“Pawn Shop Blues” SiriusXM BBKing’s Bluesville RACK-OF-BLUES Five Weeks!

Well the music gods have spoken and everyone is listening to “Pawn Shop Blues” after it was entered into Rack-of-Blues and regular rotation in July! “Pawn Shop Blues” stayed in the top 15 blues songs in the world for 5 weeks. The combination of Eliza Neals plus Popa Chubby along with the stellar musicians and excellent studio, has placed “Sweet or Mean” in the blues-rock spotlight.

ELIZA NEALS “Sweet or Mean” SiriusXM BBKings BluesVille 2019

I could not be more happily surprised, the fans reaction by calling into Bluesville, taking photo’s and video’s as people danced to “Pawn Shop Blues” in their cars. Sometimes a song can transform people with smiles, laughs, the fun that was created is just what everyone needed!

Photo of Eliza Neals “Pawn Shop Blues” on BB Kings Bluesville Sirius XM

We were in the second day of recording over at GB’s Juke Joint in Long Island City when the opportunity came to add horns to the recording session. The day before, Popa Chubby, Dave Keys, Chris Vega and John Medeiros already laid down the live groove as I was singing live in the booth. Anyone with experience can hear the live feel on “Pawn Shop Blues.”

We debated for a minuet to see what song could use horns. Then what song would have the biggest impact with such talented horn players. In walks, Mr. Daptone himself Ian Hedreickson-Smith with two saxophones. One saxophone is very old and has its own history that probably is worth an essay from Ian himself. All I can say is wow, the tone is beautiful and clearly shines. Michael Lionhart rolls in not much after Ian and the setup is clear. Trumpet in case Michael and Ian know what to do, into the studio they go.

Glen the owner of GB’s, where the sessions went down, is familiar with Ian and the horns setup. Paul, the tracking and mixing engineer, put it in motion. He got just right the vintage microphone(s), placing, distance and captured it on analog. The vintage warm analog sound inside GB’s is just how “Sweet Or Mean” was supposed to be recorded. We made the executive decision in the evening and “Pawn Shop Blues” is going to have two versions.

Popa Chubby, Michael Lionhart, Eliza Neals, Ian Hendrickson-Smith inside GB’s-Juke Joint!

Now we’re here months later after many hours of NO-SLEEP creating, mixing, touring, road worn only to have the songs celebrated on worldwide. BB Kings Bluesville spins to 1.8 to 3 million listeners at any one time, and Sirus XM has over 33 Million listeners. I along with many of my touring music friends have heard it played multiple times a day and we thank you for that love.

HAVE A LISTEN ON SPOTIFY NOW

“PAWN SHOP BLUES (feat. Popa Chubby, Ian Hedrickson-Smith, Michael Lionhart)”

“PAWN SHOP BLUES” has been submitted to NARAS GRAMMYS for AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC CATEGORY in THREE LOCATIONS – SONG – PERFORMANCE and ALBUM “SWEET OR MEAN”