McKinley James - "Working Class Blues" Release Show

Name: McKinley James - "Working Class Blues" Release Show
Start: 2024-06-28T18:00:00-04:00
Location: Record Archive

Schedule

Fri Jun 28 2024 at 06:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Record Archive | Rochester, NY

TICKETS: https://recordarchive.tuneportals.com/Item/9019430401
Tickets available online and in store by dropping by or calling our store.
"McKinley James is equal parts old soul and modern man. Armed with an electric guitar and sharp songwriting chops, he breathes new life into classic sounds with Working Class Blues, a debut album that introduces his mix of American rock & roll, amplified soul, and raw rhythm & blues.
It's a sound powered by groove and guitar. A sound that's been sharpened by countless shows — from dive bar residences in Nashville to headlining gigs across Europe — and rooted in the shared bloodline of McKinley and his longtime bandmate: father Jason Smay. Together, they rewrite the rulebook for blues-inspired rock duos, creating a lean, honest version of American roots music that makes room for everything from Motown hooks to roadhouse boogie-woogie.
"We're not trying to sound old-school," says McKinley, who grew up watching his father play drums for acts like Los Straitjackets and JD McPherson. "We love traditional blues and soul, but this isn't a retro act. The topics, themes, and songs are always fresh."
To capture those songs as genuinely as possible, McKinley and Jason spent a three-day weekend in the home studio they'd constructed inside their family barn, recording a series of live performances with analog gear and minimal microphones. Jason played a vintage Ludwig drum set from 1970. McKinley played a vintage '54 Stratocaster through a Peavey Pacer. Without headphones or any studio gimmicks, the two performed together in real time, locking into the swaggering shuffle of songs like "Movin'" and "Call Me Lonesome," the singalong melodies of "Always On My Mind," and the bare-boned blues of "Get To My Baby."
"We'd already been playing those songs live," McKinley explains, "so it felt easy to just hit record and do what we always do at our shows. When your band is only two people, there's no hiding. It keeps you honest, and that was the goal with this album, too — to be as honest as possible about who we are and what we do."
That goal began taking shape in upstate New York, where McKinley was raised in a household filled with music. Inspired by everything from Stax to disco to '80s R&B, he became a guitar prodigy at a young age. "I showed him an old video of Booker T. & the M.G.'s playing Norway in 1967," Jason remembers, "and McKinley saw Steve Cropper totally ripping it and thought, 'Ok, that's what I want to do, too.' He must've been 10 years old." McKinley quickly learned not only to play guitar, but to sing and write his own material, too. Along the way, Jason pushed him to expand his horizons..."