New blues, soul and Americana flavored album features collaborations with top-notch female artists
Dion DiMucci, better known as Dion, is back with his third new album in less than four years. Girl Friends, which dropped last Friday (March 8), continues the impressive late-career streak of the soon-to-be-85-year-young wanderer. Like its two predecessors Stomping Ground (2021) and Blues With Friends, it features collaborations with high-profile artists with a twist: All are women or as Dion playfully calls them ‘my girl friends.’
While at first sight it may appear Dion follows an old playbook where a mature artist packs their album with popular peers, he always remains a true equal and is never outgunned by his collaborators, both musically and vocally. It’s also noteworthy Dion co-wrote all of the 12 original tracks, as stated in the official press release: 11 with Mike Aquilina with whom also wrote most of the tracks on Stomping Ground, and one with the late Scott Kempner. Girl Friends is Dion’s third consecutive album to appear on Joe Bonamassa’s label Keeping the Blues Alive Records.
Time for some music. Let’s start with the amazing opener Soul Force, featuring Susan Tedeschi who is best known as Derek Trucks’ partner in crime in Tedeschi Trucks Band. They’ve also been married since December 2001. “It’s amazing that someone so unassuming can play with such grit,” opined Dion. Spot on, IMHO – here are the goods to prove it!
Since I just included I Aim to Please (feat. Danielle Nicole) in my most recent new music review, I’m skipping it here and go right to Stop Drop and Roll. For this song Dion teamed up with Valerie Tyson who fronts the Valerie Tyson Band and has been lauded for her “flamethrower vocals.” I love the soul and gospel vibe Tyson brings to the song. “I call her up when I have a tune that’s 100% fun,” Dion recalled. “This kind of groove requires that kind of company and it’s why I got into this business in the first place.” Smart pick!
An American Hero is a beautiful country-flavored ballad featuring Carlene Carter, who first entered my radar screen in 2017 when John Mellencamp collaborated with her on the excellent Sad Clowns & Hillbillies album. “Carlene’s voice can turn your head, and it can break your heart,” stated Dion – yep!
Hey Suzy is a tasty country-flavored blues. Dion’s great partner in crime here is Canadian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Sue Foley. “It’s a dream come true to work with her,” Dion said, adding, “I felt like I was one of the Everly Brothers.” That’s a really sharp observation – check it out!
I’d like to close with another highlight on the album: Mama Said, featuring the amazing Shemekia Copeland. “One conversation with Shemekia Copeland you fall in love with her,” Dion gushed. “And this girl can sing! Girl’s got the blues in her blood.” Evidently, the admiration is mutual. “Dion is so special to me; it’s an honor and thrill to have been asked to collaborate with him,” Copeland said. “I mean, what woman wouldn’t want to sing with Dion?” The playful lyrics are fun, but it’s Copeland’s incredible vocals that take the song to a different level – damn!
In case you’re wondering why making an album with female artists, here’s what Dion had to say about it. “I write about my preoccupations, and I know no better preoccupation than the female of the species. A friend of mine is a philosopher, and he talks often about ‘the feminine genius’ — the undeniable difference that’s in women and the difference that they make in the world. I’m grateful to my friend for giving it a name because the fact has always been plain to me, but I could never put it into words.”
“I’ve noticed that men play a different tune when there are women in the room — and it’s a different kind of jam when women are in the mix. I don’t know why this is so, but it is. Maybe we men, at some primitive level, are competing for their attention. As I said, I don’t know why or how. I do know it makes better music and we’re all better for it.”
Wild & Precious Life establishes Betts as a solo artist
Last Friday, Duane Betts released the first full-length studio album under his name. For a music artist who has been active for approximately 25 years, it’s been a long time coming, but the wait turned out to be very worthwhile. Wild & Precious Life puts Betts on the map as a solo artist.
When your father is Dickey Betts, guitarist and co-founder of The Allman Brothers Band, I guess the desire for music is in your genes. Duane recently toldAmerican Songwriter that after he had started learning the drums as a 5 or 6-year-old before switching to guitar around the age of 13, he never considered doing anything else but music. Evidently, nobody objected, so he stuck with it.
Credit: Dylan Jon Wade Cox
In 1994 as a 16-year-old, Betts joined the Allmans for a couple of gigs onstage. Four years later, he became a member of roots rock group Backbone69 and recorded their eponymous debut album with them the following year. After the band’s breakup in 2001, Betts co-founded rock group Whitestarr, together with his former Backbone59 bandmate Alex Orbison, the son of Roy Orbison.
In 2005, Betts’ father asked him to join Great Southern, the group Dickey had formed after his contentious departure from the Allmans in 2000. In 2015, Duane Betts became a touring member of folk-rock band Dawes. In April 2018, he released his first solo effort, an EP titled Sketches of American Music. Toward the end of the same year, he formed The Allman Betts Band, together with Devon Allman, a son of Gregg Allman. They released two albums in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and currently appear to be on hiatus.
Noting his EP, Betts explained to American Songwriter he wanted to put out a full-length album but the time needed to be right. He began writing songs for what would become Sketches of American Music during the pandemic in the summer of 2020. More songs followed in the beginning of 2022. In March of the same year, the recording sessions began at Swamp Raga Studio in Jacksonville, Fla., owned by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.
To make the album, Betts put together what he calls on his website “his dream team of musicians”: Allman Betts Band members Johnny Stachela (guitar), Berry Duane Oakley (bass) and John Ginty (keyboards), as well as Tyler Greenwell, one of the drummers in Tedeschi Trucks Band. There were also a few guests: Marcus King (guitar), singer-songwriter Nicki Bluhm and Derek Trucks (guitar).
Let’s check out some music! Here’s the magnificent opener Evergreen, which was co-written by Betts and Devon Allman. All it took for me to know I would dig this tune were the first few bars and that beautiful harmony guitar action. The jam-like instrumental part starting at around 2 minutes into the song is really sweet. And just after you could really picture the Allmans playing this song, Betts surprises you with some trumpet at around 3:43 minutes, which according to this Glide Magazinereview was played by John Reid.
Waiting On a Song is another tune that grabbed my attention right away. Solely written by Betts, it first appeared on April 19 as the lead single, coinciding with the announcement of the album. An article in Garden & Sun, to which Betts’ website links, calls it “a breezy summer jam with an earworm melody and a guitar solo with more sizzle than steaks searing in a cast-iron skillet” – jeez, I never could have come up with that clever second half of the sentence!
Colors Fade features the aforementioned Nicki Bluhm on harmony vocals. The song was co-written by Betts, Johnny Stachela and Stoll Vaughan. And, yes, there’s more of that beautiful guitar harmony playing and some slide guitar action. Gorgeous tune!
Did I mention Derek Trucks? Check out Stare at the Sun, another single that was released ahead of the album on May 23rd. American Blues Scenereported the title of the song, which Betts co-wrote with Vaughan, came from something Trucks told Betts about his father’s guitar-playing: “He’s a player that’s not afraid to stare directly at the sun.” Apart from the great guitar interaction between Betts and Trucks, I love the keyboards in this tune.
Frankly, I could go on and on here. Another excellent track I included in my latest new music post is Cold Dark World, which features guitarist Marcus King. Let’s end it with an instrumental titled Under the Bali Moon. The track is credited to Betts and drummer Tyler Greenwell.
Wild & Precious Life was recorded to two-inch analog tape during a series of live-in-studio sessions at Swamp Raga Studio. Betts served as executive producer. Bobby Tis handled engineering duties, while mixing was done by seven-time Grammy winner Jim Scott who in addition to Tedeschi Trucks Band previously worked with the likes of Tom Petty, Wilco, The Rolling Stones and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Summing up the album, Betts stated on his website, “This is a record that guitar players will love, but at its core, it’s really a song record. It’s an album about who I am, where I come from, and what I believe in.” Here’s a Spotify link to the entire opus:
Sources: Wikipedia; Duane Betts website; American Songwriter; Glide Magazine; Garden & Sun; American Blues Scene; YouTube; Spotify
A selection of newly released music that caught my attention
It’s Saturday morning, at least in my neck of the woods, and I hope your weekend is off to a great start. This is also the time when I take a fresh look at newly released music. All featured tunes are included on albums and one EP, which came out yesterday (July 14).
Alaska Reid/French Fries
Alaska Reid (born Sophia Alaska Reid) is a singer-songwriter from Montana, who has been active since 2015. AllMusicdescribes her music as moody indie pop, blending “classic alternative influences with a contemporary sensibility.” At age 14, Reid started writing music and gigging at Sunset Strip venues in Los Angeles where she spent her high school years. Later in her teenage years, she formed and fronted the band Alyeska, who released their debut EP Crush in April 2017. In December 202o, Reid came with her solo debut album Big Bunny. From her sophomore release Disenchanter, here’s French Fries, co-written by Reid and Max Hershenow.
Blondes/Does It Rain On You?
Blondes are an indie pop-rock band from Liverpool, England I first featured in a November 2021 Best of What’s Newinstallment. They were formed by freshmen at Nottingham University in late 2017. In 2020, they released their debut single Coming of Age, which went viral on TikTok. This led to a deal with C3 Records, which issued their debut EP Out In the Neighborhood in November 2021. Blondes are now out with their second EP, In Separation. One of the tracks is called Does It Rain On You? Pretty bouncy and catchy tune!
Duane Betts/Cold Dark World (feat. Marcus King)
Guitarist and singer-songwriter Duane Betts first entered my radar screen in September 2020 in connection with Bless Your Heart, the sophomore album by The Allman Betts Band, a group he co-founded in November 2018 with Devon Allman, a son of Gregg Allman. The son of Dickey Betts who like Gregg was an original member of The Allman Brothers Band, has now released his full-length debut solo album Wild & Precious Life. According to his website, it was recorded live-in-studio at Swamp Raga Studio in Jacksonville, Fla. owned by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Here’s the sweet Cold Dark World featuring blues-rock guitar ace Marcus King. While I previously read Betts doesn’t want to be a copy of the Allmans, he also isn’t denying their influence, which I think can clearly be heard in this tune. In my book, this is by no means a bad thing!
Temple of Angels/Lost in Darkness
My last pick in this new music revue are Temple of Angels. According to their Bandcamppage, they were formed in Austin, Texas in 2017. Their founders Avery Burton (guitar, vocals), Patrick Todd (drums, vocals) and Cole Tucker (guitar) had all played in various hardcore and punk bands around town for years, but were keen to explore the dreamier, moodier music they enjoyed as well. After recording a few demos, they recruited Bre Morell (vocals) as their lead vocalist. Following an eponymous 2017 EP, the 2018 EP Foiled and a couple of singles, they have now released their first full-length album Endless Pursuit. Let’s check out Lost in Darkness. I dig their dreamy sound!
Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist.
Last week brought a lot of neat new music. Here are two great albums I didn’t include in my Saturday feature. Both were released on June 16.
Bettye LaVette – LaVette!
Soul vocalist Bettye LaVette first entered my radar screen in 2018 when I included her in a post about great female blues singers. I immediately liked how she makes songs she covers truly her own. While LaVette already recorded her first single as a 16-year-old in 1962, it took her more than 40 years until 2005 and the album I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise to gain the broad recognition she deserved. Her latest album is titled LaVette! and it’s a true gem by an incredible vocalist.
All of the album’s 11 tracks were written by Randall Bramblett, some together with his longtime songwriting partner Davis Causey. Apart from having released albums under his name since 1975, Bramblett has worked with the likes of Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Robbie Robertson, Elvin Bishop and Steve Winwood. Guitarist Davis Causey over a 60-year career has accumulated impressive credits as well, which among others include Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman and Derek Trucks. Here’s Don’t Get Me Started, penned by Bramblett who also first recorded it for his 2020 album Pine Needle Fire. LaVette’s great rendition features Winwood on keyboards!
Since I listened to Son Volt’s album Electro Melodier when it came out in July 2021, I’ve dug the alternative country and Americana rock band. They were formed by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jay Farrar in 1994 after the breakup of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo, who Farrar had co-founded with Jeff Tweedy in 1987. Tweedy subsequently formed Wilco.
Son Volt’s new album Day of the Doug is a tribute to the late Doug Sahm, a singer-songwriter who according to Wikipedia is “regarded as one of the main figures of Tex-Mex music, and as an important performer of Texan music”. Sahm gained initial prominence with country and roots rock band Sir Douglas Quintet. After they disbanded in 1973, he launched a solo career and also played in Tejano supergroup Texas Tornados. Sahm died from a heart attack in November 1999 at the age of 58.
Off Day of the Doug, here’s the great Sometimes You’ve Got to Stop Chasing Rainbows. Written by Sahm in 1973, the tune also appeared on May 10 as the lead single of Son Volt’s album.
While I’m not familiar with Sahm’s original music, I like the renditions Son Volt included on their album. Float Away, Yesterday Got in the Way, Dynamite Woman, Juan Mendoza and Segiun are some I’d like to call out. These covers actually make me curious to check out Sahm’s catalog. Here’s a Spotify link to the album.
A selection of newly released music that caught my attention
Evidently, yesterday (May 19) was a popular day for new music releases. I also found more than 10 songs I could have highlighted in this latest installment of my weekly new music revue, to which I’d like to welcome you. Let’s get to it!
Kicking things off is country singer-songwriter Brandy Clark. To date, she has released three albums starting with her 2013 debut 12 Stories. Her songs have also been recorded by Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Reba McEntire and Kacey Musgraves, among others. Off her latest self-titled album here’s Ain’t Enough Rocks, co-written by Clack, Jessie Jo Dillon and Jimmy Robbins – a great tune featuring cool slide guitar action by the amazing Derek Trucks!
Leftover Salmon/Fire and Brimstone (feat. Oliver Wood)
Leftover Salmon are a bluegrass and country-oriented jam band from Boulder, Colo. Since their formation in 1989, they have released eight studio albums, including their new one, Grass Roots. Here’s their cover of Fire and Brimstone, a tune penned by guitarist Link Wray who also first recorded it for his 1971 self-titled studio album. In 1958, Wray’s instrumental Rumble became one of the earliest songs in rock to utilize distortion and tremolo. Leftover Salmon’s rendition features Oliver Wood, of roots band The Wood Brothers. I can hear some Leon Russell in here!
GracieHorse/If You’re Gonna Walk That Straight Line Son, It’s Only Gonna Hurt
Other than she’s an indie artist who evidently has written for at least a decade and who just released a country-flavored debut album, it’s not clear to me who exactly GracieHorse is. From her Bandcamppage: Gracie Horse weaves stories into her songs. On L.A. Shit, her debut record with Wharf Cat, she takes us into the past half a decade of her life…It’s a record of immaculate country music…It’s also a vulnerable record, full of lyrics about the intensity of being alive, all told with a sense of humor and self-awareness. Here’s a cool-sounding tune with an impossibly long title: If You’re Gonna Walk That Straight Line Son, It’s Only Gonna Hurt.
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives/Sitting Alone
American country and bluegrass singer Marty Stuart has been active since the late 1960s. Initially working as a touring musician with Lester Flatt and Johnny Cash, Stuart launched his recording career in 1978 with Marty (With A Little Help From My Friends). He has since released 18 additional albums, including his latest, Altitude, appearing as Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives. Let’s check out Sitting Alone, penned by Stuart, which has a bit of a Tom Petty vibe – love it!
PONY/Très Jolie
PONY are a grungy power pop group from Toronto, Canada, led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Sam Bielanski. According to their AllMusicbio, their melodic strain of guitar pop is rooted in early-’90s grunge and classic indie pop. After a series of singles and EPs, they released their full-length debut album TV Baby in April 2021. PONY are now out with their sophomore album Velveteen and here’s the catchy Très Jolie.
Graham Nash/Golden Idols
My last pick for this week is by an artist I trust needs no introduction. Graham Nash who in February turned 81 just released Now, his first new solo album in seven years. It’s also the most personal he has ever made, according to a couple of reviews I’ve seen, for example, this one in Ultimate Classic Rock. Boy, does he sound great, both vocally and musically! And he also has a lot to say, about life, love and politics. I think these won’t be my final words about what looks like a late-career gem. For now, here’s Golden Idols, showing Nash still has some activist fire in the belly!
Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist of the above and a few additional tracks.
For the last time this year, I’d like to wish everybody a happy Saturday. I’m back from my short Christmas hiatus with the second installment of my two-part year-end review of new music released in 2022. Part 1 focused on new songs. In this post, I’m taking a look back at my six favorite albums of the year.
Altogether, I reviewed approximately 20 albums that were released over the course of the past 12 months. This count doesn’t include reissues like Neil Young’s nice Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition or other new releases of old music, such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’Live at the Fillmore (1997), an excellent box set I can highly recommend checking out. Mirroring the approach I took for 2022 new songs, I’m doing this in chronological order.
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio/Cold As Weiss
Kicking off this year-end revue with an all-instrumental album may seem to come a bit out of left field, given I’m a huge fan of vocals, but Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio and their groovy Hammond-driven jazz was love at first sight. Plus, if you’re a more frequent visitor of my blog, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that instrumental music no longer is a rarity on these pages. Cold As Weiss, released on February 11, is the third studio album by this great trio, who apart from Delvon Lamarr (Hammond organ) features Jimmy Jones (guitar) and Dan Weiss (drums). Aka. DLO3, the trio has been around since May 2015 and describes their music as a “soul-jazz concoction”, blending 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkling Motown, StaxRecords, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. Let’s listen to Get Da Steppin’. My full review of this fun album is here.
Here’s a Spotify link to the entire album:
Goodbye June/See Where the Night Goes
Classic rock may no longer be in the mainstream, but it sure ain’t dead. Just ask Goodbye June from Memphis, Tenn., who have been helping carry the torch since 2005. The band is a family affair, comprised of cousins Landon Milbourn (lead vocals), Brandon Qualkenbush (rhythm guitar, bass, backing vocals) and Tyler Baker (lead guitar). On February 18, their fourth studio album See Where the Night Goes came out. The group’s sound, which is reminiscent of AC/DC, is a great listening experience. Check out the neat opener Step Aside below and my full review of the album here. Goodbye June truly rock!
Spotify album link:
Bonnie Raitt/Just Like That…
Frequent visitors of the blog and folks who know my music taste otherwise probably won’t be surprised to see Bonnie Raitt in this year-end post. I think her 21st studio album Just Like That…, which appeared on April 21, may well be her best to date in a now 51-year-and-counting recording career. If I would have to name my 2022 album of the year, Raitt’s first new release in more than six years would be it! Since this amazing lady first entered my radar screen with the outstanding Nick of Time in 1989, I’ve really come to dig her smooth slide-guitar playing, her voice and, of course, the songs most of which are renditions of tunes written by other artists. Here’s the Stonesy Livin’ For the Ones, a tune for which Raitt wrote the lyrics to music from longtime guitarist George Marinelli. Here is my full review of the album, a true gem that is a must-listen-to for Bonnie Raitt fans.
Spotify album link:
Jane Lee Hooker/Rollin’
Shortly on the heels of Bonnie Raitt, Jane Lee Hooker released their third studio album Rollin’ on April 29. I first experienced the great New York-based blues rock-oriented band during a free summer-in-the-park concert on the Jersey shore in August 2017 when they still were an all-female group and was immediately impressed by their infectious energy. All members remain, except for original drummer Melissa “Cool Whip” Houston who departed in 2020 and has been replaced by ‘Lightnin’ Ron Salvo. Earlier this year, I saw Jane Lee Hooker during a release party in New York City for the new album and can confirm the band’s only gent is a great fit. Rollin’ offers their familiar hard-charging electric guitar-driven blues rock, as well as some new elements, including acoustic blues and vibes of soul. A great illustration of the band’s more refined sound is the beautiful soul-oriented rock ballad Drive. My review of the full album is here.
Spotify album link:
Tedeschi Trucks Band/I’m the Moon
I’m the Moon, a four-album series, is the most ambitious studio project to date by Tedeschi Trucks Band and probably of 2022 overall. Each of the four installments, released individually between June and August, had a 30-minute-plus companion film. The entire project, which features 24 songs, became available as one collection on September 9. I’m the Moon was inspired by a 12th-century Persian poem – intriguingly the very same poem that also inspired one of the greatest blues rock albums of all time: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, by Derek and the Dominos. You can read my two-part review of this impressive project here and here. Following I’d like to highlight Hear My Dear, the lead track of the first album. This gem was written by the group’s co-leaders and wife and husband Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, along with the band’s keyboarder Gabe Dixon who is also one of their vocalists.
Spotify album link:
Buddy Guy/The Blues Don’t Lie
I’d like to wrap up this post with one of my absolute blues guitar heroes, Buddy Guy, who at 86 years young can still rock with the ferocity of Jimi Hendrix. On September 30, Guy released his 19th studio album The Blues Don’t Lie. The date coincided with the 65th anniversary of the legendary guitarist’s arrival in Chicago from Louisiana. Once again produced by longtime collaborator Tom Hambridge who also plays drums, the album features guest appearances by Mavis Staples, James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Jason Isbell and Bobby Rush. Most importantly, The Blues Don’t Lie truly fires on all cylinders. You can find my full review here. Perhaps the song that best sums up Buddy Guy is the opener I Let My Guitar Do the Talking, a cowrite by Guy and Hambridge. Damn, check this out!
Spotify album link:
Last but not least, I’d like to thank my fellow bloggers and other visitors for reading my blog and taking the time to comment, and would like to wish all of you a Happy, Safe and Healthy New Year! And let’s keep on bloggin’ in the free world in 2023!
Part II: I Am The Moon: III. The Fall & I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell
Last Friday (Aug 26), Tedeschi Trucks Band released I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell, the fourth and final installment of their I Am the Moon four-album series. This is the second part of my review of what has been called the band’s most ambitious studio effort to date. You can read the first part here.
Borrowing from my previous post, I Am the Moon is a series of four albums, each accompanied by a film, with a total of 24 songs. The extraordinary project was inspired by a 12th-century Persian poem. Intriguingly, the very same poem also inspired one of the greatest blues rock albums of all time: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, by Derek and the Dominos.
Tedeschi Trucks Band: Led by Susan Tedeschi (guitar, vocals) and Derek Trucks (guitar), the group also includes original members Tyler Greenwell (drums, percussion), Mike Mattison (harmony vocals), Mark Rivers (harmony vocals) and Kebbi Williams (saxophone). Isaac Eady (drums & percussion), Alecia Chakour (harmony vocals), Elizabeth Lea (trombone), Ephraim Owens (trumpet), Brandon Boone (bass) and Gabe Dixon (keyboards & vocals) complete the current 12-piece lineup
I Am The Moon is the fifth studio effort by Tedeschi Trucks Band, who were founded in 2010 and are led by married couple Susan Tedeschi (guitar, vocals) and Derek Trucks (guitar). After touring together in 2007 as the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi’s Soul Stew Revival, Trucks and Tedeschi merged their respective groups to create a mighty 11-piece band. In 2015, they added another member and have since been a 12-piece – what an army of musicians!
The project was inspired by Layla and Majnun, a poem written by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. The romantic narrative poem has been called the “Romeo and Juliet of the East” by English poet Lord Byron, who according to Wikipedia is considered one of the greatest English poets and a leading figure of the Romantic movement.
I’d say it’s time to get to some music. Let’s start with two tracks off I Am The Moon: III. The Fall, which was released on July 29. Here’s the opener Somehow, penned by the band’s keyboarder and vocalist Gabe Dixon, together with external songwriter Tia Sillers. The album’s accompanying essay by renowned American music journalist David Fricke describes the tune as “an easy-rolling groove that soon turns into full-blown soul power.” I could totally picture Bonnie Raitt singing it – love this!
Yes We Will is more bluesy. Penned by Susan Tedeschi, the tune is much closer to what I had associated with Tedeschi Trucks Band before listening to I Am The Moon. From Fricke’s essay: “Derek and I have so many blues roots,” she says, “and I really wanted to show those roots, where this band is at.” The result is early-Seventies B.B. King arm in arm with the Staple Singers, while the guitar breaks affirm the rise-and-shine in the lyrics and Tedeschi’s vocal. Come on, wake up people, can’t you see it now? Time is right now, she declares as Mattison, Mark Rivers and Alecia Chakour bring the train-to-glory in the chorus. You can’t help but believe it. Great song!
Here’s a Spotify link to I Am The Moon: III. The Fall:
Here’s the companion film for the third album:
On to I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell. My first pick here is Soul Sweet Song, co-written by Derek Trucks, Gabe Dixon and the band’s harmony vocalist Mike Mattison. From Fricke’s album essay: “That was Gabe,” Trucks says of Dixon, who co-wrote this song with the guitarist and Mattison. “He had the idea of writing it about Kofi” – original TTB keyboard player Kofi Burbridge, who was ill when Dixon joined in late 2018, at first on a temporary basis. (Burbridge died in February 2019, on the day his last album with the group, Signs, was released.) “Gabe writing lyrics about Kofi (I feel your rhythm moving me/’Cause your soul’s sweet song’s still singing) – that one hit me between the eyes.” A special guest on congas, Marc Quiñones – a longtime bandmate with Trucks in the Allman Brothers Band – adds a decisive and familiar, rhythmic element to the celebration.
The last track I’d like to call out is I Can Feel You Smiling, which perfectly sums up my sentiment about this album series. One last time quoting from Fricke’s album essay: This sparsely arranged ballad “was fun to write,” says Trucks, who “woke up in the morning, had the tune and put it on my phone. It reminded me of something Oliver Wood” – singer-guitarist in the Wood Brothers and a longtime friend of TTB – “would have written, so I sent it to him. He wrote back, ‘Man, I woke up the last few days with that melody in my head. Do you mind if I write something to it?’ I’m like, ‘Have at it, man.'” Wood sent back “this beautiful recording with one verse and a chorus, and I was like ‘Okay, that song’s done!'” Dixon contributed as well, underscoring the group work ethic – in composing, arranging and performance – that produced every song on I Am The Moon.
Here’s a Spotify link to the fourth album:
And here’s the companion film to I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell.
I Am The Moon is a massive project, so there’s a lot to take in here. While I knew Tedeschi Trucks Band were top-notch musicians, I really didn’t expect them to be as soulful as they are on these four albums. Admittedly, at least part of it could be plain ignorance. In any case, I really dig what this group has done here. Now I feel like seeing them. After four big-ticket shows back in June, it is going to have to wait!
Sources: Tedeschi Trucks Band website; YouTube; Spotify
Since I came across I Am The Moon: II. Ascension, which Tedeschi Trucks Band released on CD and digitally on Friday, I’ve been listening to their latest album and quickly come to dig it. It’s the second in a series of four I Am The Moon albums the band calls “the most ambitious studio project of their storied career” on their website. While I’m still new to the group’s music though not their name, I’ve no doubt that claim is true.
A series of four albums, each accompanied by a film, with a total of 24 songs, all of which were inspired by a 12th-century Persian poem certainly sounds like an extraordinary effort. Intriguingly, that same poem also inspired one of the greatest blues rock albums of all time: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, by Derek and the Dominos. There’s a lot to unpack here, so please bear with me. 🙂
Tedeschi Trucks Band’s I’m The Moon includes four albums: I Am The Moon: I. Crescent, I’m The Moon: II. Ascension, I Am The Moon: III. The Fall and I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell
I Am The Moon is the fifth studio effort by Tedeschi Trucks Band, who were founded in 2010 and are led by married couple Susan Tedeschi (guitar, vocals) and Derek Trucks (guitar). After touring together in 2007 as the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi’s Soul Stew Revival, Trucks and Tedeschi merged their respective groups to create a mighty 11-piece band. In 2015, they added another member and have since been a 12-piece – what an army of musicians!
Trucks, an incredible slide guitarist, started playing guitar at the age of nine and two years later performed his first paid gig. He was a former member of The Allman Brothers Band from 1999 until they disbanded in 2014. Derek is the nephew of the late Butch Trucks, a founder of the Allmans and their drummer. Tedeschi is no slouch either. She has played in bands since the age of 13, formed her first all-original group at 18, and in 1995 released the first of seven studio albums under her name. Tedeschi met Trucks in 1999 when her band opened for the Allmans. They hit it off, both personally and professionally.
Tedeschi Trucks Band: Led by Susan Tedeschi (guitar, vocals) and Derek Trucks (guitar), the group also includes original members Tyler Greenwell (drums, percussion), Mike Mattison (harmony vocals), Mark Rivers (harmony vocals) and Kebbi Williams (saxophone). Isaac Eady (drums & percussion), Alecia Chakour (harmony vocals), Elizabeth Lea (trombone), Ephraim Owens (trumpet), Brandon Boone (bass) and Gabe Dixon (keyboards & vocals) complete the current 12-piece lineup
Back to I Am The Moon. The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s latest project was inspired by Layla and Majnun, a poem written by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. The romantic narrative poem has been called the “Romeo and Juliet of the East” by English poet Lord Byron, who according to Wikipedia is considered one of the greatest English poets and a leading figure of the Romantic movement. I’m not a poetry expert, but I’m taking that statement at face value.
An album essay written by renowned American music journalist David Fricke notes I’m The Moon is inspired by classical literature but emotionally driven by the immediate drama, isolation and mourning of the pandemic era. There is the recurring fight for hope too, the reaching across damaged connections – all of that trial and urgency unfolding over a robust tapestry of blues, funk, country, jazz and gospel in collaborative writing, luminous singing and the instant fire of improvisation.
The initial idea to write an album based on the Layla and Majnun poem came from vocalist Mike Mattison in May 2020, two months after the group had been forced to stop touring by the pandemic. Nine months earlier, Tedeschi Trucks Band had performed the entire Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs live at the LOCKN’ Festival, which was released in July 2021 as Layla Revisited (Live at LOCKN’). Apparently, that created the initial spark.
“We get so carried away with the music – everyone knows it so well,” Mattison said, according to Fricke’s album essay. “That album is one point of view, Layla as this love object: ‘I want you, I can’t have you.'” But after Mattison read the original work, “I realized there are many things going on from different perspectives” and proposed “revisiting this source material as a band, as writers.”
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 01: Mike Mattison of Tedeschi Trucks Band performs at The Greek Theatre on November 1, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Golden/WireImage)
This review includes I’m The Moon: II. Ascension, as well as the first album, I Am The Moon: I. Crescent, which appeared on June 3. The corresponding films premiered on May 31 and June 28, respectively. The two remaining albums, I Am The Moon: III. The Fall and I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell, are slated for July 29 and August 23, respectively, with their corresponding films scheduled to come out July 26 and August 23. I’m planning to review the two outstanding albums together in late August.
I’d say it’s finally time for some music. Let’s kick it off with the opener of I Am The Moon: I. Crescent, Hear My Dear. The beautiful tune was co-written by Trucks, Tedeschi and Gabe Dixon, the band’s keyboarder and one of the vocalists. Check out that warm sound – this is really sweet!
Another highlight on the first album of the series is the title track, which Dixon penned by himself. Pulling from Fricke’s album essay: “That was my idea, on the demo,” Dixon says of the space and crescendo at the end where Trucks solos, promising an even longer trip when this song goes into the setlists. “It was just me, playing some piano fills and singing over those chords. But of course, I thought, ‘This is going to be a solo section that can go however long we feel.'”
Let’s do one more from the first album: Circles ‘Round The Sun, co-written by Trucks, Tedeschi and Tyler Greenwell, one of the group’s two drummers. There’s a great soul vibe in that tune. With the gospel-like backing vocals, it also feels “churchy.” Check it out!
Here’s a Spotify link to the entire album:
And, in case you’re curious, here’s the accompanying film. Like the other three films, it was directed by American documentary filmmaker and television writer Alix Lambert.
On to I Am The Moon: II. Ascension, the current album in the series, which finally prompted me to take a closer look at Tedeschi Trucks Band. Since I just highlighted it in my last Best of What’s Newinstallment, I’m skipping the excellent Playing With My Emotions and go right to the second track. Ain’t That Something is credited to Trucks, Dixon, Mattison and Tedeschi. It’s another soulful gem. I could see Bonnie Raitt play that tune. For some reason, I had always thought of Tedeschi Trucks Band as a “straight blues rock band.” Sure, there’s some of that here, but they also blend in soul and gospel. It’s one tasty stew!
Blues rock-oriented So Long Savior is closer to what I pictured Tedeschi Trucks Band to sound like. Written together by Trucks, Mattison and Tedeschi, the song shuffles along nicely and has some cool slide guitar action.
The last track I’d like to highlight from the second album is the closer. Hold That Line, a slower beautiful tune, was written together by Trucks, Dixon, Tedeschi and Greenwell. It’s neat the group has all these different writers!
Here’s a Spotify link to I Am The Moon: II. Ascension:
The companion film for the album is here.
Some remaining thoughts: Why four albums, you may wonder when the 24 songs could have fit on two or three CDs. According to Fricke’s album essay, the group looked at records they love such as Axis: Bold as Love, the 1967 album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. “It’s 36 minutes long,” Trucks said. “That’s the way to digest a record.” That’s probably true for my and older generations. When it comes to most young folks, I’m afraid they no longer listen to albums and instead create their own playlists. Then again, teens and twenty-something-year-olds probably aren’t the group’s target audience in the first place.
As I noted at the beginning of the post, which at this point you can probably barely remember, I’m still new to Teschedi Trucks Band. As such, it’s a bit tricky to put I Am The Moon in the broader context of the band’s catalog to date. But having been a music fan for more than 45 years, I’m confident enough to say when I see greatness. To me, this album series has the ingredients of a career-defining Mount Rushmore-type release. I’d be curious to hear from readers who are more familiar with the group whether they agree with my assessment.
I Am The Moon certainly makes me want to see the Tedeschi Trucks Band who have been on the road since June 24. The Wheels of Soul 2022 tour is coming next to Westville Music Bowl, New Haven, Conn. (July 6) before moving on to Philly’s great The Mann Center for the Performing Arts (July 8) and Midway Lawn, Essex Junction, Vt. (July 9). Their U.S. tour concludes with a series of gigs at New York City’s Beacon Theatre in late September and early October before launching a European leg. The full schedule is here.
Last but not least, to all my readers in the United States, if you celebrate it, have a Happy Fourth of July. Most of all stay safe!
Sources: Wikipedia; Tedeschi Trucks Band website; YouTube; Spotify
A selection of newly released music that caught my attention
Welcome to the first July installment of Best of What’s New. Summer is in full swing, and so are new music releases – time to take another look! All picks are from albums that came out yesterday (July 1).
Umphrey’s McGee/Always October
Kicking it off this time are American jam band Umphrey’s McGee, whose music has incorporated many different styles since they were formed in December 1997. From their AllMusicbio: Originating out of South Bend, Indiana in the late 1990s, Umphrey’s McGee became widely established on the American jam band circuit and have become known as one of more ambitious and musically versatile acts in the genre. Their wild amalgam of funk, metal, progressive rock, electronic, jazz, and folk has played out over numerous live and studio albums including 2006’s Safety in Numbers and 2009’s experimental Mantis…In the 2010s, the band continued to thrive, issuing an album tracked at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios and releasing the 2018 companion albums It’s Not Us and It’s You. Here’s Always October, a track from the group’s latest studio album Asking For a Friend. Credited to all six members, the tune’s pop rock sound seems to be representative of the remaining album, based on various other tunes I’ve heard – pretty pleasant!
Momma/Motorbike
Momma are a Los Angeles-based indie rock project of school friends and singer-songwriters Etta Friedman (guitar, vocals) and Allegra Weingarten (guitar, vocals), as well as Zach CapittiFenton (drums). They released their debut full-length album Interloper in 2018. This was followed by their 2020 sophomore Two of Me, which according to Apple Music was a “minor breakthrough.” Now Momma are back with Household Name, their third and new album. Apple Music calls it “their professional studio debut.” Here’s Motorbike, a track credited to the three members of Momma, as well as producer Aron Kobayashi Ritch. I like their sound!
Tedeschi Trucks Band/Playing With My Emotions
As a blues rock fan, I can’t believe I’ve yet to dedicate a post to Tedeschi Trucks Band! They were founded in 2010 by married couple Susan Tedeschi (guitar, vocals) and slide guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks, who among others was a member of The Allman Brothers Band from 1999 until they disbanded in 2014. To date, Tedeschi Trucks Band have released six studio and three live albums. This includes their latest studio effort I Am The Moon: II. Ascension, which is part of a series of albums. Here’s how their website explains it: Tedeschi Trucks Band announces the most ambitious studio project of their storied career: I Am The Moon, an epic undertaking in four albums with four corresponding films and 24 original songs. Inspired by a mythic Persian tale of star-crossed lovers, and emotionally driven by the isolation and disconnection of the pandemic era, the thematic I Am The Moon totals more than two hours of music, unfolding a robust tapestry of genre-defying explorations that propel the treasured American ensemble into new and thrilling creative territory. How about a sample? Here’s Playing With My Emotions – love that tune! This entire album series surely sounds pretty intriguing to me and definitely something I want to further explore!
Camp Trash/Feel Something
Let’s wrap up this Best of What’s New installment with some more indie rock, coz why not? Here’s some new music from Camp Trash – not a lot of publicly available information about this group from Florida. At least I found the following on the website of their label Count Your Lucky Stars Records: Camp Trash seemingly burst out of nowhere with their debut EP Downtiming at the beginning of 2021, armed with catchy riffs and infectious vocals that earwormed their way into your head and wouldn’t let go. It landed on several prominent playlists from NPR, Stereogum, and the cover/feature track of Spotify’s official editorial list, ‘Fresh Finds- Rock’. They have only leveled up for their first full length, The Long Way, the Slow Way. Crafting songs that somehow feel original but familiar at the same time, Camp Trash blends 90s alternative rock and 2000s emo with pop-punk sensibilities. Here’s Feel Something, credited to all four members: Alex Roberts, Bryan Gorman, Keegan Bradford and Levi Bradford. I like it! My humble recommendation: Ramp up your PR to get the word out. Start by putting a bio on your website!
This post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify list of the above and some additional tunes.
Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; Tedeschi Trucks Band website; Count Your Lucky Stars Records website; YouTube; Spotify
For people who have frequently visited this blog or know me otherwise, this won’t come as a big surprise: I love the blues and blues rock. I also feel it’s a type of music that’s perfect to be experienced live. This is the second part of a two-part post celebrating great live performances of blues and blues rock gems. In case you missed part I, you can check it out here. Now, come on, let’s have some more fun!
Buddy Guy/Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues
Having mentioned Buddy Guy more than once in part I, it’s about damn time that I feature the man. Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues, written by Guy, is the title track of his seventh studio album from July 1991. The video footage documents his performance of the tune in September 2018 at the Americana 17th Annual Honors, held at the storied Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. Guy was 82 at the time – an unbelievable force of nature! I saw him in April that year in New York City at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, where he was on fire was well. Sadly, his gig marked one of the last shows at that venue before they closed it down!
This post wouldn’t be complete without this killer performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Voodoo Child (Slight Return), written by Hendrix, first appeared on the band’s third and final studio album Electric Ladyland that came out in October 1968. The clip is from a documentary titled Music, Money, Madness … Jimi Hendrix in Maui, which chronicles the Experience’s visit to the Hawaiian island in July 1970 including their two performances there. The film and a companion album were released in November 2020.
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble/Pride and Joy
Don’t get me started on Stevie Ray Vaughan. In my book, he was the most talented non-black electric blues guitarist I can think of. Buddy Guy during the previously noted documentary said Vaughan was to the blues what Michael Jordan was to basketball – great observation! Pride and Joy, written by the guitar virtuoso, was included on his debut studio album Texas Flood released in June 1983. The clip captures a performance of Vaughan and his backing band at Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982 – not exactly a match in heaven, since the audience clearly was less than enthusiastic about the band’s performance – I guess it was simply too much for their jazz ears! The band took it with pride, perhaps less with joy, though they still put on a killer performance!
Walter Trout/Bullfrog Blues
Walter Trout perhaps is the ultimate blues survivor. At about 2:30 minutes into his 2019 rendition of Bullfrog Blues at a jazz festival in Bavaria, Germany, Trout hints at what I mean, saying, “My life was saved by an organ donor. So sign up, be an organ donor and do something good for humanity.” In 2013, Trout’s past use of drugs and alcohol had caught up with him, and he found himself with end-stage liver disease, requiring a transplant to live or die. Luckily, a donor liver was found in time, and after a lengthy recovery during which Trout needed to relearn how to speak, walk and play the guitar, he was able to resume his career. Bullfrog Blues, a traditional, became the B-side of Canned Heat’s debut single Rollin’ and Tumblin’ from 1967. At the time, Trout was a 16-year-old growing up in New Jersey. Little did he know that he would join the band’s version that existed in 1981 and become their lead guitarist until 1985.
Ana Popović/Ana’s Shuffle
Time to feature another contemporary female blues rock artist: Ana Popović who was born in Serbia and has lived in the U.S. since 2016. It was her father Milton Popović, who introduced her to the blues, and she started playing guitar in Serbia at the age of 15. Four years later in 1995, she founded R&B band Hush there. The group disband in 1998 when Popović went to The Netherlands to study jazz guitar. The following year, she launched the Ana Popović Band in the Netherlands. In 2001, her solo debut Hush! appeared. Here’s a great live version of Ana’s Shuffle, an instrumental Popović first recorded for her sixth studio album Can You Stand the Heat from March 2013. It was co-written by her and co-producer Tony Coleman who was B.B. King’s drummer for 25 years. The following clip is from a March 2017 performance at a blues festival in Bethlehem, Pa.
Tedeschi Trucks Band/Midnight in Harlem
Since this two-part post was inspired by Tedeschi Trucks Band, it feels right to end it with a tune by what I would consider to be the best contemporary blues rock band. Here’s an August 2011 performance of Midnight in Harlem recorded in Atlanta. Co-written by the band’s harmony vocalist Mike Mattison and slide guitarist extraordinaire Derek Trucks, the track first appeared on their debut album Revelator released in June of the same year. Trucks absolutely shines on slide guitar, while Susan Tedeschi demonstrates her solid vocal skills. She’s also a great guitarist. The entire army of a band is just killer – this is what perfect musicianship looks like!
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