The Eric Street Band - Purple Passage (2016)

'Purple Passage' was recorded and mixed over a few sessions from July - September 2016, with Neil Sadler at the controls at his No Machine Studios. It's totally different from the previous albums, as there's a new line-up of Gordon Vaughan on Guitars, Henry Smithson on Bass, and Adam J Perry on Drums. And the 9 new original songs that make up the album proper have been written by myself and Gordon.

'Purple Passage' has turned out to be much more than a blues album - the roots are in the blues, but we've got influences from rock and funk in there too.

Last year I decided to reform my old band - the Southside Blues Band - in order to get back to playing live. I recruited Henry Smithson, one of the finest bass-players around, and we handpicked the fabulous Gordon Vaughan on guitar, and the great Simon Price on drums. We played a couple of major gigs and recorded a demo EP - and our version of BB King's 'The Thrill Is Gone' reached No.1 in ReverbNation's Blues chart in the USA. It quickly became clear that this band was a force to be reckoned with in terms of attitude and musicianship, both live and in the studio.

Inspired by this, I decided to start writing material for a new album with Gordon, and over the next 6 months we wrote over 15 songs, from which we chose the 9 best to record. Sadly, Simon had to leave due to other commitments, but we found a great new drummer in Adam J Perry - renowned in Blues circles for his time with the Mick Ralphs (ex Bad Company & Mott The Hoople) Blues Band. We didn't want to limit ourselves by using the 'Southside Blues Band' name - and instead we decided to become the new Eric Street Band, as the old band is no longer.