The new James Maddock album is called The Green. The British-born singer-songwriter who has called the Lower East Side of Manhattan home for the past 12 years has penned another appealing collection of songs. He treated the fortunate group who squeezed into Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 to a good handful of them. Before the set, I spoke to James at his apartment where a letter from Bruce Springsteen and a photograph by Herman Leonard adorned the wall. He explained how The Green was done in a number of places: London, Hoboken, and Downtown Studios in Soho where bass player Tony Shanahan (best known for his work with Patti Smith) laid down the bass lines. Steve Holley (who has worked with Paul McCartney and Elton John among many others) is on drums on all the tracks except one which features Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors) who pounded the skins for the performance at Rockwood Music Hall. James Darling, on electric guitar, anchored the live band and contributed harmony vocals.
While the songwriting is as stellar as ever, the album’s production, as James put it, was more full-blooded than the previous record – the spare Another Life which I also had the pleasure of speaking to James about a couple of years ago…
