Tomorrow night, Thursday, September 14th – Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers to celebrate their new album release date of September 15th.
By: Judy Shields
Los Angeles, California (The Hollywood Times) September 13, 2017 “I write 99% of the music, to me it is really the way to get much of you on a CD as possible and I think playing other people’s music is a blast, but sometimes you wish you wrote a song, you have to play it. I think writing music just really helps you emote and helps people to understand what is in your heart and where you are coming from. I always love to write the song and record it.” Mindi Abair told The Hollywood Times today.
It was great speaking to Mindi Abair this afternoon about her new album Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers: The EastWest Sessions. The album will be released this Friday, September 15, 2017. This album is full of wonderful songs written or co-written by Mindi Abair.
The album starts off with awesome saxophone music, then this amazing voice, soulful and gritty, it’s Mindi Abair! “Vinyl,” the first song on the album will get you up and dancing and if you are not able to get up off your seat, you will be tapping your feet.
Each song has its own unique tone and style. Mindi has done a great job with the lyrics, the music and her saxophone playing. The fourth song “Pretty Good For A Girl” featuring Joe Bonamassa has turned out to be an Anthem song for all women to whom inspire us all and uplift women.
This is a must album for all music lovers, no matter what genre of music you enjoy; this is truly an album to add to your collection.
It will be available on itunes so you can have it to take along on your iphone or android for your listening pleasure everywhere you go. Click the link to https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-eastwest-sessions/id1264565123
But, before you can buy it this Friday, Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers will be at the Grammy Museum, right here at LA Live in Los Angeles to talk about the new album tomorrow, Thursday, September 14th. So what better way to inspire us, than give us the opportunity to listen to some of the tracks, live and in person!
So don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. Tickets are still available. Here is the link for the Grammy Museum and your chance to get a ticket. http://www.grammymuseum.org/events/detail/mindi-abair
The cover was shot on Sunset Blvd and it took four tries for the shot. It came out great with the shadows of the band members. Mindi said it was taken at 7:15 in the morning.
The phone conversation went something like this:
THT: Was David Sanborn an influence for you?
MA: Absolutely, yeah! I think he had an influence, probably everyone that came after him, whether they want to admit it or not. He was someone who played with huge pop and rock stars, singer, songwriters, the Paul Butterfield Blues band, he had a solo career that was just great. He was like the missing link for me. I was watching MTV and thinking, wow I want to be Tina Turner or Heart. I watched the energy they had, I didn’t know you could do that with a saxophone until David Sanborn came out with his music. It sounded like awesome rock that was on the radio, yet he was a lead singer with a saxophone in his hand, the coolest thing in the world.
THT: How did you get into music and playing the saxophone?
MA: I grew up on the road with my Dad’s band, which was called The Entertainers, I was about five then. There was a lot of music every day. My Grandmother was an opera singer, so a lot of varied music growing up. When school started, I was lucky enough to have a band program and our band instructor, Ann Reynolds put a bunch of instruments out on the ground and said pick out which one appeals to you, sit down and learn how to play it. That is what I did and I picked the saxophone because I watched my Dad play it. His knees were knocking together and he was rocking out having a blast, so I choose the saxophone because it looked like a lot of fun and I choose well!
THT: You were a roadie at such a young age.
MA: I was lucky that no one told me that it was odd for a girl to play a saxophone until it was way too late. Everyone just went with me, it was something that I found my identity with and I really love it and it became a part of who I really was. It became an extension of me and what a cool thing to have an instrument that helps amplify who you are and a voice bigger than you would normally have.
THT: How old where you when you played your first concert?
MA: I would do anything they would allow me to do. My Dad had a recording studio in our house, there was my parent’s bedroom, my bedroom and the third bedroom was a recording studio. One day my Dad said you are coming along on this one, I was 10 years old, and he said so why don’t you join me since I need a horn section for this song we are recording. He recorded me and him and I thought that was pretty cool.
THT: When did you write your first song?
MA: I would always be messing around in elementary, middle school and high school and just mouthing words of a song. I didn’t really write songs until I was in college. I was learning the words of music. Delving into what I was doing, some lessons in school and just playing and having a good time.
THT: Is this your first record with The Boneshakers?
MA: This is actually our second record. Our first record was a live record. When Randy Jacobs, who is the Grand Poobah and founder of The Boneshakers, we decided to make it official in 2015 and we became to go with Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers. The band is so special and after three days of rehearsal we knew, it was incredible. Randy and I have been friends for over 20 years, we were in a rock band together when I first moved to LA. He would do back flips right into the audience and a tremendous performer. The Boneshakers were playing at the Newport Jazz Festival on one stage and I was playing on another stage. I went over and just sat in and it was just wonderful. What music should be and I stayed on the stage all night.
This is the way music should be, so much fun and that is what made us say, let’s just join forces. Our first show was in Seattle and it was recorded live and became our live recorded record, which came out in September 2015.
Mindi said that they are the currently number 3 on the radio Blues/Rock album chart radio and she is totally excited about it and she is having fun.
Mindi also spoke about her number 4 song “Pretty Good For A Girl” and how that song came about.
“It has started to climb up the charts and take a life of its own. You never know what people are going to latch onto, what is going to rise above. “Pretty Good For A Girl” was a song I wrote about being a woman in a man’s world. A lot of us have done something amazing, and broken the glass ceiling or cracked it or done something like that and only to have someone would say ‘That’s pretty good… for a girl.’” I have had that said to me quite a few times over the years, so I thought I would write a tongue and cheek song about it. It has become this type of anthem. A motivation, a call of action and it’s been fun to watch the transformation.
I made a website called Pretty Good For A Girl.net and I thought it would feature all these women who are doing incredible things and because sometimes we don’t celebrate each other like we should. It inspires me to see these amazing ladies.
I created it mostly for me to have a place to pay homage to these wonderful women. But I want people to go there and be part of it. The incredible women that we are featuring every week, and are doing these great things.
We also put out a call to action. We are making a music video for “Pretty Good For A Girl” that I want to feature women in all walks of life doing amazing things. So there is a promotion we are doing asking women to send in 20 or 30 second videos of themselves of doing what you do in action. Whether you are an incredible skateboarder, an artist painting, a doctor saving someone’s life, a guitarist rocking out, we want to see so we can release the clips in this music video to empower woman. Check out the link below.
Below is a link to the PrettyGoodForAGirl website: https://www.prettygoodforagirl.net/
Mindi also works pretty tirelessly about having music back in schools. Kids getting an education in music is important. It’s a different way of learning and understanding language, and what you can accomplish in life. She is a trustee for the Recording Academy which puts on the Grammys. They are putting together something that is coming out in a couple of months. A dream would be to put a teacher in every school for music. If anyone could do it, she would hope that the Recording Academy can. It is something that can happen and be a better world to live in with music. She really believe that there is enough fire power out there to make a difference in bringing music back into school at an early age.
Tour Info: http://www.mindiabair.com/tour/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MindiAbair/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mindiabair
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindiabair/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfjJsy3yK8wdvN6RyPh6jlg
About Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers
One of the most recognized and sought-after saxophonists/vocalists, two-time GRAMMY nominee Mindi Abair has been electrifying audiences with her dynamic live performances and utter command of the saxophone since her debut album in 2000. No one since Junior Walker has brought saxophone and vocals in one package to the forefront of modern music, with a raucous tone and dynamic stage presence. She has garnered ten #1 radio hits, six Top 5 solo records and two #1 spots on the Billboard album charts. In 2014, Mindi received her first GRAMMY® nomination in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, followed by a 2015 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for her solo LP Wild Heart featuring Gregg Allman, Joe Perry, Trombone Shorty, Booker T. Jones, Keb’ Mo’, and Max Weinberg.
The daughter and granddaughter of working musicians, Abair continues to captivate fans while evolving her sound. In 2014, after two seasons as the featured saxophonist on the hit series American Idol, Abair released Wild Heart. This LP showcased a compilation of grittier rock and soul tracks featuring some of the biggest names in music. To help translate this sound to her live shows, Mindi enlisted longtime friend and The Boneshakers founder Randy Jacobs (Bonnie Raitt, Was Not Was, Willie Nelson) to inject his brand of Detroit Blues Rock. The collaboration was undeniable, and it lead to an almost immediate decision to join forces creatively. Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers features band leader Mindi Abair (Saxophone, Vocals), Randy Jacobs (Guitar, Vocals), Sweet Pea Atkinson (Vocals), Rodney Lee (Keys), Derek Frank (Bass, Vocals), and Third Richardson (Drums, Vocals). Their first record together Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers LIVE in Seattle was released September 2015 to significant critical acclaim, and a 2 ½ year non-stop tour schedule across the US.
In April 2017, the band took a short break to record their first studio record. The EastWest Sessions was recorded over five days at legendary Hollywood recording studio EastWest Studios with renowned Blues Rock producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zepplin, Joe Bonamassa, The Black Crowes, Aerosmith). The album, which will be released September 15, 2017, is a powerful, bluesy, momentous, and deeply emotional journey. The album features a track with iconic blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa, and 2017 GRAMMY® winner in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category, Fantastic Negrito.
She authored the book “How To Play Madison Square Garden – A Guide to Stage Performance” and serves as a National Trustee for The Recording Academy.
The artists she’s toured with and/or recorded with are a testament to her talent: Aerosmith, Gregg Allman, Keb’ Mo’, Joe Perry, Bobby Rush, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Lalah Hathaway, Duran Duran, Adam Sandler, Lee Ritenour, The Backstreet Boys, Booker T. Jones, Jimmy Webb, Mandy Moore, Max Weinberg, Bill Champlin, David Pack, Mocean Worker, The Ides of March, Rick Braun, Teena Marie, Bobby Lyle, Jonathan Butler, and Peter White.
Look Mindi Abair up on Wikipedia, there I some great info. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindi_Abair
About the Grammy Museum
Established in 2008 as a partnership between the Recording Academy and AEG, the GRAMMY Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating a greater understanding of the history and significance of music. Paying tribute to our collective musical heritage, the Museum explores and celebrates all aspects of the art form—from the technology of the recording process to the legends who’ve made lasting marks on our cultural identity. In 2017, the Museum integrated with its sister organization, the GRAMMY Foundation, to broaden the reach of its music education and preservation initiatives. As a unified organization, today, the GRAMMY Museum fulfills its mission of making music a valued and indelible part of our society through exhibits, education, grants, and public programming.
- Debuted December 2008 in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the GRAMMY Awards
- One-of-a-kind, 30,000 square foot museum with interactive, permanent and traveling exhibits
- Four floors of dynamic and stimulating exhibit space
- More than two dozen exhibits that explore great music, everything from rock and hip-hop to country, classical, Latin, R&B, and jazz
- 200 seat state-of-the-art Clive Davis Theater
- Rooftop Terrace – perfect for special programs and private events
- Interesting and thought-provoking educational and public programs featuring films, lectures and performances
