Due June 4, the Texas rocker recorded his third record at Escape Studio in California’s high desert, near Palm Springs, which was produced by Gibbons along with Matt Sorum and Mike Fiorentino with engineer Chad Shlosser providing additional production.
“Hardware”, which sees Gibbons joined by his live lineup of Sorum and guitarist Austin Hanks, delivers 11 new original tunes, a guest appearance by Larkin Poe, and a cover of “Hey Baby, Que Paso”, originally recorded by the Texas Tornados.
“We holed up in the desert for a few weeks in the heat of the summer and that in itself was pretty intense,” says Gibbons. “To let off steam we just ‘let it rock’ and that’s what ‘Hardware’ is really all about. For the most part, it’s a raging rocker but always mindful of the desert’s implicit mystery.
“The desert settings, replete with shifting sands, cacti and rattlesnakes makes for the kind of backdrop that lends an element of intrigue reflected in the sounds created out there.”
The album’s title is a tribute to legendary recording engineer the late Joe Hardy, who worked with Gibbons and ZZ Top dating back to the mid-1980s.
“Hardware” marks the follow-up to Gibbons’ 2018 album, “The Big Bad Blues”, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk chart and at No. 2 on the US Blues chart while also being named Blues Rock Album Of The Year at the 2019 Blues Music Awards.
Billy Gibbons
“Hardware”
Release date: June 4
01 – My Lucky Card
02 – She’s On Fire
03 – More-More-More
04 – Shuffle, Step & Slide
05 – Vagabond Man
06 – Spanish Fly
07 – West Coast Junkie
08 – Stackin’ Bones (featuring Larkin Poe)
09 – I Was A Highway
10 – S-G-L-M-B-B-R
11 – Hey Baby, Que Paso
12 – Desert High
See also:
Fleetwood Mac: All-star Peter Green tribute concert to stream online
Steven Tyler and Billy Gibbons rock Fleetwood Mac classic at Peter Green tribute
ZZ Top: Billy Gibbons debuts Rollin’ And Tumblin’ video
ZZ Top: Billy Gibbons announces New Year’s Eve livestream concert
Search ZZ Top at hennemusic
