Photo credit: Phil Kampel
By now, most of us have a serious case of the Lockdown Blues. But there is hope! Almost like a homeopathic dose of the blues to cure the blues, Bay Area blues darling Katie Knipp’s latest release, The Well, is just the antidote for the overall hell we are experiencing right now.
Last year at this time, Knipp was climbing the Billboard Blues charts, in which she shared honored space with other masters like Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepard. She was also flying high on a nod from the Grammy Association by almost acquiring a nomination for her 2019 release Take It With You, as well as planning this latest release of The Well. But then Covid hit and The Well took a detour of process.
With no real safe way to rehearse, Knipp rocked it regardless, using today’s technology to distance-share the songs with her band before recording The Well together. “I just gave my band the raw songs (live phone recordings of my playing and singing), told them the vibe I was going for, and I made sure they had the lyrics to get into the story,” states Knipp. “Because they are such great players and people, they showed up for recording and absolutely got it. They nailed the first take, which was ‘The Gospel of Good Intentions’. The fact that we had never played it together, and that what you are hearing on the album was our first live run through...well, I feel like the luckiest gal ever to work with people like that”
“I also went into this knowing I wanted my bass player Zack Proteau to co-produce with me. In the past, I would always go into a project producing myself, but this time I knew better. Dustin Ryan, our engineer, ended up in the co-producer role by the end of it as well. There is no stronger structure than a triangle! Zack was also the producer behind Jackie Greene's Gone Wanderin’ album, so he has been producing quite a while now. The special guests on here, like Mick Martin (harmonica), the Au Bros (horns), and Joan Osborne's Keith Cotton (Hammond) were also people that I didn't need to direct. I knew that if they were being themselves, we would get the right sound.”
Last year at this time, Knipp was climbing the Billboard Blues charts, in which she shared honored space with other masters like Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepard. She was also flying high on a nod from the Grammy Association by almost acquiring a nomination for her 2019 release Take It With You, as well as planning this latest release of The Well. But then Covid hit and The Well took a detour of process.
With no real safe way to rehearse, Knipp rocked it regardless, using today’s technology to distance-share the songs with her band before recording The Well together. “I just gave my band the raw songs (live phone recordings of my playing and singing), told them the vibe I was going for, and I made sure they had the lyrics to get into the story,” states Knipp. “Because they are such great players and people, they showed up for recording and absolutely got it. They nailed the first take, which was ‘The Gospel of Good Intentions’. The fact that we had never played it together, and that what you are hearing on the album was our first live run through...well, I feel like the luckiest gal ever to work with people like that”
“I also went into this knowing I wanted my bass player Zack Proteau to co-produce with me. In the past, I would always go into a project producing myself, but this time I knew better. Dustin Ryan, our engineer, ended up in the co-producer role by the end of it as well. There is no stronger structure than a triangle! Zack was also the producer behind Jackie Greene's Gone Wanderin’ album, so he has been producing quite a while now. The special guests on here, like Mick Martin (harmonica), the Au Bros (horns), and Joan Osborne's Keith Cotton (Hammond) were also people that I didn't need to direct. I knew that if they were being themselves, we would get the right sound.”
Photo Credit: Phil Kampel
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