KCRW DJ Chris Douridas has a long relationship with uber-producer (U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel…) and gifted musician Daniel Lanois. Chris was an early supporter of Lanois’ project Black Dub and explains how it came about below. Check out the mesmerizing “I Believe in You” above and read notes from Chris:
“Some of the best live performances I’ve booked this year on KCRW have happened by chance. Recently, I ran into Chrissie Hynde in Silver Lake, which resulted in the worldwide radio debut of her band JP, Chrissie and the Fairground Boys. But earlier this year, I ran into Daniel Lanois at a party at musician Michael Brook’s house. Over dessert, he told me about Black Dub, a new project with Trixie Whitley, the daughter of the late great Chris Whitley, who we’d supported deeply over the years at KCRW.
He went on to say he was supported on the recordings by his longtime cohorts, Daryl Johnson (on bass) and Brian Blade (on drums), and invited me to come check it out. A couple weeks later, I got a text from Daniel inviting me to a show at Spaceland. I responded by inviting him to tape a radio session that we could run on the air before the gig. Days later, I was in Silver Lake at his Bella Vista estate, mesmerized by a live performance in his living room (with Chris Thomas on bass this time around).
That session, and accompanying interview with Dan and Trixie, marked the band’s worldwide airplay and radio performance debut, and aired on KCRW, Saturday February 13th. Check it out in the archives here and look out for their self-titled album out on November 2.”
Editor’s Note: Go to the band’s site and grab a free download of the track “Surely” from their KCRW performance.