New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Veteran blues vocalists Cathy Lemons and Phil Berkowitz, aka The Lucky Losers, deliver a soulful '60s retro sound on their third CD,
Blind Spot, coming May 18 on Dirty Cat Records, distributed through CD Baby.
Watch a video about recording the new CD here: https://www.theluckylosers.com/epk/
Recorded at award-winning Greaseland Studios (John Nemeth, Wee Willie Walker, Billy Price) in San Jose, California,
Blind Spot continues The Lucky Losers' long-standing relationship with acclaimed producer/engineer, Kid Andersen. Bringing back the lost art of the vocal duet, the album is solely comprised of original material created by Cathy Lemons and Phil Berkowitz alongside their illustrious and multi-talented songwriting partner,
Danny Caron (Charles Brown).
Blind Spot features scintillating musical contributions from six-time Blues
Music Award nominated guitarist, Kid Andersen, International Bluegrass
Music Association Momentum Award winning violinist
Annie Staninec (Rod Stewart), 2018 BMA nominated saxophonist, Nancy Wright, and guitarist
Laura Chavez (Nikki Hill), who was listed as one of the "Top 50 Sensational Female Guitarists" by Guitar Play Magazine.
Vocalist/harmonica master Phil Berkowitz says about the recording sessions: "Cathy, Kid and I are all on the same page musically. And Kid has an intuitive understanding of our creative vision. When people hear this album, they will be reminded of Willie Mitchell's Hi Records, as well as Stax. We love singers like Ann Peebles and O.V. Wright. We went to great lengths to make our album sound like it came from that late '60s and early '70s era. We were going for that warm, live,
Memphis sound with all that great, spontaneous ensemble playing. We also drew heavily from early '70s psychedelic soul. When you hear 'Alligator Baptism,' for example, artists like Curtis Mayfield might come to mind. You will hear all the percussion, the horns, the harmonies, the street-wise stories, etc. But that is just one facet of our diverse style. We also love electric Americana pioneers like J.J. Cale, The Band and Bob Dylan. But we are blues artists at heart—Cathy and I—so you will hear plenty of blues in the mix. We brought in marvelous Bay Area players, and we blended these styles together."
Blind Spot is a road warrior's tale. The album is a primal call to awareness in the eye of an irresistible storm. Caught between hope and catastrophe, The Lucky Losers take a fearless ride into the unknown, witnessing the good, bad, and ugly of contemporary
America through a fractured rear-view mirror. Traveling through a winding soundscape of modern blues, vintage R&B, and Americana,
Blind Spot presents unvarnished testimony to the fragile and fleeting state of our world. From the redemptive embrace of love in "The River," to the erosion of human dignity in "Alligator Baptism," to the "do or die" determination of "Take the Long Road" and "It's Never Too Early," The Lucky Losers express the challenges they face as they try to maintain a firm grasp on the wheel.
"Phil and I have travelled some of the loneliest highways in
America to bring our music to the people," says Cathy Lemons. "And in all those travels what we see is a kind of distraction everywhere-almost to the point of madness. I feel so overwhelmed by all this information pouring in from my phone, from the news, from tragic headlines. Now that can be a funny or it can be deadly. For example, in a song we wrote called 'You Left it Behind,' we talk about losing our wallets, our keys, our passports, our clothes-on the road. But on the other side of the slapstick comedy there is the dark side. 'Last Ride' is about the mass shootings, the natural disasters, and all the divisiveness we are seeing right now in America. This album is about this separation from real experience-seeing life through a screen."
The Lucky Losers are hitting the road across the country to tour in support of
Blind Spot Cathy Lemons - vocals/percussion; Phil Berkowitz - vocals/harmonica; Ian Lamson - guitar (who toured with Elvin Bishop and plays on the album); Robby Yamilov - bass; and Jon Otis - drums (son of the legendary Johnny Otis).
www.theluckylosers.com
