Catfood Records announces an August 1st release for Floreada’s Boy, the new album (and third for Catfood) from Texas-based award-winning blues singer/guitarist Zac Harmon. The album is being released on both CD and vinyl LP formats. Catfood Records released Zac’s label debut, Mississippi Bar BQ (2019), followed by Long As I Got My Guitar (2021), which was named “Best Soul Blues Album of the Year.”
Floreada’s Boy (pronounced “Flo-Reeda”) was produced by Christopher Troy and Zac Harmon and contains 12 songs. The players include Zac’s core band, The Drive, plus special guests including SueAnn Carwell on lead and background vocals; The Texas Horns and guitarist Caleb Quaye.
“Floreada’s Boy is a reflection of my 50 years of musical performance: from the juke joints of Mississippi to stages all over the world. Not bad for an old country boy,” says Zac Harmon about the new album.
“Floreada's Boy is named after my mother and this album is a reflection of the rich musical environment that I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi. As a matter fact, the only thing more fertile than the Mississippi soil is its musical culture. Mississippi is the birthplace of American music and this album is a reflection of my growing up in that culture. The reason it is called Floreada's Boy is because when I was growing up, whenever I did anything that brought attention to me, the people around would just say "Oh, that's Floreada's Boy." This album bares my soul with all the elements of music planted in my spirit. There are 12 great songs here, starting with a tribute to Babe and Ricky's Inn (the oldest blues club in Los Angeles) and its owner, Laura Mae Gross, and ending with a plea to end the killing, no matter where. “
Floreada’s Boy Track Listing and Credits
1 Babe and Ricky’s Inn* 4:28 (William Harmon and B R Millon)
2 Fake News* 4:13 (William Harmon and John Hahn)
3 Glass Ceiling 3:01 (William Harmon and Christopher Troy)
4 Let It Slide 4:39(William Harmon, Derrick Procell, Terry Aberahamson, Christopher Troy)
5 That’s the Way I Feel About Cha 4:54 -Featuring SueAnn Carwell (Bobby Womack, John Grisby and Joe Hicks)
6 Stress 4:51 (Christopher Troy and William Harmon)
7 Sugarman* 4:39 - Featuring the Texas Horns (William Harmon and BR Millon)
8 Big Dog Blues** 5:50 (William Harmon and Christopher Troy)
9 Lonely Rider 5:54 (Bob Trenchard, William Harmon, Christopher Troy)
10 Never Have a Better Night* 4:05 (Derrick Procell, Terry Aberahamson, William Harmon)
11 I’ll Never Forget 5:47 (William Harmon)
12 Stop the Killing 4:11 - Featuring Caleb Quaye ((Bob Trenchard and Linda Greenwade)
Recorded at Our Own Studio West and Matai Studios. Recorded by Christopher Troy and B R Millon
Mixed and Mastered by Christopher Troy
Zac Harmon - Vocals/Lead Guitar/Bass
THE DRIVE:
Corey Lacy - Keyboards/Background vocals; Nate “The Bass” Robinson – Bass; Gino “LockJohnson” Iglehart – Drums; Kingston “Guitarboy” Livingston - Guitar
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS:
Caleb Quaye - Electric Guitar/Acoustic Guitar/Slide Guitar; Gregg Wright - Acoustic Guitar; Del Atkins – Bass; Jeffrey Suttles – Drums; B R Millon – Guitar; Romeo Brune – Guitar; Eddie Miller – Keyboards; Rayford Griffin – Drums; Lavell Jones – Drums; Buthel – Bass; Munyungo Jackson - Percussion
Christopher Troy - Hammond Organ/Wurlitzer Piano/Moog Bass/Drums, and Vibrophone
Ricky “Freeze” Smith – Bass; Mark Holding - String Arrangements and Performance; SueAnn Carwell - Lead and Background vocals; Carly Thomas Smith - Background vocals; Derrick Procell – Background vocals; LA HORNS: ** Les Kepics – Trumpet, Jason Peterson DeLair - Alto Sax, Chuck Phillips - Tenor and Baritone Sax; Horn arrangements by Christopher Troy; TEXAS HORNS: ***Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff - Tenor Sax, John Mills - Baritone sax, Al Gomez - Trumpet
About Zac Harmon
Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Zac Harmon is a true embodiment of the music that emanated from the city’s historic Farish Street district, home of blues legend Elmore James. Given that Zac was exposed to a lot of music in his home, neighborhood, and local culture, it’s not surprising that he turned out a blues musician. His mom played piano, and his dad, the city’s first state registered black pharmacist, played harmonica and tended to the needs of artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King, and Little Milton.
Zac started his professional career at age 16, playing guitar with Sam Myers, a friend of his father’s. Two years later he was playing with Dorothy Moore, Z.Z. Hill and other well-known blues artists who were passing through on regional tours.
At age 21, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a studio musician at first, eventually establishing a very successful career as a songwriter and producer. Zac worked on major films, television shows and well-known national commercials, even being hired at one point by Michael Jackson as a staff writer for his publishing company, ATV Music. Harmon wrote songs for the likes of Troop, Karyn White, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Freddie Jackson, The Whispers and The O’Jays, among others. He also produced songs for reggae band Black Uhuru’s Grammy-nominated Mystical Truth album in 1994.
After composing and performing some blues songs for a movie score, Harmon felt compelled to pursue his longtime dream of returning to his roots and recording his first blues project. The result in 2003 was Live at Babe & Ricky's Inn, an electrifying testimony to Mississippi blues, which showcased the sound at its best and introduced Harmon as a true torchbearer for the “next generation of the Blues.” In 2004, Harmon and his band, the Mid South Blues Revue, sponsored by the Southern California Blues Society, traveled to Memphis and won the Blues Foundation’s prestigious International Blues Challenge title of “Best Unsigned Band."
His next release, in 2005, was The Blues According to Zacariah, which garnered major national airplay, including XM, Sirius and the American Blues Network. XM listeners voted Harmon “Best New Blues Artist” in the inaugural XM Nation Awards in 2005. In 2006, Harmon won the coveted Blues Music Award for “Best New Artist Debut” for The Blues According to Zacariah. Later that year, he was featured in Blues Revue magazine as one of the 10 artists that “represent the future of the blues,” calling him a “latter-day Eric Clapton or Robert Cray with shades of Luther Allison and BB King.”
Zac Harmon entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait in 2008 as one the stars of Bluzapalooza and while headlining “The Pizza & Pyramid Tour” of Sicily, Italy and Cairo, Egypt in late 2009, Zac and company made history with a rare performance on the site of the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, making the ensemble only the second roots act to do so; Louis Armstrong being the first.
In 2009, Zac was honored for his career achievements in his beloved hometown at the Jackson Music Awards, and weeks later in Memphis, the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation bestowed the “Little Milton” Guitar Award for “Outstanding Guitar Player” upon him. That same year Harmon branched out into acting, with a major role in the independent feature film, Black and Blue, released in 2010.
Zac was a featured performer for the 2010 “Mississippi Celebrates its “Grammy Legacy” celebration, hosted by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, where he was presented with a Peavey Award, which honors the state's Grammy winners and nominees as well as individuals who have played a significant role in developing and furthering Mississippi's musical heritage.
Since then he’s been on a roll, becoming one of the blues' strongest live performers, thrilling fans everywhere from Memphis to Mumbai. His live performances combine elements of everything that influenced him: soul-blues, gospel, reggae, and modern blues-rock.
Said one reviewer of a festival appearance, “Harmon’s stage show is like a Blues symphony where he segues from one song to the next without a moment’s hesitation, building a head of steam that is orgasmic. Mixing classic boogie gliders with originals, he builds a West Side guitar sound that’s almost as sweet and simultaneously rough as classic Magic Sam into a showcase presentation that takes a lot of pages from Buddy Guy as far as dynamics. His hour on stage went by in an instant.”
In 2016, Harmon released Right Man Right Now a CD that addressed issues straight from the headlines, presented in a fresh original style built on the best blues tradition. Right Man Right Now also featured some incredibly talented guest musicians, including Bobby Rush, Lucky Peterson, Anson Funderburgh and the late Mike Finnegan.
