Album Notes

Lifelong Turbulation shows Minivan Blues Band during their early creative period. From the opening cover of J.B. Lenoir's “The Whale Has Swallowed Me”, the feel of the blues is present, even as the album shifts into all original material and more hard rocking numbers, such as “Modiba”, or the chilled-out folk of “Lifelong Turbulation”. The band laid down these tracks at Memphis’ Studio 631 with the aid of engineer extrordinaire Chris Scott, and the downtown Memphis vibe seeps into tracks such as the hard-hitting “Straight Shooter” and old-school jam of “Unpredictable End”. Guitarist James Ray’s steady rythymic presence and lead work on the acoustic guitar provide more than his share of the band’s overall energy, and vocalist and guitarist Joe Schicke outlines the music with a screaming lead guitar style and dynamic vocals. Guitarist, vocalist and mandolin player Jonathan Ciaramitaro brings a country blues and garage rock attitude to the group, with scratchy vocals and ripping guitar playing. Throughout the album, Minivan teases divergent musical paths such as “Albino Trout”, a quick waltz improv, the bluegrass of “Rambler”, and “Scabalero”, a Latin spaghetti western anthem. One might think that this would be too much ground to cover, but Minivan does it with ease, due in large part to the rock solid foundation of drummer Paul Buchigniani and bassist/vocalist/composer J.D. Westmoreland.