Jeff Pitchell - Playin' with My Friends (2023)

For his ninth album, Pitchell decided to celebrate and showcase longstanding relationships and collaborations with 13 new songs of rockin' blues and soul. Playin' With My Friends features duets and guest stars from Duane Betts, Charles Neville, Claudette King, J. Geils, Rick Derringer, Christine Ohlman, and Tyrone Vaughan.

Pitchell opens the album with his own composition “An Eye For An Eye” that John Mayall recorded for his 2009 album, Tough, which won an award at The International Songwriting Contest. “Prisoner Of Love,” a beloved track from the 2015 album American Girl, was produced by J. Geils and features the late great bandleader's muscular guitar work. Another no longer with us legend, saxophonist Charles Neville, contributed a beautiful cover of "So Into You" by The Atlanta Rhythm Section. Pitchell's own "Your Magic Eyes" sounds like a collaboration between Gregg Allman and Stevie Ray Vaughan, found in a secret vault in blues heaven. Tyrone Vaughan (son of Jimmie and cousin of Stevie Ray), scion of the Texas Blues, joins Pitchell on the heavy rhumba "Out In The Cold," trading licks on the Magic Sam interlude. Son of the South Duane Betts rips on the blazing roadhouse boogie 'All Night Long'. Derringer and Pitchell lament the life of a working musician, acting bards and popular leads on "Unsung Hero Of The Blues," which first appeared on his 1999 album One Day Away.

Lucky Peterson's "Not Guilty" is flavored with Latin rock spice, and the 90s grunge rock influence can be felt on the heavy-duty track "Blinded By Desire." The title track of his 1997 album, Fat Cigars, put Pitchell on the map and marked the beginning of a bright career. Some call it a grind, others call it a groove, the "Beehive Queen" Christine Ohlman joins Pitchell in celebrating doing what you love over and over again "I Like The Rut." Blues queen Claudette King takes the lead in an upbeat live recording of Roberts Cray's swinging "Playing With My Friends." Pitchell makes one last effort on the album closer "I Wouldn't Treat A Dog", digging deep into the Bobby "Blue" Bland classic. Each song on Playin' With My Friends plays as a bonus track to create a unique anthology.