Tokyo Tramps - If I Die Tomorrow (2018)

Upon graduation from high school, Satoru Nakagawa left home for Louisiana. He was baptized by American roots music. It’s deeply embedded in his soul. Yukiko Fujii gave up her career in Tokyo and came to America to sing the music she grew up with and moved her deeply. Satoru and Yukiko met in Boston and formed Tokyo Tramps in 1999. It has never been an easy ride. (Is it ever as a dedicated artist?)
Although always feeling fortunate to be able to play their music, Tokyo Tramps have experienced loss, defeat, change, and obstacles one after another just like everyone in the world. They have never stopped challenging themselves to reach for something new every time they made an album. Directions change and things don’t always work out as planned, which can lead to mixed emotions and frustration. Like all great artists Tokyo Tramps have channeled frustration, anger, and aggravation into their explosive new album If I Die Tomorrow. This energy, propelled by a Jimi Hendrix influenced fuzz guitar sound announces, “If the world doesn’t care about us, why should we?” That emotion was the beginning of this new album. As they experimented with various songs and ideas, they found they were digging deep into the groove of modern and classic New Orleans music, which is inherently funky to it’s core. Then, as with all true artists, something amazing happened: Tokyo Tramps created more than 25 unique songs, recorded 18, and put 11 on the new album If I Die Tomorrow. (11 songs album was released in Japan in March 2018, US version with 2 bonus tracks was released in October 2018.)