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
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
