I can say one thing with certainty: This will be my final album of the 2010s.
And what an album it is.
One of the benefits of moving back to the Boston area was the presence there of Mark Knapp. Mark is the former drummer of my high school band Fried Pig; the provider of drum loops for one or two of my previous recordings; and more recently the possessor of a simple mixing console, some microphones, and an urge to mix tracks together.
At first we played acoustically, with a baritone ukulele and various percussion implements.
Then the urge to pound on stuff took over.
And the result, after probably four or five months of intermittent effort in Mark’s basement and mine, is Watts — 12 songs about night trains, salty dames, pull-ups, being chained to the wall of a medieval dungeon, and other shared cultural experiences.
Mark and I being clever and all, the title is a dual homage. It refers to electricity, all 12 songs being proudly plugged-in. (We’ll drop the acoustic album on ya some other time.)
It also refers to Charlie Watts, whose floppy-but-effective sense of timekeeping is very much an inspiration at this point in time.
However you look at Watts, it’s just been posted to Bandcamp. As with previous recordings, it’s free to download, though you could spend a couple bucks on it if you wanted to, to keep Mark and I supplied with chips and salsa for our next jam.
Either way, it would make a terrific holiday gift for your kids’ teachers, not to mention those semi-distant relatives you never really know how to shop for.
And as always, I’d love to see a screenshot of a tune from Watts playing on your phone, computer or other music device. I don’t usually get any when I ask, but the once or twice I did, it was pretty cool.
Go forth and boogie, then. Mark and I will catch you again in the new decade.
Neck Pickup 