House Of Mirrors (feat. Hamish Anderson)

#88 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, House of Mirrors, features the introspective and lyrical guitar playing of Hamish Anderson. The Australian guitarist has the somber distinction of being the last act to open for BB King before his passing in 2015. Hamish was named as one of the 10 Best New Artists of 2016 by Yahoo! Music and that same year Gary Clark Jr. cited Hamish as the act under 30 to watch out for. In 2019, Hamish would go on to open for Clark Jr., joining in on the encore every night. Hamish has made 2 EP's and 2 LP's so far, working with keyboardist Rami Jaffee of the Foo Fighters and producers Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Tedeschi Trucks) and Krish Sharma (Rolling Stones). He has won a couple of Independent Music Awards and has played festivals around the world. This track harkens back to Lou Reed's, Rock and Roll Animal to me...maybe it's the phase shifter? Enjoy?

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Alvino Bennett (Dave Mason, Stevie Wonder) on drums and myself on bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Mixing and Mastering duties performed by the Grand Wizard of Greaseland, Christoffer "Kid" Andersen. A special shout out to Kristin Juel for facilitating Hamish's session, engineered by David Davis.

Kudzu Blues (feat. Jerry Douglas)

#87 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, Kudzu Blues, features the incomparable Dobro-isms of Jerry Douglas.

When I think of Jerry Douglas I immediately think of Alison Kraus, and when I think of Alison Kraus, I think of Robert Plant, and when I think of Robert Plant, I think of Jimmy Page, and when I think of Jimmy Page, I think of unrivaled and immediately identifiable musical character, which then brings me right back to Jerry Douglas.

My dear friend, former bandmate and, incredibly gifted musician, John Deaderick, suggested we have Jerry guest on a track and was generous enough to make the introduction. Much to my surprise and pleasure Jerry said yes and then delivered what you are hopefully listening to while you're reading this. This is a long way from Alison Kraus but not so far from Jimmy Page.

Usually, I try to write a little bio about our featured soloist but check this out, it's just a few lines from Jerry's Wikipedia page: "In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he has recorded with artists as diverse as Garth Brooks, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Phish, Dolly Parton, Susan Ashton, Paul Simon, Mumford & Sons, Keb' Mo', Ricky Skaggs, Elvis Costello, Tommy Emmanuel, James Taylor, and Johnny Mathis, as well as performing on the O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack."

And it continues...

"As of 2021, Douglas has been nominated for thirty-two Grammy Awards, winning fourteen.
He has received the Country Music Association's "Musician of the Year" award three times, in 2002, 2005, and 2007.
Douglas is a 10-time recipient of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Dobro Player of the Year Award.
In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Douglas a National Heritage Fellowship, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts."

That is some serious drop the mic shit! And then on top of that, he's a genuinely humble and generous human being.

So if you're one of the ten people in the world that aren't hip to Jerry Douglas, check this track out and then go check out a bunch more of his work. He's the Jimmy Page of Folk/Americana/Bluegrass! (or whatever the label du jour).

The backing band on this track is Oaktown Born/Nashville Ruling, Derrek Phillips, (Gloria Gaynor, Robben Ford, Charlie Hunter) on drums, and myself on rhythm guitar and bass. The track was recorded at NTA in San Bruno, CA, and The Phamily Room and The Squirrelnest in Nashville, TN. Prodigiously mixed and mastered by the Grammy-winning and extremely personable, Matt Winegar (Primus, Fantastic Negrito).

Deep Pockets (feat. Mark Lettieri)

#86 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, Deep Pockets, features a real Snarky Puppy, Mark Lettieri, on the electric guitar. For those of you that don't know, Snarky Puppy is a crushingly virtuosic Jazz, Rock, World, Funk band originally out of Denton TX and yes, Lettieri has been their guitarist from almost their inception. But that's not it. Fearless Flyer, yeah you know, the band with Joe Dart, Cory Wong, Nate Smith, and...yup, Mark's the other Ray-Ban'd guitarist shredding the mad hyper funk in those viral YouTubes. And just because he can...Mark's also released five solo albums and has appeared on a wildly diverse array of projects including Snoop Dogg, David Crosby, and Dave Chappelle to name just a few. We caught up with Mark while he was touring through Santa Cruz and he was gracious enough to drop by Skunkworks and melt our faces. Check it out...it sneaks up on you...

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Andrew "the kid" Guterman (Rick Estrin) 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 masterfully mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering.