Andre Williams releases Hoods and Shades, 2/28

Andre “Mr. Rhythm” Williams continues to lay down his signature raw, soulful croon and hustler’s groove with the release of a new album Hoods and Shades on February 28. This will be the Detroit/Chicago-based Williams’ fourth full-length album released on Bloodshot Records, and first since 2010’s That’s All I Need.

Hoods and Shades was recorded in Detroit, once again bringing Andre together with long-time contributors Matt Smith (Outrageous Cherry, Nathaniel Mayer, Volebeats), Funk Brother Dennis Coffey on guitar, Jim White (Dirty Three, Cat Power), Greasy Carlisi (Robert Gordon, Chris Spedding), Jim Diamond (Dirtbombs), and Grammy-award winning producer Don Was. For Hoods and Shades Andre ventures into a folk/psychedelic/R&B zone, in what he has dubbed “the Andre Williams folk album.”

ANDRE WILLIAMS, Hoods and Shades (out on 2/28)

>Andre Williams Bio:

Andre Williams is an R&B legend, and you may not even know it. He wrote “Shake A Tail Feather,” and sang proto-punk cult classics like “Bacon Fat” (covered by the Cramps), “Greasy Chicken,” and the epitome of songs about underage girls, “Jail Bait.” He paid his dues and honed his unique musical outlook at seminal labels such as Motown, Chess, and Fortune. He wrote and produced for folks Ike Turner, Parliament/Funkadelic, Edwin Starr and Stevie Wonder.

After a few hard years of retirement, Andre stormed back in the late ‘90s with a record of smutty garage punk called Silky, recorded with members of the Demolition Doll Rods and the Dirtbombs. Since then his association with Bloodshot has yielded a breadth of sonic goodies befitting his broad influence. His 2010 record That’s All I Need utilized many of the players on the current record to brand raw, funky grooves.

For 2008’s Can You Deal With It? Andre went down to the Crescent City and teamed up with the New Orleans Hellhounds for an album of thick, greasy garage punk. Earlier recordings include an album with Toronto’s the Sadies, Red Dirt, an album of boom-chickaka-BOOM country soul and the out of print 7” single with Two-Star Tabernacle (which included a very young Jack White). In 2008, Andre was also the subject of the gritty documentary, “Agile Mobile Hostile.”