Left Lane Cruiser is the duo of singer/guitarist Freddie J. Evans IV and drummer Brenn Beck, from Fort Wayne, IN, and their music not surprisingly recalls that of the White Stripes, another twosome with the same instrumentation. Like the White Stripes, Evans and Beck are self-consciously primitive in their approach, and they are equally mannered in their effect. The main difference is that Left Lane Cruiser is more of a blues act. Beck stomps on his drums, and Evans plays familiar loud, heavy riffs on his electric guitar while howling into what sounds like a microphone not intended to handle vocals, such that his singing comes off distorted, even when he isn't yelling. For only two musicians, they make quite a racket, but their relentlessness can be enervating unless one really has a taste for it.
"Bayport BBQ Blues" is the new studio album by Indiana's favorite blues duo Left Lane Cruiser, featuring Freddy J IV on guitar and vocals, and Brenn "Sausage Paw" Beck on drums, washboard and trash kit. The album blends Freddy's commanding, gritty vocal rasp and positively nasty hoodoo slide guitar work with Sausage Paw's rhythmic stomp to make for a heady fire-starter for your house party, backyard barbecue or juke joint get-down. "Bayport BBQ Blues" is dedicated to the memory of the late Chris Jonson, creator of the Deep Blues Festival. This version includes the bonus track "Ophelia", featuring James Leg on keyboards.
"Bayport BBQ Blues" is the new studio album by Indiana's favorite blues duo Left Lane Cruiser, featuring Freddy J IV on guitar and vocals, and Brenn "Sausage Paw" Beck on drums, washboard and trash kit. The album blends Freddy's commanding, gritty vocal rasp and positively nasty hoodoo slide guitar work with Sausage Paw's rhythmic stomp to make for a heady fire-starter for your house party, backyard barbecue or juke joint get-down. "Bayport BBQ Blues" is dedicated to the memory of the late Chris Jonson, creator of the Deep Blues Festival. This version includes the bonus track "Ophelia", featuring James Leg on keyboards.
"Bayport BBQ Blues" is the new studio album by Indiana's favorite blues duo Left Lane Cruiser, featuring Freddy J IV on guitar and vocals, and Brenn "Sausage Paw" Beck on drums, washboard and trash kit. The album blends Freddy's commanding, gritty vocal rasp and positively nasty hoodoo slide guitar work with Sausage Paw's rhythmic stomp to make for a heady fire-starter for your house party, backyard barbecue or juke joint get-down. "Bayport BBQ Blues" is dedicated to the memory of the late Chris Jonson, creator of the Deep Blues Festival. This version includes the bonus track "Ophelia", featuring James Leg on keyboards.
When half of a band's original lineup packs up and leaves, it's a pretty big deal, at least to the group and their fans. Left Lane Cruiser were populated by just two guys for their first ten years – Frederick "Joe" Evans IV on guitar and vocals, and Brenn Beck on drums – and after Beck quit the group in 2014, Alive Naturalsound decided to mark the end of an era with Beck in Black, a collection of material from the duo's years with Beck behind the drums. Left Lane Cruiser are very good at what they do, but they have only so many moves in their repertoire, and Beck in Black covers them all – heavy-hitting blues-rock with lots of gnarly slide guitar, Brontosaurus stomp rhythms, and lyrics about women, whiskey, weed, and dangerous good times of all stripes.
Headed by singer/guitarist Joe Evans IV, Left Lane Cruiser is a bona fide blues rock band from the American mid-west. Far from pretending to be rambling hobos for the sake of a manufactured image (wink to Seasick Steve), Left Lane Cruiser has been genuinely living the blues for over a decade, bringing its freestyle jams to crowds all over the world.Shake and Bake, the bands new album, was cooked up in a van rolling heavy on the highway, headed by two baked and juiced musicians, veering across the lines, desperately steering towards rest and redemption at the nearest parking lot. It is a record about the juice that keeps the crowd dancing, the smoke that keeps the minds lifted. This is as real it gets.Recorded old school analog by Jason Davis in his Fort Waynes studio, and with a cover by legendary artist William Stout (Ramones, Fred McDowell, Iggy Pop), Shake and Bake has a heavy sound and a big heart. For Left Lane Cruiser the blues is enduring and easy to feel.