West of Flushing South of Frisco

Audio Mixer: Fabrizio Grossi.
Recording information: Bakos Amp Works, Atlanta, GA; Command Recording, Santa Clarita, CA; Lepus Maximus Recording, Greenboro, NC; The Carriage House, Stanford, CT; The Hawk Studio, Rome, Italy; The Noize Factor; Uncommon Studios, North Hollywood, CA.
Photographers: Alex Solca; Greg Watermann; Jeff Bakos; Mascha Muenzesheimer; Scott Rosembaum; Danny Clinch.
Arranger: Fabrizio Grossi.
The three members of Supersonic Blues Machine -- drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Fabrizio Grossi, and singer/guitarist Lance Lopez -- share a love of blues that's nearly as large as their love of classic rock. This means their 2016 debut, West of Flushing South of Frisco, is by no means traditional blues but it is traditional blues-rock, goosed by bits of funk and soul, all wrapped up in a muscular arena rock gloss. Songs are secondary here: it's all about the players, including a long, impressive list of guests, highlighted by Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Chris Duarte, and Robben Ford. This very list of luminaries reveals how West of Flushing South of Frisco is targeted at guitarists who love to hear other guitarists play -- listeners who love to hear and feel monster tone. If the songs never really stick -- they all feel like vehicles for vamps and solos -- that doesn't matter much because each track delivers the kind of oversized blooze jams so many guitarists love to play and, occasionally, hear. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine