Stony Plain
Records Set to Release The Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard on
September 25
A Decade in the
Making, Latest Album from Multi-Award-Winning Guitarist Includes Special Guests
Maria Muldaur, Jay McShann, Jerry Portnoy and Sunny Crownover
EDMONTON,
AB – Stony Plain Records announces a September 25 release date for The
Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard, a very special album from
the two-time Grammy nominee and multi Blues Music Award winning guitarist that
focuses on the music that has informed his over 50-year career as a performing
artist, bandleader and producer of seminal American roots music. The Acoustic
Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard was recorded primarily at Duke’s
own Mood Room studio, with additional work done at Lakewest Recording and some
live recording done at the Blackstone River Theater in Cumberland, Rhode
Island.
“This
project has been about a decade in the making for various reasons I won't go
into here,” Duke Robillard says in the liner notes about the sessions for the
new CD. “As many of you know, I am, and always have been, a huge fan of
American roots music in its entirety. Blues, ragtime, early jazz, Appalachian
music, early country, swing, honky-tonk, folk, R&B, soul, New Orleans
music, rock and roll and all kinds of roots music have always moved and
inspired me the most. Especially the artists that were there at the beginning of
each style. Those artists always seem to be the most honest to my ears.”
Accordingly,
Robillard has fashioned an album that salutes many of those influences on the
new disc, demonstrating in the process the immense scope and breadth of the
talent that has made him one of the most revered and beloved musicians in the
world.
“With
this album I honor many of the pioneers of true American music, from close to
the beginning of recorded music to the 1940s,” Robillard declares. “This is the
time period I love most and find a never-ending river of new music to discover,
enjoy and be influenced/inspired by. This recording concentrates on music
written and recorded in the ‘20s to the ‘40s, with the exception of some
original songs and Robbie Robertson's ‘Evangeline,’ which sounds like it could
be from that time period!”
Besides
Duke’s lead vocals and multiple stringed instruments performed throughout The
Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard, the
all-star backing cast includes special guest vocalists Maria Muldaur and Sunny
Crownover, former Muddy Waters band member Jerry Portnoy on harmonica and the
late, Kansas City piano legend Jay McShann. Other players include Mary Flower –
acoustic finger style and lap slide guitar and vocal; Marty Ballou and John Packer
- acoustic bass; Matt McCabe – piano; Mark Teixeira and Marty Richards – drums;
Billy Novick – clarinet; Doug James - baritone sax and harmonica; Dave Babcock
- tenor sax; Jon Ross – mandolin; Russell Gusetti – concertina and the
Providence Mandolin Orchestra.
Robillard
taps into his wellspring of great American music songbook knowledge by covering
everything from such blues icons as Big Bill Broonzy, W.C Handy, Sleepy John
Estes, Robert Lockwood and Pete Johnson, to country legends Hank Williams,
Jimmie Rodgers and the Delmore Brothers, with a nod to traditional popular
music from writers including Stephen Foster. And Duke gets an early jump on the
holiday season with the inclusion of “Santa Claus Blues,” featuring the soulful
vocals of Maria Muldaur and written by one of America’s best pop music
composers, Gus Kahn.
The
Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard – Track Listing
1
My Old Kentucky Home 1:25
2
Big Bill Blues 3:35
3
I Miss My Baby in My Arms 3:15
4
Jimmie's Texas Blues 3:08
5
Backyard Paradise 2:39
6
Evangeline featuring Sunny Crownover 3:01
7
Left Handed 3:06
8
I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water 3:25
9
I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog (To Take the Place of You) 5:15
10
Nashville Blues featuring Mary Flower 3:07
11
St Louis Blues 5:07
12
What Is It That Tastes Like Gravy? 3:04
13
Someday Baby 3:17
14
Let’s Turn Back the Years 2:37
15
Take a Little Walk with Me 7:04
16
Santa Claus Blues featuring Maria Muldaur 2:50
17
Profoundly Blue feat. Jay McShann 3:46
18
Ukulele Swing 0:46
About
Duke Robillard
Duke Robillard’s career path
was set in 1967 when he founded the iconic Roomful of Blues, later holding down
the guitar spot in The Fabulous Thunderbirds (following Jimmie Vaughan’s
departure from that band), then working with rockabilly maverick Robert Gordon
and recording two albums with the Legendary Blues Band (a sterling group
of former members of Muddy Waters’ bands). In addition, Duke has logged countless gigs over the years as a producer, bandleader and
guitar player with a plethora of giants of blues, roots and jazz music.
That laundry list includes late icons such as Big Joe Turner, Jimmy
Witherspoon, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Jay McShann, Rosco Gordon and Herb
Ellis, as well as contemporaries Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Jay Geils, Joe Louis Walker,
Billy Boy Arnold and Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne.
Since 1980, Duke’s been a touring bandleader for 98% of the
time with nearly 30 albums to his credit under his own name. He is the
true link from those great artists of the past to the current and future of
roots music. With the recent passing of B.B. King and the aging of other blues
elders, Duke continues to carry his blues torch held high, leading the music
from the wilderness into the light. In recognition of his lifetime
achievements, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in May
of 2014.
