LARAMIE, Wyo. â Blinddog Smokinâs larger-than-life
new album High
Steppinâ is a kaleidoscopic romp
through the wild side of roots music. The discâs nine songs
ricochet from rock ânâ roll to juke joint blues to New Orleans jazz
to raw Americana, all supported by the bandâs twin pillars: hot ânâ
greasy funk and frontman Carl Gustafsonâs epic storytelling.
High Steppinâ follows 2014âs Decisions, a collaboration with
soul-blues legend Bobby
Rush that earned a Grammy
nomination for Best Blues Album. Decisions includes the song
âAnother Murder in New Orleans,â 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
Smokinâs imaginative video for
âAnother Murder in New Orleansâ mixes performance footage, cartoons
and live action actors, and has received more than 110,000 views on
YouTube.
Blinddog
Smokinâs 11th release, High Steppinâ kicks off with âPimp
Shoes,â an ebullient, percolating funk gem that displays the
groupâs spectacular ensemble. ââPimp Shoesâ is not about
pimps or shoes,â says Gustafson. âItâs about attitude. When a man
becomes the captain of his soul, and heâs mastered who he is, it
comes out in his posture, in his pose, in his walk. Thatâs what
that songâs about.â On a more literal note, thereâs âBig Behind,â
an ode to a ladyâs posterior largess that straddles funky
soul-blues, rock and â with its sweeping pedal steel guitar â
honky-tonk country. High Steppinâ is set for a July 17th
release date on Silver
Talon Records exclusively distributed
by City
Hall Records in tandem with The Orchard.
âI Caught Her Lyinââ goes deeper into the
country tradition to offer Blinddog Smokinâs version of a mountain
lament â surrounding Gustafsonâs heartbroken yarn with an
Americana-perfect framework of crying violin, grinding guitar and
his appealing worn-leather voice. âLadyâs Playinââ changes the
locale to New Orleans. That songâs a Crescent City funk powerhouse,
with bold horns, a scalding six-string solo and chanting group
vocals that celebrate la difference. Similarly, âDonât Put
No Money on Meâ â a wickedly funny loserâs lament â sounds like a
drunken Mardi Gras street parade, while âTell âem Shuffleâ is a
straight-up Chicago blues.
Blinddog
Smokinâs marvelously eclectic
sound and approach is the result of Gustafsonâs 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 â which include Gustafsonâs bicycle.
âWhen we get to a new town, I like to take my
bike off the bus and ride the backstreets,â he says. âWhen 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.â
Gustafson, who describes himself as an
adventurer and philosopher, has plenty of tales of his own. And his
book It
Ainât Just the Blues, Itâs Showtime: Hard Times, Heartache and
Glory Along the Blue Highway chronicles Blinddog
Smokinâs experiences on the road.
âI come from a time before television, when
telling stories was part of the fabric of life,â he offers. âSo Iâm
a songwriting machine. Iâm 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.â
That knowledge is deep. Markowitz is the Oscar-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning writer of the
song â(Iâve Had) The Time of My Lifeâ and the composer of
soundtracks for the hit Steve Carell film Crazy, Stupid, Love and many others. And High Steppinâ is the third album in a
row heâs produced for Blinddog Smokinâ. âWe didnât hit our stride
in the studio until we started working with Donny,â Gustafson says.
The other essential ingredient to Blinddog Smokinâs 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 â 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 husbandâs hot-dogging, high stepping yang in concert.
âI couldnât ask for a better group of performers
to share the stage with,â says Gustafson. âThey can go anywhere at
any time, and get along, and thatâs a rare thing in any style
of music.â
Gustafsonâs own musical tale begins in Laramie,
his hometown. âMy first exposure to blues was hearing Willie Dixon,â he recounts. âMy
parents went to a little club outside Cheyenne, and my brother and
I â we were six and eight years old â 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 âSatanâs musicâ and ânot culturally
acceptable.â Heâd only gone to the club to socialize with
relatives.
âWhen I was 16 I ran away from home,â
Gustafson continues. âThere was a little after-hours cafĂ© 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.â
Gustafson says that High Steppinâ reflects those early
life lessons and the myriad others heâs learned along the way.
âThis album shows me as a philosopher; as somebody who analyzes
life and adjusts from honest vulnerability to establish a fun
swagger. Thereâs 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.â
BLINDDOG SMOKINâ 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 Martyrâs
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
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