SERENDIPITY can be a fine thing in music and the arts in general. The fineness of chance occurrence that opens up a new path, or collaboration.
Such was the case for hip-grindin’ blues rocker Nick Faber, who’s latest raw-ass bourbon soaked groove, “Sensational”, which comes from his Lost Highway Tapes project, stems from a chance encounter at Charing Cross.
The track is a bold, raw, stomping two-hander for bluesy riff and harmonica, on which he collaborates with new discovery Rufus Stone.
He recounts: “[On ‘Sensational’], the guitar is me and the blues harp is Rufus. He was busking outside Charing Cross station, and his wailing harmonica got me hooked.
“Once we’d tried him out on a couple of more straight ahead blues tracks we began writing, and this was the result”.
The Lost Highway Tapes project has its backstory in a vinyl crate-dig across southern Florida, during which Nick encountered a hoary, weathered busking guitarist. He was transfixed by the player’s powerful, eerie, steel-guitar blues for three days, only to lose track of him when the inspiration for an album struck.
Returning to the UK, Faber’s idea was reawakened by the young Stone’s playing slap-bang in the centre of London; and thus was an album born.
Nick Faber’s The Lost Highway Tapes is due for an autumn release on Fabyl Records. Keep abreast of this release at https://soundcloud.com/fabyl-1
