Power-pop Musician and the great dB’s member Chris Stamey will release a new solo album “The Great Escape” , Dur for release July 7th via Car Records / Redeye. The album puts country rock spin on hs classic sound, and was born out of a tour with Alejandro Escovedo where he was taken by pedal steel player Eric Heywood. “I marvelled every night at how Eric magically shaped the songs; his instincts were just spot-on,” Chris says. “After the tour, I ended up writing a number of tunes with steel in mind, and was fortunate enough to have him add some of his alchemy to these.” The album also features another pedal steel player, Allyn Love, who “really nailed the energy of the title track, then switched gears for the sensitive dobro textures on “Dear Friend”.
The album also features the talents of his dB’s bandmates Peter Holsapple & Will Rigby, Don Dixon, Mipso’s Libby Rodenbough, Chatham County Line’s John Teer and Dave Wilson, Don Dixon, and Stamey’s old friend and Sneakers bandmate Mitch Easter, who plays drums on a few tracks, including first single “She Might Look My Way.” That is an Alex Chilton song (cowritten with Tommy Hoehn) that Chris tells us is “one I used to play with him at CBGB back in 1977...Alex and I recorded it for Elektra Records but they never released that version.” The version on .“The Great Escape“ is a collaboration with Terry Manning, who was an engineer at Ardent Studios, where Big Star recorded.
We’re premiering the video for “She Might Look My Way,” which Chris tells us about as well: “The video itself is an homage to the lip-sync video TV appearances Alex and the other Box Tops did in the 60s. Here, it’s Alejandro Escovedo who is playing the host of an imaginary late-70s NYC late-night cable-TV show called Rock On. Mitch Easter, who plays drums on the actual recording, is the drummer in the video here. Robert Sledge (bass, Ben Folds Five) and Matt McMichaels (2nd guitar, Mayflies USA) are also in the band here.”
From the new album The Great Escape (out July 7th, 2023, on Car Records/Schoolkids). A tip of the hat to 60s/70s shows such as Upbeat, Shindig, Hullabaloo, and Glenn O’Brien’s TV Party. The song is by Alex Chilton and Tommy Hoehn (Sludge Music BMI). Video shot by Julia Stamey, w/ lighting by Mark Hanley, at Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC.
The Fat Angel Sings 