Black Dub
Trixie's Touch, producer extraoidinare Daniel Lanois teams up with an old friend for Black Dub
By Jeff Niesel
Years before deciding to form a band, Black Dub guitarist Daniel Lanois and singer Trixie Whitley had a chance encounter. Trixie’s father, the late, great Austin blues singer Chris Whitley, stayed with Lanois for a short time while Lanois was living in New Orleans. While the two never worked together, they were great friends and Lanois didn’t object when Whitley showed up on his doorstep one day with wife and daughter in tow.
“I was too young to remember it,” says Whitley. “I think I was three years old.”
Then, two years ago, Lanois was performing in Belgium and Whitley thought it would be a good opportunity to reconnect with hiim so she and her mother attended the gig.
“He immediately recognized us,” she says. “I was really, really shy, but I did manage to say hi and he was happy to see us. I gave him a CD.”
Lanois liked what he heard and flew her out to Boston where they recorded “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Two weeks later they cut a track called “I Believe in You” and were well on their way toward making their self-titled debut, which was released this month.
“I’m really excited about the camaraderie we have,” says Lanois, who heads up the group, which also includes drummer Brian Blade. “Some of the songs are collaborative, but the first record was largely spearheaded by myself. That’s okay. We were able to get the ball rolling. For the next one we’ll huddle up under a coconut tree and work on writing some songs together.”
The “coconut tree” is a reference to the house Lanois owns in Jamaica. Ever since he worked with reggae great Jimmy Cliff years ago, he spends at least part of the year there soaking up the reggae vibes.
“I love dub’s bass lines and grooves,” he says. “We brought a few of those to the Black Dub record. ‘Silverado’ is very Jamaican with R&B backing vocals. And ‘Ring the Alarm’ is a Jamaican classic. It has a bit of postmodernism in it. I like to embrace the past but invent something for the future. I can trace the roots for a lot of what we did.”
The band even tackles the Stones’ “The Last Time.” It says a lot that Black Dub’s version – the noisiest tune on Black Dub - is unique into itself.
“That’s Brian Blade’s father singing on it,” says Lanois. “It’s something we recorded at his father’s church. His father is a preacher. I always loved his rendition of that. We built the whole song around him and put it in his key and tempo. We’re happy to have him on the record. It’s a church classic and everybody has had a go at it. It’s nice to take a trip into the past. But again, it has a foot in the future.”
Throughout the album, Whitley’s bluesy tenor nicely meshes with Lanois’ falsetto, giving the music the kind of ambient/atmosphere feel that distinguishes all of Lanois’ music, whether it’s something original or something he’s produced.
“One’s soul shines through a lot in the voice,” says Whitley. “In Dan’s case, we hear his true voice. He’s a deep soul. He’s very intense and dark. He’s definitely a mysterious dude”
Black Dub caps what has been an incredible year for Lanois. After sustaining serious injuries in a motorcycle accident earlier this year, he rebounded quickly after getting a call from Neil Young, who wanted him to produce his new album, Le Noise. He is also the musical architect behind Brandon Flowers’ solo debut, Flamingo. And that’s no even mentioning his groundbreaking work with U2. Lanois not only produced what became the band’s breakthrough (1984’s The Unforgettable Fire) but he also helmed their epic release, 1987’s Grammy-winning The Joshua Tree.
“They have an appetite for innovation,” he says of the Irish superstars. “They don’t want to repeat the same thing twice. They had made some good records prior to [Brian] Eno’s and my arrival. For Unforgettable Fire, we had found a sound we were excited about and living and breathing. When we went to work with them, they embraced it. There’s a lot of passion in it. It was a very nice crossing point for Eno and me and U2. We didn’t look beyond what we had available. We love that about records.”
Tour Dates
11/15 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
11/17 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
11/18 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
11/19 Vienna, VA Jammin’ Java
11/21 Charleston, WV Mountain Stage
11/22 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
11/23 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
11/24 Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center
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