WALTER TROUT RETURNS WITH BRAND NEW STUDIO ALBUM
TITLED WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER FEATURING 14 FRIENDS
North
American Release Date Set For August 25 With Europe To Follow On September 1
Album
Trailer:
Special Guests include John
Mayall, Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sonny
Landreth, Joe Louis Walker,
Warren Haynes, Randy Bachman, Charlie Musselwhite, Edgar
Winter, Eric Gales, Mike Zito,
Robben Ford, John Nemeth, And His Son Jon Trout
Los Angeles, CA --- Walter Trout is the beating heart of
the modern blues rock scene, respected by the old guard, revered by the young
guns, and adored by the fans who shake his hand after the show each night.
After five decades in the game, Trout is a talismanic figure and part of the
glue that bonds the blues community together, at a time when the wider world
has never been so divided. He’s also the only artist with the vision, talent
and star-studded address book to pull off a project on the scale of We’re
All In This Together. “It was quite a piece of work to get this record
together,” he admits. “But I guess I have a lot of friends, y’know…?”
Before you even hear a note, We’re All In This
Together has your attention. Drafting fourteen A-list stars – including Joe
Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, John Mayall and Randy Bachman – and writing an
original song for each, Trout has made the most tantalizing album of the year,
and found solace after a run of solo albums that chronicled his near-fatal
liver disease of 2014. “Now was the right time for this record,” he says. “Battle
Scars [2015] was such an intense piece of work, written with tears coming
down my face. I needed a break from that, to do something fun and
light-hearted. This album was joyous for me.”
Scan the credits of We’re All In This Together and
you’ll find nods to every twist and turn of Trout’s electrifying backstory.
There’s keys man and long-time friend Skip Edwards, who came up on the same
early-’70s New Jersey circuit where Trout cut his teeth as the precocious lead
guitarist for Wilmont Mews. There’s organ wizard Deacon Jones, the West Coast
bandleader who brought a twenty-something Trout into the orbit of blues titans
like John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton. “Deacon sorta discovered me when I
moved to LA in the ’70s,” reflects Trout. “So I owe him.”
Trout also welcomes a fistful of compadres from recent
all-star project Supersonic Blues Machine, in the form of Warren Haynes, Robben
Ford and Eric Gales. Then there’s John Mayall: the ageless British blues-boom
godfather who hired a troubled Trout for the Bluesbreakers in 1985 and now
blows harp on “Blues For Jimmy T.” “Am I proud to call myself a
former Bluesbreaker?” Trout reflects. “Yeah, of course. What a credential. That
is a very exclusive club, and I know that when I’m gone, that’s gonna be one of
the big things that they’ll remember me for: that I was a Bluesbreaker for five
years.”
Since he struck out alone in 1989, Trout’s solo career
has been every bit as celebrated. Touring tirelessly and spitting out classic
albums that include 1990’s flag-planting Life In The Jungle, 1998’s
breakthrough Walter Trout and 2012’s politically barbed Blues For The
Modern Daze, he’s won international acclaim and enjoyed ever-growing sales
in a notoriously fickle industry. Years on the road have also brought him tight
friendships, as evidenced by 2006’s cameo-fuelled Full Circle album and
this year’s unofficial sequel, We’re All In This Together. “The new
album was originally gonna be called Full Circle Volume 2,” notes Trout,
“but I wanted to make the title a positive statement in this time of
madness.”
In another departure, whereas Full Circle saw each
guest visit the studio to track their part, the advance of recording technology
in the intervening decade meant Trout’s collaborators on We’re All In This
Together were able to supply their contributions from afar. “In the studio,
it was the core band of me, Sammy Avila [keys], Mike Leasure [drums] and Johnny
Griparic [bass] on every cut, with Eric Corne producing,” he explains, “and
then, for most of the tracks, people sent us their parts. But it’s very hard to
tell we’re not in the studio together. If you listen to the Warren Haynes
track, when we get into that guitar conversation on the end – it sounds like
we’re looking each other right in the face, y’know?”
They say you can judge a man by the company he keeps. If
that’s the case, then We’re All In This Together is further proof of
Walter Trout’s position at the hub of the blues scene. This is the sound of an
artist not just getting by with a little help from his friends, but positively
thriving, on an album that is sure to light another rocket under his blooming
late career. “I’m 66 years old,” considers Trout, “but I feel like I’m in the
best years of my life right now. I feel better than I have in years physically.
I have more energy. I have a whole different appreciation of being alive, of
the world, of my family, of my career. I want life to be exciting and
celebratory. I want to dig in. I want to grab life by the balls and not let go,
y’know…?”
Track
Listing:
“Gonna Hurt Like
Hell” featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd
“Ain’t Gpin’ Back”
featuring Sonny Landreth
“The Other
Side of The Pillow” featuring Charlie Musselwhite
“She Listens
To The Blackbird Song” featuring Mike Zito
“Mr. Davis” featuring
Robben Ford
“The Sky Is
Crying” featuring Warren Haynes
“Somebody
Goin’ Down” featuring Eric Gales
“She Steals My
Heart Away” featuring Edgar Winter
“Crash And
Burn” featuring Joe Louis Walker
“Too Much To
Carry” featuring John Nemeth
“Do You Still
See Me At All” featuring Jon Trout
“Got Nothin’ Left”
featuring Randy Bachman
“Blues For
Jimmy T.” Featuring John Mayall
“We’re All In
This Together” featuring Joe Bonamassa
Planned
appearances include:
6/30
Wichita,
KS
The Cotillion
7/01
Kansas City,
MO
Knucklehead’s
7/02
St. Louis,
MO
Old Rock House
7/05
Syracuse,
NY
Hotel Syracuse
7/06
Sellersville,
PA
Sellersville Theatre
7/07
Old Saybrook,
CT
The Kate
7/08
Fall River,
MA
Narrows Center for the Arts
7/09
Pawling,
NY
Daryl’s House
7/10
Hoboken,
NJ
Maxwell’s
7/12
New York,
NY
B.B. King’s
7/13
Shirley,
MA
Bull Run
7/14
Norwalk,
CT
Infinity Music Hall
7/15
Derry,
NH
Tupelo Music Hall
7/16
Rockland,
ME
North Atlantic Blues Festival
7/19
Grand Rapids,
MI
Blues On The Mall
7/20
Toledo,
OH
Club Soda
7/21
Chicago,
IL
Legends
7/22
Chicago,
IL
Legends
7/23
Milwaukee,
WI
Shank Hall
7/26
Omaha,
NE
Chrome Lounge
7/27
Minneapolis,
MN
Famous Dave’s
7/28
Fargo,
ND
Fargo Blues Fesival
7/29
Arnolds Park,
IA
Arnolds Park Amusement Park
7/30
Des Moines,
IA
Lefty’s Live Music
8/05
Mammoth Lakes,
CA
Bluespalooza
8/06
Deming,
WA
Mt Baker R&B Festival
8/16
Annapolis,
MD
Ram’s Head
8/17
Washington
D.C.
The Hamilton
8/18
Somers Point,
NJ
Somers Point Concert Series
8/19
Morristown,
NJ
Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival
8/20
Lancaster,
PA
Long’s Park Concert Series
8/22
Gravenhurst,
ON
Peter’s Players
8/23
Gravenhurst,
ON
Peter’s Players
8/25
Trois Rivieres, QC
Trois Rivieres En Blues
8/26
Marshfield,
MA
North River Blues Festival
8/27
Simsbury,
CT
2 Left Feet Blues Festival
8/30
Auburn Hills,
MI
Callahan’s
8/31
Cleveland,
OH
Beachland Ballroom
9/02
Peoria,
IL
Peoria Blues & Heritage Festival
9/07
Las Vegas,
NV
Big Blues Bender
9/08
Las Vegas,
NV
Big Blues Bender
October
through November – European Dates – Detail posted on www.waltertrout.com
www.twitter.com/walter
trout
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