Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Grandmother's Child (feat. Bombino)

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

#91 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, Grandmother's Child, features the Nigerian rebel/guitarist, Bombino. Born in Niger in 1980, at 10 years old Bombino and his family had to flee to Algeria as a result of the Tuareg Revolution. In his early teens, Bombino studied with the renowned Tuareg guitarist, Haja Bebe and by 17, Bombino had returned to Niger to begin his life as a professional musician. Since then the adventure has been a rich and worldly one. Bombino has played with Keith Richards & Charlie Watts, had an album (Nomad, #1 Billboard World Chart) produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, and has performed at festivals around the world including Coachella, WOMAD, and Pukkelpop. The New York Times has dubbed Bombino "the Sultan of Shred" and he is also the first Nigerian to be nominated for a Grammy award (2018's Deran). I love this quote from one of Bombino's interviews; "I do not see my guitar as a gun but rather as a hammer with which to help build the house of the Tuareg people." We hope we can help. Enjoy!

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. The Grammy-winning and very bearded, Rob Schnapf (Beck, Booker T., Mavis Staples) brings his mad mixing skills. And as almost always, masterful mastering by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering.

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