Two Aberdeen musicians jetted to the United States to record an album with a legendary producer and five-time Grammy-nominated engineer.
Steve Crawford and Spider MacKenzie recorded Celticana in Austin, Texas, following a period of rehearsal in the historic East Side of Nashville.
Recorded at Moon House Studios in Austin, the duo worked with renowned musician and producer Chris Gage.
A former Texas musician of the Year, Gage has shared the stage with legends such as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earl and Glen Campbell.
Celticana was then mastered by Jerry Tubb who was five-time Grammy nominated for work with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson amongst others.
Homecoming show lined up in Aberdeen for Steve and Spider
Steve and Spider will play from the album in a homecoming show at The Blue Lamp in Aberdeen on Friday April 7.
Spider said: “I booked a flight to Austin and drove down the next day to the airport.
“Whilst in Austin I met so many musicians who were very welcoming. One guy who was a music fan said if I was free on a Monday night I should introduce myself to someone called Chris Gage.
“I introduced myself to Chris the next Monday night which is when he gets guests who are in town up to play. He asked me to come back and play with him on the Saturday night where I met his wife Christine Albert, who at that point was chair of the Grammys.
“Steve was in Germany at the time and we wanted to record an album. Through meeting Chris it was like a domino effect and all these things happened.”
Texas via rehearsal time in Nashville for Aberdeen music duo
Celticana is the duo’s second album and is stylistically drenched in Americana with lyrics that weave stories from Scotland.
Spider and Steve’s playing is augmented at times by Gage’s contributions on piano, mandola, mandolin, guitar, Hammond organ and harmony vocals.
There is also the rhythm section of Austin-based David Carroll (upright bass) and Kevin Hall (drums).
Steve said: “We flew to Nashville first to rehearse the material we wanted to record.
“Nashville is an incredibly inspirational place. We were staying in an amazing country singer’s house, Kira Small, who plays with all these huge country artists.
“We worked on the songs then flew to Austin to record with Chris Gage.
“Not only is Chris a virtuoso musician who plays multiple instruments to a super high level he produced the album.
“He played on many of the tracks as well.”
‘We couldn’t believe our luck’
In demand producer and musician Gage has performed multiple times on the legendary Tonight Show in the United States.
He has performed on the show under three hosts, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien.
Steve, who is now based in Bonn, Germany, said: “Chris’s studio was incredible.
“He plays with all these musical giants and has signed photographs from people such as Carl Perkins thanking him.
“Chris also has backstage passes for musicians such as Neil Young hanging up.
“He was amazing. The guy who mastered the album when we finished it, Jerry Tubb, has been nominated for five Grammys.
“Jerry Tubb has mixed and mastered people like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and then there’s little old us.
“We couldn’t believe our luck.”
Celticana album delayed by Covid lockdown for Aberdeen pair
Steve’s songwriting has featured on numerous albums over the years including the band Catford with founding members of Old Blind Dogs.
He has also earned acclaim with his band Ballad of Crows.
Spider is renowned as one of the UK’s finest harmonica players. He is in high demand and has been praised by Grammy winner Charlie McCoy, regarded as one of the greatest ever harmonica players.
Steve and Spider’s album Celticana was recorded in 2019 with the release date initially scheduled for May 2020.
However, the coronavirus pandemic which closed down venues from March 2020 for more than a year derailed plans to tour the album.
Now the duo will play Celticana in The Blue Lamp, Aberdeen, next month.
Spider said: “The date to release it was originally May 2020 so that was scuppered.
“It took a long time for venues to get back to shows.”
Spider and Steve relish chance to Celticana in Aberdeen
The duo did manage to perform some shows overseas before a second lockdown.
They are relishing the chance to play Celticana in their home city Aberdeen.
Steve explained: “We recorded it in 2019 but before we had the chance to release it along came the pandemic. That put a spanner in the works for a couple of years.
“We did manage to salvage some of the tour we had to promote it, especially in Germany where the weather is warmer and a lot of the gigs were open air.
“Three weeks after we finished that tour the next lockdown came so we just managed to squeeze in a few gigs.
“Then it was another nine months before more gigs started again.”
To find out more about Steve and Spider and new album Celticana, visit steveandspider.com
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