Mike Flanigin To Release The Drifter

MIKE FLANIGIN’S DEBUT ALBUM THE DRIFTER, OUT AUGUST 21

FEATURES BILLY GIBBONS, GARY CLARK JR., JIMMIE VAUGHAN,

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO, KAT EDMONSON AND MORE

For 20 years, Austin’s own Mike Flanigin has played with some of the finest musicians who have passed through the Texas music city. Now with the help of engineer Jim Eno (drummer of Spoon), he’s excited to be releasing his first solo album, The Drifter, on August 21. Collaborating with Flanigin on the LP are ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Gary Clark Jr., Alejandro Escovedo, Jimmie Vaughan, the late Reverend Gean West, and the album’s executive producer, Kat Edmonson. Furthermore, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Clem Burke of Blondie also appears on the release along with legendary jazz musician Bob Malach (Stevie Wonder, Barbara Streisand) playing horns and Stephen Barber­ (Keith Richards, Willie Nelson) composing strings and horn arrangements.

“These artists are all personal heroes of mine,” says Flanigin, “I wrote the songs with each of them in mind to perform them. Luckily, they are all personal friends too.” The album was created in six different studios and throughout four states, which included a stop at Avatar Studios in New York for mixing. Grammy-Award winner Garvin Lurssen (T-Bone Burnett, Eric Clapton and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss) mastered the album.

“I worked at a pawnshop growing up, so I was around instruments, but I didn’t know anyone who was a musician really, I certainly wasn’t” Flanigin explains, “I didn’t step on a stage until I was 25.” Flanigin’s first gig was at a Holiday Inn in Dallas. In the years that followed, he toured with The Red Devils, played in the famous Antone’s house band in Austin and did an eight-year residency at The Continental Club Gallery playing organ. During this residency, Flanigin met and began to play with Gibbons and Vaughan and later went on to play as a featured guest with ZZ Top on their Live At Montreux 2013 DVD, filmed at the Montreux Jazz Festival. “When I was a kid, the first concert I ever saw was ZZ Top and The Fabulous Thunderbirds (Jimmie Vaughan’s band) at The Cotton Bowl,” says Flanigin, “I never thought I’d meet those guys, much less play and record with them.” “Eric Clapton saw me once and told me he liked the way I played. That kind of stuff never entered my mind when I was working at the pawnshop.”

Flanigin later played with Vaughan at The Eric Clapton Crossroads Festival in 2013, which was recorded and released on DVD. “To to be honest, I still can’t believe all the things that have happened to me,” says Flanigin of his journey. “I’m the last guy I would have guessed would become a musician.  It all just kind of happened somehow. “

THE DRIFTER TRACK LIST

1. The Devil Beats His Wife

2. Fit to be Tied ft. Alejandro Escovedo

3. The Drifter ft. Billy Gibbons

4. All Nite Long ft. Jimmie Vaughan

5. From the Dust

6. Nina ft. Kat Edmonson

7. Stop the World ft. Gary Clark Jr.

8. Tryin’ to Make My Way Back Home ft. Reverend Gean West

9. One Little Heart ft. Kat Edmonson

10. This Life