Goose Creek has just signed up for a new album that I can only describe as an Americana Dixieland Ragtime Jazz Horn Section Burlesque Show Review…Blair Crimmins and the Hookers, Live in Little Five. Blair and company have a lot going on.
Blair and the Hookers are based in Atlanta, and play festivals, clubs, and colleges throughout the Southeast. While they always travel with a full band and horn section, their home-town Atlanta fans often get treated to a burlesque show in addition to the raucous ragtime 7-piece band.
Blair Crimmins writes the music and band arrangements, rounds up the band members, books the tours, and manages the recording process. It is amazing what this guy gets done in a day. How Blair came to ragtime music is an interesting back story for another time, but his home turf in Atlanta’s Little Five Points and Cabbagetown is the perfect backdrop for the band concept and fan base. This band is a lot of fun, and the live album really tells that story.
The recording was made in December 2012 at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse, a WWII era movie-theatre-turned-music venue in Atlanta’s historic downtown. Blair is just now finishing up the mixing with Ed Rawls and Justin Mcnight at The Living Room Recording in Atlanta. Mastering will be done by Randy Leroy at Airshow Mastering in Takoma Park, Maryland. The album will be generally available on June 4, but in a couple of weeks we’ll be offering a presale package for the CD, t-shirts, posters, and sneak-preview downloads.
Mike Pugh