Stu Hamm: Just Outside Of Normal - new CD chock full of guitar stars

Stuart Hamm: Just Outside Of Normal (CD)

Joe Satriani - Guitar on Tracks 1, 4
Robert Fripp - Guitar on Track 9
Frank Gambale - Guitar on Track 8
Jude Gold - Guitar on Track 1
Mark McGee - Guitar on Track 2

Featuring a stellar array of guest artists including Joe Satriani, Robert Fripp and Frank Gambale on guitar and Stanton Moore on drums, Just Outside Of Normal is the the most compelling release yet from one of our generations most influential and innovative bassists. Through his innovative work as a solo artist and his contributions as a sideman to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Stuart Hamm has firmly established himself as one of the most influential electric bassists of the past half-century. Extending the non-traditional function of the electric bass previously revolutionized by Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke in the 1970s, Hamm helped to reshape the contemporary concept of the bass guitar as an unaccompanied instrument with the utilization of polyphonic, two-handed tapping, slapping and popping techniques, chords, and harmonics. Although Hamm certainly wasn't the first bass player to debut during the 1980s and employ an unorthodox approach to playing the electric bass, he was undoubtedly at the forefront of his generation who effectively fused the application of these unconventional techniques. As one of today's leading bassists, Hamm has released four critically-acclaimed studio recordings, including Radio Free Albemuth (1988), Kings Of Sleep (1989), The Urge (1991), and Outbound (2000). Additionally, "Live Stu X 2", the fifth solo project produced by Hamm and his first as a solo artist in nearly seven years, was released in January 2007. buy

Dan McAvinchey: Tell us a little bit about your latest CD, "Just Outside Of Normal". How did you come up with the concept and songs for the album?

Stuart Hamm: I started work on "Just Outside Of Normal" in 2008 and then got a very late call from Satch to do his tour so that put the whole project back a bit. It's a collection of pieces that I have been working on that seemed to fit together to take the listener on a little musical trip Stu-style. The title track is an homage to a childhood spent in the Midwest and my brother plays a solo on his Dotar that sounds like a twisted, fretless banjo! Each song had it's own story of growth which is explained in the liner notes. full interview