Texas Bluesman Seth James and his All-Star Grammy ® winning Band celebrate the great American Roots Music of Delbert McClinton. He gathers up eleven “deep cuts” and major hits by the artist Rolling Stone named the “founding father” of Americana Music, and got the band cookin’ just right and you can feel the respect pouring out of the speakers on “Lessons”, out now on Qualified Records. James found Muddy Waters and Lightnin’ Hopkins––then Booker T. & the MGs, NRBQ, Delbert McClinton, and ultimately, a sound entirely his own. A couple of decades ago, he emerged with an easy voice that can croon and soul-shout, campfire storytelling chops, and moody, virtuosic electric guitar playing capable of blistering rides, New Orleans drama, and roadhouse funk. He ended up really studying Delbert McClinton’s sound and style and songwriting, ended up touring with him and got his blessing on a track for an earlier album, so this was bound to happen…and thankfully, the time was now.
I had a really nice time talking with Seth about the new album, “Lessons”, an album that clearly emphasizes his admiration for and the importance of Delbert McClinton in his desire to be a modern day songwriter, with his own sound. From the get go, we talk about the importance of the eleven songs chosen and the time, you you know, that one time when he sat in front of Mr. McClinton with some raw beGinnings…ya, that time. Seth explains the timing, and how he put aside something he was nearly through to bring this project a heartbeat. And beat it really does. There is a fresh life to these tracks that really lifts the album into a must listen to, there are new old friends, or old new friends definitely hanging out within them. Of course, Seth builds a nice setlist that makes me think he and I should hang out under a tree one day with our collections and trade off.
