Kermit Lynch to Release Fourth Album, 'Donuts and Coffee,' 10/9
By: Tracy Kaczorowski Aug. 23, 2012
On October 9 pioneering wine importer, author and singer-songwriter Kermit Lynch releases his fourth album, Donuts & Coffee, on Lynchmusic/MesaBluemoon Recordings. The LP is a follow-up to 2011's well received Kitty Fur, about which Amazon.com marveled, "…the biggest surprise is not that the wine industry's greatest trailblazer has made a record, but that Kermit Lynch has delivered an album as unique, expressive and flavorful as the artisanal wines he's championed to the world." The Tucson Citizen called it "as outstanding as any fine wine he's ever imported," and No Depression described Lynch's voice on the album as, "a bluesy instrument with the weathered edges of someone more partial to grain than grape, [which] adds new shades to each interpretation."
Recorded in Nashville at Sound Kitchen's "Big Boy" Studio, Donuts & Coffee finds Lynch working once again with producer Ricky Fataar (Bonnie Raitt, Beach Boys), who also plays drums on the album. The 10-track country/blues set features the work of keyboardist Michael Omartian (John Lennon, Steely Dan), guitarist Rick Vito (Fleetwood Mac), bassist Dennis Crouch (Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash) and Grammy-nominated violinist Aubrey Hanie (George Jones, Justin Timberlake) among others. Fataar also co-wrote the track "Frustration," one of three Lynch-penned originals on the LP, which features distinctive covers of tracks such as Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," Lerner & Loewe's "On the Street Where You Live" and Duke Ellington's "In My Solitude." Another Lynch original, "Sunset Avenue," is available now for free download at http://kermitlynchmusic.com. See below for full album track list.
Hailed by The New York Times as "Berkeley's Wine Radical," California native Lynch has enjoyed a one-of-a-kind journey that started with his 1962 arrival in Berkeley. After years of writing songs, fronting bands and playing gigs, Lynch became disillusioned in 1971 with the "flower power" scene and headed to Europe. In 1972 he founded Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, which has since become one of America's most important and influential importers of high quality French wines. A recipient of France's prestigious Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur Award (along with the likes of Duke Ellington and Josephine Baker), the James Beard Wine Professional of the Year Award and the author of two best-selling wine/travel books, "the accidental wine merchant" (Wine Enthusiast) never lost his passion for music.
In 2005, Lynch returned to music when singer-songwriter/vintner Boz Scaggs heard old garage tapes and invited Lynch to record at his studio. That year Lynch, along with co-producers Fataar and Scaggs, transformed those tapes into Quicksand Blues at Scaggs' San Francisco studio where they were joined by Alvin Youngblood Hart, Laurie Lewis, Jon Cleary and Jackie Payne. Man's Temptation followed in 2009, and is described by Lynch as "rootsy Americana" featuring four originals and a few gems from Curtis Mayfield, the Stanley Brothers, Bob Dylan and Hank Cochran. The aforementioned Kitty Fur was released in 2011, and Donuts & Coffee now marks the fourth release in Lynch and Fataar's series of collaborations.
DONUTS & COFFEE TRACK LIST:
1. Honey Bee
2. Frustration
3. Playing for Keeps
4. She Thinks I Still Care
5. On the Street Where You Live
6. Ring of Fire
7. Donuts & Coffee
8. Any Day Now
9. In My Solitude
10. Sunset Avenue
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