ZZ Prime has plans to place out new music with the band’s longtime guitar technician Elwood Francis filling in for the late Dusty Hill, who handed away in 2021, guitarist Billy F. Gibbons introduced in an interview with Final Basic Rock.
The band will first launch a brand new dwell album, Uncooked, which was recorded with Dusty throughout the making of the band’s 2019 documentary, That Little Ol’ Band From Texas, at Gruene Corridor—the longest working dwell music venue and dance corridor in Texas. Because of launch on July eighth, the album will characteristic a mixture of basic tunes and lesser-heard songs like “Licensed Blues” and “Brown Sugar”, each from the band’s 1971 debut, ZZ Prime’s First Album.
The band additionally has plans to work on new music with Elwood Francis, who served because the band’s guitar tech for over 30 years, on bass. Requested in regards to the transition, Gibbons stated it was Dusty who beneficial Francis for the place.
“I credit score Dusty,” he stated. “Not solely was he an incredible performer and an incredible good friend, he had a thread of knowledge. When he was feeling a bit out of types, he requested going to see his doctor. He stated, ‘Hear, if I’m late getting again to the gig, guarantee that Elwood, our guitar technician, wraps his arms round my guitar.’ I stated, ‘Okay.’ He stated, ‘Look, he’s greater than a member of the family. He’s been a stable standby for over three a long time.’ He’s including to 5 a long time of a relatively critical aspect of constructing loud sounds. He falls proper in. It’s type of an fascinating twist, however the steadiness stays. We’re loopy characters, nearly cartoon-like, however on the backside of it, we’re all very devoted and critical on the musical stage.”
Francis has already carried out dwell with ZZ Prime. Gibbons described the emotional tone of the band’s first reveals with out Dusty.
“The feelings have been working excessive,” he stated. “To Elwood’s credit score, he made sure that Dusty was in an ethereal sense nonetheless current throughout the expertise. Elwood grabbed Dusty’s hat and positioned it on the microphone and made certain that there was some extent of relation by the entire evening. , I believe he took it in stride. He definitely accepted Dusty’s directive. It was, ‘Hey Elwood, seize the guitar.’ He stated, ‘Okay, pay attention, I’m the employed gun. If that’s the course, I gotta take it.’”
Requested in regards to the band’s plans to place out new music past Uncooked, Gibbons stated making new music “could be an fascinating tour into the unknown—significantly with Elwood holding down the underside finish.” He continued, “We’ve received the makings of a band that’s partially the tried-and-true longstanding expertise with one thing so contemporary, and [there’s] type of uncharted territory that’s being damaged. We discover it relatively intriguing. It’s a calling that has us grinning from begin to end.”
Watch ZZ Prime carry out “Brown Sugar” and “La Grange” dwell at Gruene Corridor (from the movie That Little Ol’ Band From Texas) under.
ZZ Prime – “Brown Sugar”
ZZ Prime – “La Grange”
[Video: STAGES]
[h/t Ultimate Classic Rock]