Lonesome Shack releases 'City Man' on Knick Knack Records

October 2012 - Knick Knack Records released the live album, City Man on 12 inch 33 rpm vinyl, CD and digitally.  The album was recorded live to ½ inch tape one evening at the band’s favorite neighborhood bar Cafe Racer- where the band members originally met and held a weekly gig for 2+ years. The album is dedicated to the Cafe Racer family and the victims of the tragic shooting that took place at Racer a month after the recording was made. The album begins with “White Lightning” (CD trk 1), a driving riff set to a marching band rhythm, followed by the slow and lurking “Switcher” (CD trk 2), a cautionary tale of one who is quick to turn from friend to enemy. “Down and Alone” (CD trk 5) takes a lone guitar line and slowly builds it up to a heavy pulse. Side two fires off with a breakneck jam “Dwellers” (CD trk 6) then moves on to the sax infused title track “City Man” (CD trk 7), both haunted by the imagery of country living and the mixed curse of the city.

The address on songwriter Ben Todd's 2002 Driver License reads "Hwy 180 W South of SF Bridge, Alma, NM". This indeterminate location is where Lonesome Shack began. In New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, Todd hunkered down in the shack he built and studied the music of the American folk and blues lineage. In 2007 Todd joined up with drummer Kristian Garrard (Thousands) in Seattle and they released two LPs, one EP, and completed two west coast tours, two national tours, and a tour to Maine. With the recent addition of bassist Luke Bergman (Also a member of Thousands) the band combines the sounds of post-WWII electric country blues with a heavy groove that anchors them in the present.

Here's the video for the first single from 'City Man' called 'White Lightnin'