Old meets new in latest from Matt Andersen
Bluesman tries something a bit different with album, touring band
Matt Andersen doesn’t say anything startlingly new, but then, he’s talking about the blues.
There isn’t much to add that is new about this old form, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped developing or that his album, Honest Man, finds him stuck in one place.
Produced by Commissioner Gordon — not the Batman character — the album is contemporary in that Gordon has built some of the tracks with drum loops, while Andersen’s Vogue Theatre concert will have him supported by a four-piece band, The Bona Fide.
The latter in itself is new. He normally has appeared on tour as a solo performer, armed solely with an acoustic guitar and an unshakable belief. Sweat dripping from his long hair, he can be magnetic. As a soloist, Andersen has built a following and reputation the old way — one gig at a time — but The Bona Fide gives him a different kind of flexibility where he isn’t carrying the weight of the show on his big shoulders all by himself.
The lead off song, Let’s Get Back, is a sample of Honest Man, which will be released Feb. 26. Backed by a full production, Andersen sounds like Gregg Allman with the song reminiscent of Allman’s Midnight Rider.
“Definitely southern-rock stuff,” he said, counting off such influences as blues standards or Bill Withers Ain’t No Sunshine.
Allman, for whom he’s opened, is relatively new to him.
“I listened to a lot of (Lynyrd) Skynyrd growing up. But I listened to a lot of stuff growing up,” he said. “Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King and them, going back. It’s an ongoing research.
“I always want to do something different. I really like that; to keep evolving.”
He wasn’t so sure about Gordon’s use of drum loops, though.
“That was the biggest thing,” he said. “He brought in a lot of loops and I got used to that. We used live drums on some of the songs, but I don’t know how much.”
He needn’t have worried. If Let’s Get Back is reliable evidence, Andersen has taken a step forward in his development where the old meets the new. Fans of the solo Andersen will be pleased. This is important to him.
“I always try to get myself in a good space,” he said. “The biggest thing is to have someone to feed off onstage. We try to keep things pretty loose; we try to keep it open.”