El Gato Negro (feat. Kenny Vaughan)

#103 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, El Gato Negro features THE Nashville Gato, the Superlative, Kenny Vaughan. Born in Oklahoma, but raised in Denver and schooled by Bill Frisell, Kenny Vaughan arrived in Nashville in the early '80's. He was one of the original revitalizers of the Lower Broadway scene, bringing a more modern "punk" attitude to what was, at that time, a depressed and antiquated locale. I first met Kenny Vaughan when we both were playing in Angelo's Rag Man Son Revue (ask someone who was there) and it was love at first solo section. Kenny Vaughan can fucking play! At roughly the same time, Kenny got the gig with Lucinda Williams for the Car Wheels On A Gravel Road tour which coincidentally, I was out with Patty Griffin as the support act. One of the greatest guitar moments I have ever witnessed was seeing and hearing Kenny tear it up on Joy at the Fillmore in SF. So, when I moved to Nashville in 2008, after finding drummer Adam Abrashoff, Kenny was my first call to jam and Funkwrench was born. Hours and hours of recording free form, improv, acid jazz-rock-funk ensued with an occasional gig thrown in just to keep it "real". Kenny, the whole time, maintaining a full-time, non-stop A-list session career, enough so to earn him the Americana Music Association's Instrumentalist of the Year award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist in 2006. Wait! there's more...Kenny has been a member of Country Music Hall of Famer, Marty Stuart's Fabulous Superlatives since their inception in 2002. For those of you that are hip to the original Funkwrench, you will probably find this track a bit reserved and "inside", but for the rest of you, I hope it will serve as a document of what makes a great guitar player great; tone, note choice, groove, and attitude. Enjoy!

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Andrew Guterman (Rick Estrin) 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.

It Is What It Is... 'Til It Ain't (feat. Moses Mo)

#102 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, It Is What It Is...'Til It Ain't features the southern-fried funk of Mother's Finest guitarist, Moses Mo. Originally from Ohio, Moses left Dayton for Atlanta, GA while still a teenager, joining forces with Joyce Kennedy, Doc Murdock and Jerry "Wyzard" Seay to form the legendary and incredibly ahead of their time, Mother's Finest. This was 1972! There were no Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone or Living Colour. Hendrix and Sly had both crossed the color line but not a lot of other bands were doing it. Mother's Finest was unapologetically doin' it! They toured relentlessly, opening for the biggest acts of the 70's; Black Sabbath, The Who, Aerosmith, AC/DC, etc...In 1976 they released their second album (which was really their 3rd, but that's another story), which contained the controversial and ironic "Niggizz Can't Sang Rock 'n' Roll." FM radio ate it up and several gold albums followed. 50 years, 20 albums and millions of miles toured, Moses, as exhibited here, is still rockin' the funk and funkin' the rock. Enjoy!

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Deszon Claiborne (Robben Ford) 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.