In my 20 years as a professional musician, I have always prided myself and felt it important to present mostly original material. But there are so many artists and songs out there spanning decades that have influenced us and spoken to our hearts and souls, that we felt it appropriate to share some of these with you.
These songs tell great stories, and are relevant to the struggles we all face today. A couple date back to the 1800's, a few from the mid 1900's, and a few are more current having been written in the last 10 years.
The original material was written and selected to complement the covers, and to show reverence for our influences.
All of the songs hit hard and leave a lasting impression--Songs That Shake The Cage
~Scottie Blinn
The songs on this CD were hand picked and carefully selected. Crossing over blues, American roots, rock, and Black Market III's own ‘grease-punk’ style, all of the songs are well crafted stories. The covers are prime examples of Black Market III’s musical influences, and many have deep San Diego connections. Not wanting to just copy these songs, they have put their own brand on them. The original songs also bear the marks of their influences, but come from their own personal experiences.
1. Rumble-- One of Scottie’s favorites of ALL TIME. Link Wray crafted a perfect song with elements of blues, surf, and pre-shades of punk attitude. It’s beautifully powerful in it’s simplicity.
2. If I Can Hold--Homage to San Diego Punk legends DFX2. The Farage brothers, David and Douglas hand wrote Scottie a letter saying they dug his version of this rocker, and BMIII were welcome to record it!
3. All I Can Do Is Cry--Classic Wayne Walker song, done with some Mike Ness (Social Distortion) swagger. Where rockabilly meets the blues. Some nice twang and slap delay, and a great song to showcase a vocal duet between Roxy and Scottie.
4. Hoist That Rag--KILLER song penned by another San Diego legend, Tom Waits. Cool Latin feel, understated vocal, great lyrics, and an intense guitar solo make this one a choice cut.
5. Hang You From The Heavens--Cover of an intense Dead Weather song. Great vocal showcase for Roxy in a ‘love song’ of a different kind. Also showcases Haley’s drum prowess and grungy rock guitar from Scottie .
6. Hard Times--One of the four original songs on the CD, this one touches a bit on southern rock. The hard times of today probably aren’t too far removed from the hard times of yesterday. Features cool harmonies, big baritone guitar sounds, and outstanding bass and drum tracks.
7. On This Road--BMIII original. The CD’s ‘love song’ features a strong vocal by Roxy, and features a solid, hard driving cow punk drum beat by Haley.
8. Psych Ward--First recorded by Scottie in his band Zombo’s Punk Rods (with Kip Dabbs of James Intveld’s band). This is a rippin’ surf punk instrumental influenced by the Clash’s “Brand New Cadillac”.
9. Lucinda/Ain’t Goin’ To The Well--Another dark tale from master bluesman Tom Waits, and a perfect song for Scottie’s dark, gravely vocals.
10. All Of Your Love--Classic song from Chicago bluesman Magic Sam. Another great showcase for a Scottie and Roxy vocal duet. The blues is THE foundation of all the music we hear today.
11. Where Did You Sleep Last Night--Most notably associated with bluesman Leadbelly, and 90’s icons Nirvana, this song dates back to the late 1800’s. BMIII decided to cross over the versions, and chose to use the lyrics from Leadbelly’s version. Heavy song with many arguable meanings. This cut also features an eerie 3 part cello section played by Mick Frtizsching.
12. Shake!--Another BMIII original song. Straight ahead grease punk. No...you can’t bring 'em down! Haley and Roxy drive the rhythm home hard on this one!
13. Oh Mary Don’t You Weep--dating back to the pre-Civil War era, this spiritual is a message of hope and resistance for the oppressed. That’s probably why it still resonates today. Another San Diego connection--Joey Harris of the infamous SD band The Beat Farmers sings harmony on this one. His uncle, Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio, also recorded this song. This cut also features Roni Lee of Venus & The Razorblades/ The Runaways on vocal, Texas blues guitar legend Anson Funderburgh, Carl Sonny Leyland on piano, and Cami Smith on Fiddle.
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