Mike Mattison, a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band & the Derek Trucks Band for over 23 years, today releases Turn A Midnight Corner, his 3rd solo outing for Landslide Records. So, what is Turn A Midnight Corner? As is often the case with Mattison, there is a back story. He had an idea to write a novella about a country blues duo from the 1930s, ‘Ted ‘n’ Turk,’ who are ‘rediscovered’ in the early 1970s by a music critic. They’re brought together as aging men and are poised to re-record their old 78 rpm sides. However, the ‘rediscovery’ turns into a bit of a media circus when rockstars come sniffing around, money muddies the waters, race stuff encroaches, resentments emerge, and the whole thing falls to pieces. All the songs in this collection were written by Mattison (Thumbs Plus Music / ASCAP) and recorded in a couple of week-long sessions at Studio MG in Roswell, GA. The LP was co-produced by Mattison and mix engineer Jason Kingsland [Band of Horses, Bryan Ferry, Belle & Sebastian] and engineered by Spencer Garn and drummer Tyler “The Falcon” Greenwell. It features members of his current band, Trash Magic: guitarist Dave Yoke (Dr. John/Susan Tedeschi Band/Scrapomatic), guitarist Greg Spradlin (Los Lobos satellite member), bassist and keyboardist Wesley Flowers, and drummer Tyler Greenwell (Tedeschi Trucks Band.) A native Minnesotan and Harvard University graduate, Mattison penned some of Tedeschi Trucks Band’s signature tunes, e.g., “Midnight in Harlem.” With TTB & DTB, Mattison has won two GRAMMYs, eight Blues Music Awards, and four Canadian Maple Blues Awards. He’s toured the planet, played on five continents, and every state except Alaska.
I have had the chance to chat with Mike a few times over the years. Each time is a growing experience for me. Anyone who knows me knows just how much his group with Paul Olsen (and others of course), Scrapomatic is certainly a guilty please of mine. His voice is something that cause a feel that runs thru me and heads right to my soul. This time around we have a different project to dive into. We talk about the new album ‘Turn a Midnight Corner with his latest group, Trash Magic. We go see to flower on this new music and get to know the band a little bit more. Not a big surprise to me that the beGinning of this music stars with him working on a book. Mike clues us in to how he attempts to box out the other things he has ongoing to find time to make all this happen. Here we are on the day this album drops and a few tour dates with Trash Magic lined up. We take time also to dissect one of the tracks, often I am easily set astray when a tune comes on sounding like the rhythm of a train and there’s one of those right her eon this new record, so we take a walk through that one together as well. The music and Mike make me feel like for a little bit, I (and hopefully we) get to walk into some new stories and be a[part of it, or away from that, for just a little bit.
Photo: Alix Lamber
