Release: Curtis Salgado - Damage Control

Award-winning vocalist, instrumentalist and songwriter Curtis Salgado will release his new Alligator Records album, DAMAGE CONTROL, on Friday, February 26, 2021.

Produced by Curtis Salgado
Mixed by Sandy Solomon

Recorded at:
Ultratone Studios, Studio City, CA, engineered by Johnny Lee Schell
Rock House Recording, Nashville, TN, engineered by Kevin McKendree
Greaseland Studios, San Jose, CA, engineered by Kid Andersen

Produced by Salgado, DAMAGE CONTROL is his first full band album in four years, and it’s packed with passionate, insightful, original songs.

Award-winning singer/songwriter/harmonica ace Curtis Salgado, has been delivering soul-fired music for over 40 years. Celebrated for his sharp-witted songwriting, superb albums and volcanic live performances, Curtis has won Blues Music Awards for Song Of The Year, Soul Blues Album Of The Year and Entertainer Of The Year, and earned a devoted worldwide fan following.

 DAMAGE CONTROL is a rousing mixture of rollicking old-school rock and roll, gospel-tinged soul and razor-sharp R&B. Salgado’s huge, expressive vocals deliver wistful, street-wise lyrics that hit hard on a dozen new original songs and a frisky cover of Larry Williams’ Slow Down.   

    

 The album's defiant opening song, The Longer That I Live, was originally released as a digital-only single in June 2020. 

Special thanks to: Randy Fennell, Johnny Lee Schell, Kevin McKendree, Kid Andersen, Mike Crider, Kathy Goranson, Suzanne Dominique, Dave Duncan, Mike Finnigan, Michael Bard, Wendy and Philip Salgado, Tracy Arrington RIP.Special thanks to: Randy Fennell, Johnny Lee Schell, Kevin McKendree, Kid Andersen, Mike Crider, Kathy Goranson, Suzanne Dominique, Dave Duncan, Mike Finnigan, Michael Bard, Wendy and Philip Salgado, Tracy Arrington RIP.
Curtis Salgado plays Hohner Harmonicas customized by Joe Filisko

Tracklist:

1 The Longer That I Live 3:512 What Did Me In Did Me Well 4:263 You're Going To Miss My Sorry Ass 4:094 Precious Time 4:035 Count Of Three 3:356 Always Say I Love You (At The End Of Your Goodbyes) 4:037 Hail Mighty Caesar 4:178 I Don't Do That No More 3:439 Oh For The Cry Eye 3:3410 Damage Control 4:0411 Truth Be Told 3:1512 The Fix Is In 5:0113 Slow Down 3:27

Foto's Jessica Keaveny.

DISCOGRAPHY:

• 1991 Curtis Salgado & the Stilettos (JRS Records)
• 1995 More Than You Can Chew (Rhythm Safari/Priority Records)
• 1997 Hit It ‘N Quit It (Lucky Records)
• 1999 Wiggle Outta This (Shanachie Records)
• 2001 Soul Activated (Shanachie Records)
• 2004 Strong Suspicion (Shanachie Records)
• 2008 Clean Getaway (Shanachie Records)
• 2012 Soul Shot (Alligator Records)
• 2016 The Beautiful Lowdown (Alligator Records)
• 2018 Rough Cut with Alan Hager (Alligator Records)
• 2020 Damage Control (Alligator Records)

B I O :

Award-winning vocalist, instrumentalist and songwriter Curtis
Salgado, the man NPR calls “an icon” with “a huge voice,” is revered
worldwide for his ability to wring every ounce of soul out of every
song he performs. Salgado is famed not only for his powerhouse
live shows and ten previous albums, but also for his passionate
and insightful original songs. He has been nominated three times
for the Blues Music Award for Song Of The Year, winning in 2018
for Walk A Mile In My Blues from The Beautiful Lowdown. In total,
he has won nine Blues Music Awards, including the B.B. King
Entertainer Of The Year. DownBeat calls his songwriting skills “an
impressive gift.” Billboard says Salgado’s music is “inspired and
powerful.” Now, after 40 years of recording, performing, touring and
songwriting, Salgado is back with Damage Control, his first full band
album in four years, and it’s packed with fresh, original material.
With Damage Control, Salgado has created what he calls “a rock
’n’ roll record with lyrics that hit.” The 13 songs—12 originals and a
raucous cover of Larry Williams’ Slow Down (famously covered by The
Beatles)—will surprise and delight longtime Salgado fans. Salgado has
crafted a soul-searching, street-smart collection of vividly detailed,
instantly memorable songs. From the defiant opener The Longer
That I Live to the bouncy New Orleans crime story You’re Going To
Miss My Sorry Ass to the foot-tapping history lesson of Hail Mighty
Caesar to the plaintive honesty of Always Say I Love You, Salgado’s
vocals weave, bob and soar, at times jabbing with nuance, and then
striking with unlimited power. Of the title track, he says, “Life is all
about damage control...trouble and then some. It’s about dealing
with what gets thrown at you and saying, ‘I ain’t finished yet.’”
Damage Control was produced by Salgado and recorded in three
studios with three different groups of musicians, featuring some
of the very best players in the business. At Nashville, Tennessee’s
Rock House Recording, top notch support included guitarist George
Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt), keyboardist Kevin McKendree (Brian Setzer,
Delbert McClinton, Tinsley Ellis), singer Wendy Moton (Buddy Guy,
Eric Clapton) and special guest Cajun accordionist and vocalist
Wayne Toups. At Studio City, California’s Ultratone Studios, guitarist/
bassist Johnny Lee Schell (Otis Rush, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt),
pianists Mike Finnigan (Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon) and Jim Pugh
(B.B. King, Etta James, Robert Cray), drummer Tony Braunagel (B.B.
King, Bonnie Raitt) brought the goods. And at Greaseland in San
Jose, California, guitarist/bassist Kid Andersen (Rick Estrin, Charlie
Musselwhite), bassist Jerry Jemmott (B.B. King, Aretha Franklin) and
drummer Kevin Hays (Robert Cray) added their fuel to the fire.
Born in 1954, Salgado grew up in Eugene, Oregon with music all
around him. His parents’ vast music collection included everything
from Fats Waller to Ray Charles, and his older brother and sister turned
him on to the soul and blues of Wilson Pickett and Muddy Waters
at an early age. He attended a Count Basie performance when he
was 13 and decided then and there that music was his calling. After
Salgado’s Alligator Records debut, Soul Shot, came out in 2012
to widespread critical acclaim. Blues Revue said Salgado’s music
is “triumphant, joyful, blues-soaked R&B” and declared him to
be “one of the most soulful, honest singers ever.” He followed up
with The Beautiful Lowdown in 2016 and Rough Cut, the potent,
stripped-down acoustic album (with guitarist Alan Hager) in 2018.
The albums collectively earned Salgado multiple Blues Music
Awards—for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, Soul Blues Album Of
The Year, Song Of The Year and Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year.
Salgado has performed at Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival,
The Chicago Blues Festival and The Tampa Bay Blues Festival. He
has also played The San Francisco Blues Festival, Memphis’ Beale
Street Music Festival, Denver’s Mile High Blues Festival as well
as on The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. Internationally he’s
toured in Saipan, Guam, Canada, England, throughout Europe,
Brazil, Chile, Panama, The Philippines, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
According to Blues Revue, Salgado’s performances “start at excellent
before segueing into goose bumps, ecstasy, and finally nirvana.”
getting his hands on a harmonica, Curtis began devouring the blues
of Little Walter and Paul Butterfield, and taught himself to play.
By his early 20s he was already making a name for himself
in Eugene’s bar scene, first as the vocalist/harmonica player
of The Nighthawks, and later as co-leader of The Robert Cray
Band. Salgado quickly developed into a player and singer of
remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including
Otis Redding, O.V. Wright, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny
Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf.
In 1977, comedian/actor John Belushi was in Eugene filming
Animal House. During downtime from production, Belushi caught
a typically ferocious Salgado performance and introduced himself
during a break. Once Salgado started sharing some of his blues
knowledge, a fast friendship grew. Salgado spent hours playing old
records for Belushi, teaching him about blues and R&B. Belushi
soaked up the music like a sponge and used his new awareness
to portray “Joliet” Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers, first as a skit
on Saturday Night Live, then a best-selling record album (which
was dedicated to Curtis) and finally as a major motion picture (Cab
Calloway’s character in the film was named Curtis as an homage).
Once Salgado joined forces with his friend Robert Cray and began
playing together as The Robert Cray Band, he found himself sharing
stages with many of his heroes, including Muddy Waters, Bobby
Bland, Albert Collins and Bonnie Raitt. After Salgado and Cray parted
ways in 1982, Curtis went on to front Roomful Of Blues, singing and
touring with them from 1984 through 1986. Back home in Oregon,
he formed a new band, Curtis Salgado & The Stilettos, and was
once again tearing it up on the club scene. He honed his band to a
razor’s edge before releasing his debut in 1991 on the JRS label. After
recordings for Rhythm Safari and Lucky Records, Salgado signed with
Shanachie Records in 1999, releasing four critically acclaimed albums.
For all of his successes, Salgado is no stranger to adversity.
During his career, he has overcome multiple health challenges,
battling back from liver cancer in 2006 and lung cancer in 2008
and 2012. In March 2017 he underwent quadruple bypass
surgery. He’s not only come back stronger, he’s become one of
the genre’s most prolific songwriters, going from writing a few
songs per album to writing full albums of original songs.
In 2016, many critics declared The Beautiful Lowdown—featuring
11 original songs—as the best of his career. According to Salgado,
Damage Control is even better. He’s excited to bring his new songs
to the stage, where the crowd fires him up even more. “I want people
to relate to the songs,” he says. “You can dance to it but the words
have to carry the weight. I know if a song hits me, it’ll hit others just as
hard.” On Damage Control, the hard-hitting songs just keep on coming.

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