Episode #13

This was a fabulous session, and certainly one of our most popular. It is also one of my personal favorites. Basically, we assembled a group of A-list rock and blues players and just let them go at it. There were a total of six musicians for this one…GE Smith on guitar and vocals, Joe Bonamassa on guitar and vocals, Anton Fig on drums, Demetrios Pappas on keyboards, Chico Huff on bass and Tracy Silverman on electric violin. It was a few hours of some great music, that’s for sure.

Most will remember GE Smith from his high-profile stint as Musical Director for Saturday Night Live (SNL) and his lengthy tenure with both Hall & Oates and Bob Dylan. From Paul McCartney to Eric Clapton and so many in between, GE has played with some of the very best in the business.

Anton Fig can be seen (and heard) most weekday nights on the Late Show with David Letterman program on CBS, where he is part of the house band with Paul Shaffer, Will Lee and others. He has appeared on many episodes of our Studio Jams series and hits it hard each and every time. I love working with him.

Joe Bonamassa is a terrific young and confident guitarist, with an aggressive yet sensitive approach to the instrument. He is extremely well versed and schooled in the blues, and is a national spokesperson for Blues In The Schools. A producer friend of mine turned me on to Joe years ago, and I’m so glad he did. It has been a blast watching his career steadily grow ever since. I have no doubt that he will one day be headlining arena shows all over the world. He is that good. This was the first time I was working with him. I have had the pleasure of working with him a couple of more times since then.

And then there’s Tracy Silverman. Well, Tracy is just one of my favorite people. Besides being a heck of a nice guy, as a musician, he is just so versatile. With his one-of-a-kind electric, fretted 6-string violin, he is a world-class player in multiple musical genres…classical, rock and jazz. He, too, has appeared on a number of our programs (Episodes #13, #15, #22, #46 and #47). I hope to include him on many more.

There was not much rehearsal at all during this session. It was mostly GE and Joe calling out and/or starting a blues tune and everyone else simply falling right in line. The guys just wanted to play. And play they did. It was a few hours of some great music, that’s for sure. We recorded 6 different tracks that afternoon, but due to time constraints, we were only able to include 5 in the final edited program.

– Tom Emmi / Producer