WHAT THE HELL THIS THING IS:
Mitchell Froom and I put this track together in the midst of the NY lock down this Spring. I wrote the song with Byron Isaacs, recorded it on my iPhone (voice and acoustic guitar) and sent it to Mitchell who then blew it up with this great arrangement.
Now Mitchell and I have this thing, no guitar solos in general, but I loved this track that Mitchell put together and was dying to hear what someone would do over it. We decided to throw it out to some friends and see what happened if they did their thing over an extended outro. I sent it initially to Nels Cline, David Hidalgo and Marc Ribot. They all sent back tracks cut from home rigs or whatever they could muster at the time.
Now we have about 15 or so versions from other great players we respect which we’ll post. It just kind of turned into something. Maybe we’re crazy, I don’t know, but…Don’t Get Me Started…
Nels Cline
Guitar explorer Nels Cline is best known these days as the lead guitarist in the band Wilco. His recording and performing career — spanning jazz, rock, punk and experimental — is well into its fourth decade, with over 200 recordings, including at least 30 for which he is leader. Cline has received many accolades including Rolling Stone anointing him as both one of 20 “new guitar gods” and one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot (pronounced REE-bow) was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1954. As a teen, he played guitar in various garage bands while studying with his mentor, Haitian classical guitarist and composer Frantz Casseus. After moving to New York City in 1978, Ribot was a member of the soul/punk Realtones, and from 1984 – 1989, of John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards. Between 1979 and 1985, Ribot also worked as a side musician with Brother Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Chuck Berry, and many others.
Ruben Block
Ruben Block is a Belgian musician, most famous for being the guitarist and vocalist of hard rock band Triggerfinger.
Val McCallum
Valentine “Val” McCallum is an English-Scottish guitarist and singer-songwriter. McCallum has toured with, and served as a studio musician for many well-known musicians. He toured with Jackson Browne and McCallum’s musical resume includes stints with Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, The Wallflowers, Bonnie Raitt and Lorretta Lynn among others. McCallum released his first solo record, entitled At the End of the Day. In addition to his solo album and extensive work in touring and session bands, McCallum is also a member of the comic-country band, Jackshit. The band originated as Vonda Shepard’s backing band on the hit series Ally McBeal.
Gerry Leonard
Gerry Leonard is an Irish lead guitarist and solo artist, known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie. He has lived and worked in Dublin, Copenhagen, and Manhattan.
When not touring or recording with these international artists, Gerry heads up his own project, Spooky Ghost. Under the name Spooky Ghost, Gerry has recorded two solo albums. The first recording simply called “Spooky Ghost” was primarily an ambient guitar record, made in his New York apartment in 1998. His second, “The Light Machine” (2002) has been described by David Bowie as “Quite the most beautiful and moving pieces of work I have possessed in a long time.”
David Hidalgo
David Hidalgo is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordian, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requinto jarocho, percussion, drums and guitar as a session musician on other artists’ releases. He is also a member of the supergroup Los Super Seven and of the Latin Playboys, a side project made up of some of the members of Los Lobos. With Mike Halby of Canned Heat, he formed another band, Houndog, as a side project.
Hidalgo’s songs have been covered by the Jerry Garcia Band, Waylon Jennings, Bonnie Raitt and others. He has performed in Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival since its inception in 2004, including a performance with Los Lobos in April 2013 at Madison Square Garden.
The mastersons
The Mastersons are singer-songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore. When they’re not touring the world as valued longtime members of Steve Earle’s band the Dukes, the musical and marital twosome make inspired albums of their own emotionally vivid, deeply humanistic songs. The duo’s fourth set of original compositions is the appropriately titled No Time for Love Songs.