The new album from roots-Americana artist Frank Viele, What’s His Name?, comes out next month, and Blogcritics is pleased to present the exclusive premiere of the single “Drop Your Gun.”
Viele has years of touring under his belt, first with the sizzling soul-jam grooves of Frank Viele & The Manhattan Project, more recently as a solo artist. Firmly established in the press as a talent to be reckoned with, he won two New England Music Awards in 2016, for Album of the Year and Male Performer of the Year.
Howl has called his shows “transcendent,” with music that “will rattle your bones and penetrate to the core.” Known for rugged Americana, deep blues, and gut-wrenching soul, Viele explains, “I’ve never taken the easy road musically. When you hear Otis Redding’s “Blue” or Bob Seger’s “Night Moves,” you feel it. Those songs grab you. That’s what music is supposed to do. That’s what I want to do.”
He may not have taken the easy road, but roots did came naturally to Viele, who recalls growing up peeling carrots and potatoes while working in his family’s restaurant. More important, he says, “There were three pool tables that took quarters, so it was also my job to count the quarters on Saturday mornings. I got to keep one of them when I was done, but I always put that quarter into this old jukebox at the restaurant so I could play Billy Joel’s ‘The Longest Time.’ To this day, when I hear that song, I can still smell that dank, stale bar smell that comes with the mess from the busy night before.”
Loaded with Viele’s “vivid storytelling” (No Depression), the new album What’s His Name? is here to do just that. Out March 23, it’s available for pre-order now, and it includes the organ-drenched rocker “Drop Your Gun.”
Find out more about Frank Viele at his website and on his Facebook page and YouTube channel.