SIMO Announces Debut Album and April 2016 UK Tour
Nashville trio SIMO will be releasing their debut album ‘Let Love Show The Way’ on Provogue/Mascot Label Group on Friday 29th January 2016.
Modern blues torchbearer Joe Bonamassa brought SIMO to the attention of the Mascot Label Group stating that frontman and Guitarist JD Simo is “one of the best out there right now”, and with this new album it’s not hard to see why.
By the time he was five, JD was begging his parents for a guitar. They obliged, and by age 10—much like his peers Derek Trucks and Joe Bonamassa—he was regularly playing bars backed by older musicians. By 15, he’d dropped out of school, put his own band together and was touring full time. “For six years,” he says, “I just lived in a van and played all over the country and never really had a home.”
When he was 21, JD moved to Nashville, where—after making a living as a session guitarist and moonlighting in bar bands for half a decade—he made an important decision. Though he’d learned much from his experiences as a sideman, the time had come for him to pursue his own muse. He met likeminded musician Abrashoff and original SIMO bassist Frank Swart, and they set off on a journey together, hitting the road hard and honing their craft. Eventually, Swart left the band, making way for Shapiro to join on bass. “When we played with him it was so immediate,” JD says. “It was like, ‘Where the hell have you been?’”
The first album ever recorded at Macon, Ga.’s Big House—the communal home of the Allman Brothers Band during their late ‘60s/early ‘70s heyday—Let Love Show the Way finds SIMO not just reveling in the hallowed space’s unique mojo and history, but taking it to a fresh and inspired place.
As a musical unit, Simo, his longtime drummer Adam Abrashoff and bassist Elad Shapiro have an undeniable chemistry, taken to even greater heights with JD playing Duane Allman’s 1957 gold-top Les Paul for every track on the record. This is the same six-string heard on the first two Allman Brothers LPs, the same storied guitar that delivered the unforgettable riff on Derek & the Dominoes’ “Layla.” JD is now part of an elite group of artists—including Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes and Wilco’s Nels Cline—who share the rare honor of having wielded this talismanic instrument.
Album Tracklisting
- Stranger Blues
- Two Timin’ Woman
- Can’t Say Her Name
- I Lied
- Please
- Long May You Sail
- I’ll Always Be Around
- Becky’s Last Occupation
- I’d Rather Die In Vain
- Today I’m Here
- Let Love Show The Way (Bonus Track)
In addition, SIMO will return to the UK in April 2016 following their November 2015 special guest slot with Walter Trout at O2 Forum Kentish Town in London (read our review here: https://justlistentothis.co.uk/live-reviews/walter-trout-plus-special-guest-simo-november-2015-o2-forum-kentish-town-london-united-kingdom/) and their sold-out headline appearance at St Moritz in London. The three-date headline UK Tour will stop at the following venues:
Tuesday 5th April 2016 – The Basement, York, United Kingdom http://www.thegigcartel.com/Gig-guide/SIMO-York.htm?id=3293
Wednesday 6th April 2016 – Greystones, Sheffield, United Kingdom http://www.thegigcartel.com/Gig-guide/SIMO-Sheffield.htm?id=3294
Thursday 7th April 2016 – The Barfly, Camden, London, United Kingdom http://www.thegigcartel.com/Gig-guide/SIMO-London.htm?id=3295
For more information visit: http://www.simo.fm/
Glenn Sargeant
(We will be publishing our review of the new album ‘Let Love Show The Way’ and our interview with the band SIMO very soon)
(Thanks to Steve Marsh, Lulu Davis and Lee Puddefoot for help with this announcement)
