Specter's got a new blog!
Hi folks and welcome to my new blog and website. (beautifully designed by Kristen Mitchell)
I hope to be posting here at least monthly, where I’ll be sharing news and stories about music, shows, touring, recordings, podcasts and more.
I’m really excited for you to hear my new album, Blues From The Inside Out, which comes out on Oct. 16th on CD. The LP should be released in December. The album features 12 original tunes, my vocal debut, a guest appearance by my friend Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) on 2 tracks. Brother John Kattke sings 4 tracks and Sarah Marie Young sings 1 track. Other featured guests include Latin percussion ace Ruben Alvarez and the Liquid Soul horns. There are 8 vocal tunes (I sing 3) and 4 instrumentals with grooves ranging from Booker T. inspired R&B, NOLA funk, Latin jazz and of course, Chicago blues.
My writing partner Bill Brichta contributed greatly to the project and also plays acoustic guitar on his original tune, Wave’s Gonna Come, featuring the soul/gospel vocals of Sarah Marie Young.
My long time rhythm section of Marty Binder on drums and Harlan Terson on bass lay down the solid and swinging foundation for the recording.
Also really special having my old friend and bandmate Tad Robinson sing backup on the album along with my vocal coach and great singer, Devin Thompson.
Thought I’d share the story of how my collaboration with Jorma came together:
I’ve been a partner, curator, manager, producer and performer at the Chicago area music venue/studio, Evanston SPACE since 2008. We’ve hosted Jorma on many occasions over the years including solo acoustic shows and Hot Tuna shows. Jorma and I became friends and often talked guitars, blues, tunes and tones.
A few years ago Jorma came to me with the lyrics for a tune he wrote called The Blues Ain’t Nothin’.
He asked me if I could do something with the lyrics (which I loved).
When I started planning the new album I reached out to Jorma asking if we could record the tune and he gratefully agreed. I then asked if he might want to come to Chicago and play on it. I also asked him to guest on a second tune, a John Lee Hooker inspired tune that I wrote about a certain game show host/highly questionable figure currently occupying the White House. Again, Jorma said yes.
Jorma and I soon started making plans for the recording session at the Delmark studios in Chicago in February of 2019. Jorma plays his Les Paul both How Low Can One Man Go? and The Blues Ain’t Nothin’.
Recording with Jorma was one of the coolest highlights of my recording career.