The Immediate Family is a unique group of iconic musicians who have played together for decades but never as their own band. Known for their long, illustrious careers backing up such Hall-of-Fame artists such as James Taylor, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Stevie Nicks and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel, drummer Russ Kunkel, and bassist Leland Sklar have come together, along with guitarist Steve Postell, to perform their own songs as The Immediate Family, a band that can legitimately be called a supergroup.
The Immediate Family’s new self-titled full-length album contains twelve original songs, including a rendition of the Waddy Wachtel/Warren Zevon cowrite “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead.” The album’s two bonus tracks are live versions of Zevon’s “Johnny Strikes Up the Band” and the Danny Kortchmar/Jackson Browne collaboration “Somebody’s Baby.”
The new album kicks off with a blast of electric guitars with the lead-off track, “Can’t Stop Progress.” The fiery three-guitar interplay intertwines throughout the rest of the album on songs like “Fair Warning,” “Time to Come Clean,” and “Turn It Up to Ten.” The band’s love of rock ‘n roll’s roots surfaces in the funky, bluesy tones of “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Everything That’s Broken,” and the Brill Building-esque “Damage.” The big beat of Kunkel’s drumming and Sklar’s subtly inventive bass work further energizes the band’s music. “There’s nothing like playing with those two guys,” Kortchmar raves. “These guys really understand songs. They listen first before they start pounding.”
While technically a “new” band, the band members’ years of experience playing together create a quite unique, thoroughly invaluable group dynamic. They share a kind of mental connection, so there is no need for a lot of discussions. “When you play together for this long,” Kortchmar reveals, “things just fall into place very quickly and easily; we understand each other and understand what each other is going to do.” One important communicator, however, is the song itself. “Each song tells us what it needs,” Wachtel adds.
Presented by Count Basie Center for the Arts
