Surfing (feat. Kirk Fletcher)

#90 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, SURFING, features the Southern California blues master, KIRK FLETCHER. Folks in the blues guitar world know Kirk Fletcher and he has the CV to fully justify that knowing. From the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Mannish Boys to Charlie Musslewhite and Joe Bonamasa, this cat has been around the blues block. He's got great note choice and tone for sure but the thing that struck me the most while Kirk was tracking, was his time. Listen to his time! It's fucking spot on! And in a very individual way. I'm not a surfer but I am my teenage daughter's surf sherpa, and this is what I imagine I might hear in my head while riding an "epic" wave. (I can see her rolling her eyes now.) One other thing, Kirk was one of the first guests we had, and I am grateful for how trusting and generous he was to participate. Enjoy!

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 almost always, masterfully mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering.

Fysisk Andlig (feat. Jimmy Agren)

#89 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, Fysisk Andlig, features the Swedish slide guitar monster, Jimmy Agren. When Brian suggested Jimmy for a track I had not heard of him, so of course I YouTube'd him and, WOW!...I didn't just want him to play on a track, I wanted to be in a band with this cat! In his home country of Sweden, Jimmy is a well established player, having played with Freddie Wadling, Jonas Knutsson, and Captain Beefheart. Jimmy also plays in an incredibly cool prog-ish kind of band with his brother Morgan called the Mats / Morgan Band and he has eight albums out under his own name. We were fortunate enough to get Jimmy into Skunkworks to do his track while he was in the States last year playing some shows with avant-garde guitarist Henry Kaiser. Henry was kind enough to help with facilitating and driving. I love this track and Jimmy's playing on it and I hope it helps to bring more attention to Jimmy here in the US.

The backing band on this track is Alvino Bennett (Dave Mason, Stevie Wonder) on drums and myself on bass and rhythm guitar. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Mixed and Mastered by the super bad, multiple Grammy winning, F. Reid Shippen (Gloria Gaynor, Kenny Chesney) in Nashville TN.