GRAMMY
NOMINATED FUNK COLLECTIVE BLINDDOG SMOKIN’ MAKES HIGH-ENERGY ROOTS MUSIC WITH
HUMOR, DEPTH AND SOUL
High Steppin’ features wild-man raconteur Carl Gustafson’s epic tales plus eclectic
sounds; reunites band with producer Donny Markowitz; set for July 17 release date on Silver Talon Records
exclusively distributed by City Hall Records in tandem with The Orchard
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Blinddog
Smokin’s larger-than-life new album High Steppin’ is a kaleidoscopic
romp through the wild side of roots music. The disc’s nine songs ricochet from
rock ’n’ roll to juke joint blues to New Orleans jazz to raw Americana, all
supported by the band’s twin pillars: hot ’n’ greasy funk and frontman Carl
Gustafson’s epic storytelling.
High Steppin’ follows 2014’s Decisions, a collaboration with
soul-blues legend Bobby Rush that earned a Grammy nomination for Best Blues
Album. Decisions includes the song “Another Murder in New Orleans,”
which enlisted another legend, Dr. John, to tell its tale of street violence.
The tune was widely played on Americana and blues radio, and was used by the
New Orleans Crimestoppers organization to raise awareness. Blinddog Smokin’s
imaginative video for “Another Murder in New Orleans” mixes performance
footage, cartoons and live action actors, and has received more than 110,000
views on YouTube.
Blinddog Smokin’s 11th
release, High Steppin’ kicks off with “Pimp Shoes,” an ebullient,
percolating funk gem that displays the group’s spectacular ensemble. “’Pimp Shoes’ is not about pimps or shoes,” says Gustafson. “It’s about
attitude. When a man becomes the captain of his soul, and he’s mastered who he
is, it comes out in his posture, in his pose, in his walk. That’s what that
song’s about.” On a more literal note, there’s “Big Behind,” an ode to a lady’s
posterior largess that straddles funky soul-blues, rock and — with its sweeping
pedal steel guitar — honky-tonk country. High
Steppin’ is set for a July 17th release
date on Silver Talon Records exclusively distributed by City Hall Records in
tandem with The Orchard.
“I Caught Her Lyin’” goes
deeper into the country tradition to offer Blinddog Smokin’s version of a
mountain lament — surrounding Gustafson’s heartbroken yarn with an
Americana-perfect framework of crying violin, grinding guitar and his appealing
worn-leather voice. “Lady’s Playin’” changes the locale to New Orleans. That
song’s a Crescent City funk powerhouse, with bold horns, a scalding six-string
solo and chanting group vocals that celebrate la difference. Similarly,
“Don’t Put No Money on Me” — a wickedly funny loser’s lament — sounds like a
drunken Mardi Gras street parade, while “Tell ’em Shuffle” is a straight-up
Chicago blues.
Blinddog Smokin’s
marvelously eclectic sound and approach is the result of Gustafson’s literal
and musical world travels. He and the band have toured the planet numerous
times since 1994, putting more than a million road miles on their vehicles — which include
Gustafson’s bicycle.
“When we get to a new
town, I like to take my bike off the bus and ride the backstreets,” he says.
“When you travel the alleys, you learn about people. The front yard is for
show; the backyard shows the way they live. And when I run into old-timers, I
stop and listen to their stories.”
Gustafson, who describes
himself as an adventurer and philosopher, has plenty of tales of his own. And
his book It Ain’t Just the Blues, It’s Showtime: Hard Times, Heartache and
Glory Along the Blue Highway chronicles Blinddog Smokin’s experiences on
the road.
“I come from a time
before television, when telling stories was part of the fabric of life,” he
offers. “So I’m a songwriting machine. I’m constantly coming up with new lyrics
and our producer and friend, Donny Markowitz, has provided much of the
music based on his skills and his knowledge of how we think and play as a
band.”
That knowledge is deep.
Markowitz is the Oscar-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning writer of the song
“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” and the composer of soundtracks for the hit
Steve Carell film Crazy, Stupid, Love and many others. And High
Steppin’ is the third album in a row he’s produced for Blinddog Smokin’.
“We didn’t hit our stride in the studio until we started working with Donny,”
Gustafson says.
The other essential
ingredient to Blinddog Smokin’s broad stylistic mastery is the ability of its
players. The core members of the group comprise one of the finest modern bands
in American roots music. Dynamic drummer and vocalist Chuck Gullens started
with the Blinddogs in 1994 in Laramie, Wyoming, shortly after Gustafson
and the band, then named Bluestone,
returned from traveling the Middle East and Mediterranean, playing for
troops on a 49 day DOD tour. Versatile bassist Roland Pritzker joined in 2000,
followed by keyboardist and exceptional vocalist, Mo Beeks — whose own, earlier
band, Lock & Chain, gave R&B singer Chaka Kahn her start back in 1972.
In 2009 came back-up singer and bassist Chris White, and virtuoso guitarist
Chalo Ortiz also entered the fold, followed quickly by backing vocalist Linda
Gustafson, who plays feminine yin to her husband’s hot-dogging, high
stepping yang in concert.
“I couldn’t ask for a
better group of performers to share the stage with,” says Gustafson. “They can
go anywhere at any time, and get along, and that’s a rare thing in any style
of music.”
Gustafson’s own musical
tale begins in Laramie, his hometown. “My first exposure to blues was hearing
Willie Dixon,” he recounts. “My parents went to a little club outside Cheyenne,
and my brother and I — we were six and eight years old — stayed in the car.
When we heard the music, we were absolutely fascinated by it, so we peeked in
the windows. Then I started sneaking around listening to blues whenever I
could. I had to sneak, because my father was a classical pianist and said the
blues was ‘Satan’s music’ and ‘not culturally acceptable.’ He’d only gone to
the club to socialize with relatives.
“When I was 16 I ran away from home,”
Gustafson continues. “There was a little after-hours café down by the railroad
tracks called the Pic-a-Rib. I went down there and lived with a black boy I
played football with, whose mother, Miss Peggy, ran the café. I stayed with
them, hiding from my mom and dad, and I learned how to appreciate blues. I
learned how to dance. I learned how to sing. It was a really cool, isolated
pocket, of black culture in a completely white conservative environment.”
Gustafson says that High
Steppin’ reflects those early life lessons and the myriad others he’s
learned along the way. “This album shows me as a philosopher; as somebody who
analyzes life and adjusts from honest vulnerability to establish a fun swagger.
There’s a journey here that can only happen to an introspective person who
loves life, people, stories, and never believes that you have to stay in the
station where you are. And until the day I die, I plan to grow as an artist and
storyteller.”
BLINDDOG
SMOKIN’ TOUR DATES
Wed., June 24 PHOENIX,
AZ The Rhythm Room
Thurs., June 25 NEW ORLEANS, LA Old U.S. Mint
Mon., June 29 CHICAGO,
IL Martyr’s
Fri., July 3 OKLAHOMA
CITY, OK Bourbon Street
Sat., July 4 MCPHERSON,
KS
Fri., July 10 LARAMIE,
WY Jubilee Days
Sat., July 11 LARAMEE,
WY Jubilee Days
Tues., July 14 OVERLAND
PARK, KS Kanza Hall
Thurs., July 16 JACKSON, MS Underground 119
Sat., July 18 MEMPHIS, TN Hard Rock Café
Thurs., July 23 TORONTO, ON Hard Rock Café
Thurs., July 30 RAWLINS, WY Rawlins in the
Park
Fri., July 31 LARAMIE,
WY Alibi
Sat., Aug. 8 ROCK SPRINGS, WY Blues & Brews
Festival
Thurs., Aug. 13 THEMOPOLIS, WY
Fri., Aug. 14 CASPER,
WY The Attic
Sat., Aug. 15 SINCLAIR,
WY Platte River Festival
Sun., Aug. 16 CENTINNIAL, WY Bear Tree
Sun., Sept. 6 LARAMIE, WY Snowy Range Music Festival
Sat., Nov. 15 HIGH POINT, NC High Point Theatre
