The Fortune Teller (feat. Eric Benny Bloom)

#142 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, The Fortune Teller, features Lettuce trumpeter, Eric Benny Bloom. Eric was born in Rhode Island, and after attending university, he moved to New Orleans where he quickly became one of the "cats on the scene", recording with Aaron Neville, Dr. John, and John Cleary among other notable NOLA royalty. Eric has also been a member of the critically acclaimed funk outfit Lettuce since 2011. The list of artists that Eric has played with is longer than a fresh roll of Bounty so, I'm just going to attach the link to his bio here. Working on this track with Eric was really enjoyable. His care and enthusiasm were above and beyond and along with note choice, timing, and intent, probably explains the fat resume. I hope you enjoy this wink and nod to the legendary Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Catherine Laveau.

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 basics were recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA with overdubs at Benny's place in New Orleans. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb.

Arrivals and Departures (feat. Austin Hanks)

#141 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, Arrivals and Departures, features a wonderfully patient and tasteful performance by guitarist, Austin Hanks. From the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Alabama now residing in SoCal, Austin has had a pretty interesting career so far. He's written a bunch of songs for the FX series Sons Of Anarchy, he also penned a single on the ZZ Top La Futura album. Billy Gibbons actually produced Austin's album Alabastard. He's also toured and played shows with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, Derek Trucks, Blues Traveler, Black Crowes, Trace Atkins, and Widespread Panic among others. You gotta check out his IG page...he's got selfies with Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Willie Nelson, Alice Cooper, and Vince Gill to name just a few. Yup, it's all about the hang!  And judging from this remarkably egoless piece of guitar pickin' and the company he keeps, I'm guessing the hang with Austin must be good. Enjoy!

The backing band on this track is Oakland Born/Nashville residing, groovin' AF, Derrek Phillips, (Gloria Gaynor, Robben Ford, Charlie Hunter) on drums, and myself on rhythm guitar and bass. The track was recorded at NTA, South San Francisco, The Phamily Room, Nashville TN, and Johnny Lee Schell's studio in LA . Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb.