New Music from Ronnie Shellist, Andrew Duncanson, Ed Kobek, and Yours Truly!

Sometimes inspiration strikes and you happen to be in the right place to capture it!  Such was the case one groggy Sunday afternoon last March.  I picked Ronnie up at the airport the Wednesday before and he was not feeling well after his flight. Ed & Andy arrived and we ran over a couple tunes, but cut the rehearsal short so Ronnie could get some rest.  The whirlwind weekend commenced the next morning with a trip to Detroit for an always-fun gig at The Root.  Friday, we headed back and played in Valparaiso at the ever-popular college hangout, Duffy's Place, joined by Little Frank.  Saturday, Ronnie and I did a duo gig at The Lagunitas Taproom in Chicago, followed by a full-band gig at The SmokeDaddy BBQ.   Naturally, since Ronnie was well off his gluten-free Colorado diet, a late-night stop for Maxwell Street polish was in order. Sunday afternoon, after some breakfast and recovery time, I set up a handful of mics and herded the guys into the studio, where we laid down the greasy blues tunes in the first five tracks below, including the stellar "my two friends," which Andy penned on the spot after Ed tossed him the spark of an idea.  After a restorative chili supper in the Cincinnati style from friends in Valparaiso, we headed back up to Chicago for Joel Paterson's organ trio at The Green Mill.  Predictably,we ran into prewar troubadour Matt Hendricks and he decamped to Indiana  with us on the promise of his favorite biscuits & gravy at Chesterton's Northside Diner.  Monday morning, Ronnie & I found ourselves awake while the others sawed away on my kids' beds, so we decided to record the acoustic tracks that round out the album. (For those who prefer CDs, we'll have them available in two weeks.)   I hope you enjoy the album as much as we enjoyed that weekend!