New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Atlanta-based Ragtime/Dixieland/Gypsy jazz artist Blair Crimmins and his band The Hookers return with their new album You Gotta Sell Something! set to release on February 17th via New Rag Records. Their fourth studio release following 2013's Sing-a-Longs, this new album delivers more of their signature sound of supercharged Ragtime and Swing while also reaching into some new territory with Gospel and Soul. Today, they released the first taste of the new record with lead single "Top of the Class" which premiered on The Boot who raved "Fusing jazz, Dixieland and the blues, Crimmins and the Hookers are known for old-school tunes with a heavy sprinkling of snark."
Stream "Top of the Class" via Soundcloud here:
https://soundcloud.com/blaircrimmins/top-of-the-class/s-irdlN
"My wife was the one that gave me the initial idea for this song during a discussion about how one night stands are portrayed in movies," Crimmins told The Boot. "She noted how the girls are always sneaking out of the guys apartment carrying their shoes and hoping nobody catches them, but the men are completely unashamed and proud of themselves. I just thought 'Why shouldn't everyone be proud that they hooked up the night before?' I think if anyone is judging you for getting a little action it's probably because they haven't gotten any in a long time. So I started playing a riff on the piano that reminded me of a
Harry Nilsson tune. It had a rhythm that you could proudly strut down the street to. As I started developing the lyrics, I became conflicted over how I was going to get the point across because I wanted to be very clear about the topic but not obscene or heavy handed. I kept coming to a point in the road where I was going to say something I didn't really want to say. I thought it should be more clever than that. How do I make it obvious and still not say the obvious? You let the listener say it for you!"
Blair Crimmins and The Hookers combine a unique blend of 1920's Dixieland jazz, ragtime, swing, gypsy guitar, stride piano, rapid strumming banjo, and a New Orleans style horn section that keeps the joint jumping while Crimmins sings in his clever lyrical style which is both humorous and sincere. It's a sound that is at once modern while deeply rooted in the past, yet influenced by Crimmins' time as guitarist/frontman for alternative rockers Bishop Don.
A growing force in the Southeast US since their inception in 2009, Crimmins and his band have played hundreds of shows all over the country and opened for artists such as The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Mumford and Sons. They've released three albums as well as written the musical score for the independent film Old Man Cabbage. Crimmins was the critics pick for Best Songwriter of 2013 by Creative Loafing who raved "If he caters to any genre, it's one that's entirely his own, and that's something a lot of guys with pens and guitars either don't know how to do, or don't have the guts to do." His debut 2010 release The Musical Stylings Of became a college radio sensation on WRAS Atlanta making him the most requested band on the air. His last album Sing-a-Longs wne to #21 on the EuroAmerican radio chart and earned him a nomination at The Georgia
Music Awards for Best Jazz Artist.
Track List:
01) You Gotta Sell Something
02) Beautiful Thang
03) Top of the Class
04) I'm Gone
05) Hot Damn!
06) Wandering Joe
07) In The Neighborhood
08) You're a Pain
09) Passed Around
10) Gypsy Lullaby
www.blaircrimminsandthehookers.com
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