|
With Building Full Of Blues, Fathead Reaches New Heights With Their Strongest Work To Date. Building Full of Blues is a classic Fathead: great songwriting, rock solid collective playing, virtuoso soloing , and deep soulful vocals--all sure to satisfy! The Juno Award (Canada's Grammy) winning band continues to add to its legacy as one of North America's most highly regarded blues bands. Building Full of Blues takes their talent to the next level as they take on a wide range of musical subject matter while providing streetwise commentary on the human condition. Special guest Shakura s' Aida joins vocalist John Mays (ex-James Brown) in a powerful duet which rounds out Fathead's strongest recording to date. Formed in 1992, Fathead has developed a distinctive and unique sound characterized by solid grooves, soul-drenched melodies and ace musicianship- allowing the band to pack multiple music genres into a blues tour de force. Three of the five band members have remained constant over the years; John Mays (lead vocals), band leader Al Lerman (harp and tenor saxophone, vocals) and Omar Tunnoch (bass, vocals). In 2006 Darran Poole replaced original guitarist Teddy Leonard, while current drummer Bucky Berger joined the group in 2007, succeeding Hayden Vialva (2003-2007), Chuck Keeping (2001-2003), Ed White (1993-2001) and Mike Fitzpatrick (1992). Fathead's incendiary live shows have taken them far and wide, performing across the continent at high profile events such as Fredericton's Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, The Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival, The Montreal International Jazz Fest, The Toronto Soul & Blues Fest, Festival By The Sea in New Brunswick, and Playing With Fire in Omaha, Nebraska. They have performed in Washington, DC for the Canadian Embassy, at Buffalo's Lafayette Tap Room Blues Festival, at Virginia's famed Birchmere Theater, and have opened for blues icon B.B. King at Massey Hall in Toronto. The band also backed the late Chicago bluesman Little Mack Simmons on two fine albums that were critically acclaimed internationally. The group's indie debut CD Fathead landed them a recording contract with Electro-Fi Records. Blues Weather, the band's sophomore 1998 release, garnered a Juno Award (Canada's Grammy) for Blues Recording Of The Year. Where's Your Head At? was a strong follow up in 2000 and earned several Maple Blues Award nominations, while First Class Riff-Raff won the Canadian Indie Award (2002) and was also nominated for a Juno. Livelier Than Ever! was independently released in 2005, capturing the band in full throttle. Their discs have garnered rave reviews world wide, making Fathead one of the country's top roots acts. With the release of Building Full Of Blues in 2007, the band reaches new heights with their strongest piece of work to date. Beautifully recorded and boasting well crafted material along with stellar performances, this will not only satisfy the fans, but will win over new ones as well. Marrying blues with elements of soul, R&B, and a little bit of Cajun spice, Fathead has a sound immediately recognizable as their own. They will be touring extensively this year in support of the new disc. Courtesy All About Jazz “Al Lerman (the front man for Fathead) also teaches harp in workshops at colleges, schools, and in his home in Etobicoke. He has produced Pinetop Perkins and he and Jack (de Keyzer) toured Europe with Pinetop. Jack and Al also play on the CD Juke Joint Rockers featuring Willie Big Eyes Smith. Willie was drummer for Muddy Waters. An interesting aside about Pinetop, is, he lives on McDonald's Cheeseburgers and chain smokes, he presently is 93 or 4. Al told me in Stockholm there was only one McDonald's they took a taxi over and Pinetop ordered six cheeseburgers ate two and put four in his bag...Jeezzz!! Al and I worked as a duo for a couple of years aside from our other gigs. We get along great although my interest in other forms of music clash with his in some ways, him being very much a blues artist. We haven't worked together in awhile but hope to soon.” -- Terry Blankley Over the years these guys have been up for a ton of blues awards, most recently seeing three 2007 Maple Blues Awards, Mays for vocals, Lerman on harp and Tunnoch for bass. So the pedigree and polish is there to make this a winner./I particularly like What About Me? Where Sharkura S'Aida comes on to add duet vocals. Her voice fits in with Mays' like they've been performing together for years. 'Other choice cuts are One Day The Sun Will Shine, a cut where Mays' voice really shines, and the sax work is sweet, and Apartment 10, a true party song, and Too Many Heartaches. "Fathead is one of the best bands I've heard in a long while" - Levon Helm. ”The joy, love and appreciation in the music here is infectious. These Canadians deliver the goods.” - Blues Revue ”A great CD by a Canadian band that has paid its dues... all the songs are standouts” - Scene Magazine (Canada) ”Canada's hottest blues band scores again with new CD” - Toronto Star Produced by Fathead and Tom Jardin Fathead "Bitter When I'm Old" Electro-Fi Records http://www.fathead.biz/ http://www.myspace.com/fatheadfanpage
|
