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WALTER TROUT:
Great artists take the pulse of their times. In his half-century as a street-level social observer and scaldingly honest songwriter, blues-rockās resilient icon Walter Trout has never told his fans what to think, how to feel, where to stand politically, or what to scrawl on their protest placards. But in an era when his home nation ā and the wider world ā is ripping at the seams over the battlelines of modern life, the iconic US bluesmanās hard-rocking new album, Sign Of The Times, is the primal scream and pressure valve we all desperately need. āI wanted to convey the anger and angst going on in the world,ā explains the 74-year-old. āFor me, writing these songs is therapy. Theyāre not just about whatās happening out there, but how it affects you in your head. Sign Of The Times just became the obvious titleā¦ā
Right now, it feels like the amps have barely cooled from 2024ās Broken (āThat record debuted on Billboard at #1 ā I was very, very pleased with thatā). But the era-chronicling songs from Sign Of The Times wouldnāt wait, these urgent riffs flying off the guitaristās fingers, assisted once again by Dr Marie Trout, Walterās wife, manager and latterly co-writer, whose eloquent lyrics struck each subject on the head. āThis album flowed pretty easily,ā he reflects of the writing process. āI had so many song ideas and pages of lyrics from Marie. We could have kept going and made a triple album.ā
With ten new songs written and arranged, Trout was ready to call up his studio band ā longtime drummer Michael Leasure, bassist John Avila and keys man Teddy āZig Zagā Andreadis ā for sessions at producer Thomas Ross Johansenās Strawhorse Studios in Los Angeles. Immediately, the tinderbox subject matter sparked one of the toughest-sounding records in his catalogue. āLet me put it this way,ā considers Trout, āafter we finished recording the title track, my keys player Teddy said, āWell, you wonāt be winning a blues award this yearā. But I really felt like rocking on this album. We had heavy things to talk about, and we went for it musically too.ā