touring through Santa Cruz. Remember touring??? 

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Marcus David (Nick Gravenites) on drums, and myself on bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Mixed by the Grammy winning Godfather of Grunge, Jack Endino (Nirvana, Nando Reis) and as always, masterfully mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering.

Open Road (feat. David Grissom)

#75 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series is OPEN ROAD, featuring the guitarist's guitarist, David Grissom. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky but, not surprisingly, David has been living in the musical oasis of Austin, Texas since the early '80s. David joined Joe Ely’s band in 1985 where he stayed until 1991 when he joined up with John Mellencamp. He left Mellencamp to form his own band, Storyville, with Stevie Ray's rhythm section, Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon. Since then he has toured and recorded with Buddy Guy, The Allman Brothers Band, The Dixie Chicks, Chris Isaak, Robben Ford, John Mayall, and Ringo Starr. His songs have been cut by Rita Coolidge, Trisha Yearwood, and Lee Ann Womack. And just to add to his overachieving ways, he's been a collaborator of Paul Reed Smith's for 25 years, resulting in the DGT (David Grissom Trem) signature model guitar and the PRS/Grissom Amplifier. Dude's got tone and note choice for days...

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Andrew Guterman on drums and myself on bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA and wickedly mixed and mastered by the Supreme Ruler of Greaseland, Christoffer "Kid" Andersen.