It was all set up to be a great year for Blackberry Smoke, with the release of a fine new album, . But just a few days after guitarist and vocalist Charlie Starr spoke to about the making of the album, it was announced that the band’s drummer and co-founder Brit Turner had died on March 3 at the age of 57. In this interview, Charlie explained how they had set out to make an intimate-sounding record.
Producer Dave Cobb came into the project having just worked on the Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators album – live-recorded with loud Marshall stacks. But with Blackberry Smoke, Cobb encouraged the band to use tiny amps so they could get in tight amongst one another in the room. Now, there is poignancy in how Charlie described the sessions: “During recording I was sitting right across from Brit’s drums.
..” is an album which delicately blends the drawl of Southern rock with soulful blues and classic rock.
It now stands as a fitting epitaph for Brit Turner. “It feels really warm and natural to me. It feels like I am literally in the room when I hear it.
I’m sitting in that spot across the across from the drums where I was during recording. Organic is a word that’s used so much, but it really is a very organic sounding record. It doesn’t sound rushed at all – we were very relaxed making it and it makes me very happy to listen to it.
” “I never want to repeat myself or write anything derivative and I think that Dave [Cobb] was thinking the same t.