Krissy Matthews’ new album, Krissy Matthews & Friends was released today. For the occasion, we asked him to tell us about each track. His commentary on the album can be seen below.

Queen (Matthews) – Feat. Kim Jennett

I wrote this song about a particular person in my life at the time I could not stand. It is a song of anger. I needed a real rock voice on this and Kim was the perfect solution. She may be small but the voice that comes out of her is pure dynamite. I think it turned out great. We tracked everything (apart from Kim) live in the studio to get the right vibe. 

Krissy Matthews – Guitar, Kim Jennett –Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums

Ain’t Got No Troubles On The Road (Matthews/Brown/Farlowe) – Feat. Chris Farlowe, Pete Brown & Tommy Schneller

I wrote this song on a train going from somewhere to somewhere. It is about the love of being on the road as it is a kind of escapism from the troubles of every day life. I chose The Voice Chris Farlowe and the late great Pete Brown to record this with me as they are both road warriors who love/d touring. I got them in the studio, gave them a rough lyrical template and just said sing a verse/chorus about your life. I think it came out real good. I am so grateful I managed to get Pete on this record before he sadly passed away. I decided I needed horns on this song and first call was my dear friend Tommy Schneller and he kindly put it together with his talented friends and plays a killer solo. A fellow road warrior who is constantly touring and one of the best saxophonists in the world right now.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Chris Farlowe  – Vocals, Pete Brown – Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts – Keys, Tommy Schneller – Tenor Sax, Jens Buschenlange – Trumpet, Jürgen Wieching – Baritone Sax

Why Are You Ashamed Of Me? (Matthews) -  feat. Heidi Solheim

Hvorfor Stenger Du For Meg? (Matthews/no: Birketveit/Torstensen) – feat. Heidi Solheim

I wrote this song about my frustrations at the Norwegian government for refusing me a passport and then refusing my appeal 3 times. My mother is Norwegian meaning I am half Norwegian. I talk fluent Norwegian and have had so much connection to this great country my whole life and still do. What I thought would be a simple process to get my passport turned into an ongoing battle. My lawyer said my application was the most detailed and strongest she has ever seen but for some stupid reasons and after spending thousands of pounds legally and hundreds of hours of my life appealing, I am constantly denied a passport. Even though the Norwegian police force recognize me as a Norwegian citizen in their register and I have a personal number from Norway.

It is unfair and I am very angry at the Norwegian system. I guess this is political blues and I want them to make it right and will try my best to make that happen. I asked Heidi Solheim to sing this with me because I recently discovered her own band Pristine and think she is amazing. One of the best singers there is right now and I am very grateful she agreed to be a part of this. We decided to do two versions of this song. One in British and one in Norwegian where I sing for the first time in my mother tongue!

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Heidi Solheim –Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts – Keys

Pack It Up (Beadle/Chandler/Carthy/Davies/Eve/Hunte/Gregory/Harper/Mercer) – Feat. Big Daddy Wilson & Alice Armstrong

My bass player Josh introduced me to this song and I absolutely loved it. I had to cover it being a long time fan of the great Freddie King. I wanted a male/female duet for this and knew that together, Wilson and Alice would make a great sound. And I was right. They were tracked separately but I think their voices go so well together. They are both just mesmerizing. I could only wish to sing like that! I needed horns on this too, so Tommy Schneller and his team came to the rescue and did an absolutely blinding job. 

Krissy Matthews – Guitar, Big Daddy Wilson – Vocals, Alice Armstrong – Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Tommy Schneller – Tenor Sax, Jens Buschenlange – Trumpet, Jürgen Wieching  Baritone Sax

Tomorrow’s Blues (Clempson / Bell) – Feat. Clem Clempson, Marlia Rae, Detlef Blanke, Harry Waters. Alfred Mehnert & Anne Hauter

I have been friends with Clem a long time. I have a lot of respect for this man. Both personally and professionally. I put together a charity show some years ago and we ended up playing this song. I fell in love with the song right away. So I wanted to do something different with this to the Colosseum version and make it acoustic. Me and Clem are interchanging guitars on here. The plan was for Clem to sing, but at the time of recording, Clem could not sing due to an operation.

So I decided to go for it with Marlia Rae. Marlia is an incredible singer from Oxford who I know is destined for great success. This is not her normal “style” but I could see her voice would work and it did!! She sounds amazing.

My man Detlef from Bremen is on bass. I wanted him on this record and this song felt perfect for his playing style and he plays beautifully. I decided to get piano on this song and Harry was the perfect choice. I met Harry by chance at The Baked Potato in Los Angeles in 2014. We became friends and kept in touch ever since. This was a great opportunity to work with Harry and his insane talent on the piano. Anne Hauter is an incredible trumpet player. The original horn part on this is Dick Heckstall Smith on sax. I wanted to change it up. Trumpet was what I wanted and Anne is one of the best out there and delivered a really great job here. And finally, this song needed some percussion.

I met Alfred in Berlin some years ago and we keep talking about bringing me to join his band Metropole Orkestra sometime. In the meantime, I called him up to play on this and he was fantastic. Another great ensemble of musicians here that I am very proud of.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar and Vocals, Marlia Rae – Vocals, Clem Clempson – Guitar, Detlef Blanke – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Harry Waters – Piano, Anne Hauter – Trumpet, Alfred Mehnert - Percussion

Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Derringer) – Feat. Stoppok, Frank Itt & Curt Cress

Well this was a fun session! I recently discovered a version of this song I recorded many years ago for fun and thought I need to record this again! I met Curt Cress in 2018 when I was part of the Herzburg Blues All Stars at the great Herzburg Festival. An insane drummer and a lovely guy. I He is one of the world’s most recorded drummers having worked in the past with Freddie Mercury, Tina Turner, Falco and Passport amongst others! I am very grateful he agreed to play on this record with me. Frank Itt is an extremely powerful bassist and a super cool down to earth dude.

I have met him a few times on the road and I called him up to have some fun and he agreed. His playing is monstrous. We did this together with my man Stoppok in his basement in Hamburg and had a whole lot of fun playing music together!! We recorded this the old fashioned way tape to tape and one take together for everything! 

Krissy Matthews – Guitar and Vocals, Stoppok – Guitar, Frank Itt – Bass, Curt Cress – Drums

Learn To Live With The Blues (Matthews/Brown) – Feat. Stevie Watts, Whitney Shay, Dani Wilde, Kai Strauss, Will Wilde, Phipu Blue Dog & Jimmy Z

Well this is a song about being in love with two completely different women and not knowing which path to take. Both paths would take you down very different roads (similar to the film Sliding Doors) and just not knowing which road to take. Stevie has a solo on this because he is playing on several other songs and he deserves a solo being one of the greatest keys players the UK has to offer right now and a damn right nice guy. I asked Whitney because I just love her voice and it is perfect for the blues. 

Dani has been one of my favorite blues singers for around 15 years now. She is just magic. Me and Will Wilde used to be on the same label and he plays harmonica like no one else can. I call him the Eddie Van Halen of harmonica! A beast. Kai Strauss is one of the greatest blues guitarists alive. Period.

Phipu Blue Dog is not just a mother f**ker of a guitarist with a mother f**ker of a beard, but he is also one of my closest friends. And Jimmy Z is just a legend. I first met Jimmy in 2013 in Latvia and he sat in with my band on a few shows since and I have been out to see him in LA before too. We instantly became friends and his harmonica playing is just insane. He has so many great stories of touring with Rod Stewart, Tom Petty, The Eurythmics and Etta James. I had to get him on this record. What an ensemble!!

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Whitney Shay – Vocals, Dani Wilde – Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts – Keys, Jimmy Z – Harmonica, Will Wilde – Harmonica, Kai Strauss – Guitar, Phipu Blue Dog - Guitar

Road Angel (Matthews/Brown) – Feat. Vanja Sky and Danny Bryant

This song is about loneliness. How I love touring but it can be very testing at times. I chose my great friends Vanja and Danny to play on this song because I really enjoy what they do as artists, but they are also constantly on the road and feel lonely sometimes too. 

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Vanja Sky – Vocals, Danny Bryant –Guitar & Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts – Keys

Try Me Again (Lange / Brown) – Feat. Hamburg Blues Band 

I first met Hamburg Blues Band in around 2011 I think it was. I was lucky to sit in with them, Clem Clempson and Chris Farlowe in Downtown Blues Club, Hamburg. And then shortly after, my band opened up for the boys in 2012 where I also met Pete Brown and Maggie Bell for the first time. Fast forward a few years, my band were backing Pete Brown and the HBB boss Gert Lange was side stage. When I came off stage, he offered me the position as guitarist in the band. I have now been in the band 8 years and I still love it.

I am very thankful to Gert for the opportunity and his hard work he puts into managing the band.  Try Me is a song originally sung by Spooky Tooth’s Mike Harrison. We started to play the song live recently and it is a real lovely song. Gert sings it beautifully with lots of emotion, and my boys Eddie and Reggie play extraordinary too. I love the song, I love the version and lovely lyrics by my late dear friend Pete Brown. 

Krissy Matthews – Guitar, Gert Lange – Guitar & Vocals, Denise Gordon – Backing Vocals, Reggie Worthy – Bass, Eddie Fillip – Drums

I’m A Ram (Green / Hodges) – Feat. Phil Bee, Jed Potts, Paul Jones, Paul Jobson & Alex Lex 

I believe Jed introduced me to this song many years ago when we did a handful of shows together. I originally knew the Sean Costello version and then realized it is an Al Green tune. I have always wanted to record this song and now it felt like the right time. I had to get Jed involved. Jed is from Edinburgh. A damn hot blues artist and also a real funny dude.

Phil Bee has long time been a favorite singer of mine and a great friend. I thought this would suit him to a tee and it did! I needed a harmonica player for this track and who other than the great Paul Jones? I had not met Paul previously, but I knew he was aware of me having recorded for his BBC Blues Show at Maida Vale in 2009.

I reached out to his management, and within a day Paul was on the phone and we made a date at the studio. When we met, it was like we had known each other for years! Great fun and very thankful he played on this album. I love the drumming of Alex Lex and was very happy when he agreed to play here. And finally Paul Jobson is a freak of nature. He can sing, play drums, bass and keys all to a very, very high standard. I always tell him if he plays guitar, I will cut his fingers off! Again, I am real happy with how this ensemble of musicians turned out.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar and Vocals, Jed Potts – Guitar & Vocals, Phil Bee – Vocals, Paul Jones – Harmonica, Paul Jobson – Bass & Piano , Alex Lex – Drums

The Weight (Robertson) – Feat. Denise Gordon, Nicolas Meier, Inga Rumpf, Miller Anderson,  Albie Donnelly, Layla Zoe & Sean Webster 

I have been playing The Weight at my solo acoustic shows for as long as I can remember. It is just a great song that I know has been covered many times, but I wanted to do one too! I met Denise randomly in Germany at a bar in May 2022. Found out she is from the same area as me with lots of mutual friends and then heard her voice and she had to be on this album. Both as gospel style backing vocals and also on lead. She is fantastic! Miller is a great artist. Vocally and instrumentally.

I have known him for some time now having replaced him in the Hamburg Blues Band in 2015 when he quit. I am really happy I managed to get him on board. Inga is a queen! I met her for the first time in April 2023, and asked her to sing on this album. Luckily she said yes! She is really cool. And a legend!

Layla Zoe is an artist I have been touring with on and off for the last few years as guitarist. A really amazing and soulful singer out of Canada and a very close friend of mine who I am very lucky to have on the record. We have bumped heads a few times but I do love her dearly. I saw Nicolas with Jeff Beck some years ago. His playing astounded me! I was lucky to meet him after the show and we kept in touch. An absolute unique player and brings a total different color to the rainbow. I have never actually met Albie, but I know we have many mutual friends and he is a killer with his horn, so I called him up and he agreed to lend his talents to this song! Sean Webster is one of the greatest modern blues rock artists there is today. What another great ensemble!

Krissy Matthews – Guitar and Vocals, Denise Gordon – Vocals & Backing Vocals, Miller Anderson – Guitar & Vocals, Inga Rumpf – Vocals, Layla Zoe – Vocals, Nicolas Meier – Guitar, Albie Donnelly – Tenor Sax, Sean Webster – Guitar, Paul Jobson – Bass & Piano, Alex Lex – Drums

Sunshine Of Your Love (Brown / Bruce / Clapton) – Feat. Dennis Chambers, Malcolm Bruce & Maya Sage

When my dear friend Pete Brown passed away in May, I wanted to record a tribute to him and his lifelong writing partner Jack Bruce on this record. I have always loved this song. For me, possibly the greatest rock song ever written. So I decided to do something different as it has been covered by so many artists. I changed the song to 7/4 which is a nod to my first session in the studio with Pete when he took one of my songs in 4 and changed it to 7 and it worked great. A fond memory which I was able to channel here. I called up Malcolm. With his father being Pete’s partner in crime for years and being an insane musician himself, it felt natural. He agreed. So there was us two.

I knew Pete was very fond of the drumming of Dennis Chambers (he is also one of my favorite drummers) and they were planning to work together one day had he not passed away. So I asked Malcolm to put us in touch, he very kindly agreed and then this came as a result. Dennis played some insane and not quite human drums to the demo song I recorded, then Malcolm put the bass down and I laid guitar and vocals on it. We needed some backing vocals and Malcolm’s daughter Maya was the obvious choice. I have met her before and she is an amazing talent so very grateful she is on this too. I am really proud of this version and I think Pete would be too. 

Krissy Matthews – Guitar and Vocals, Malcolm Bruce – Bass, Dennis Chambers – Drums, Maya Sage – Backing Vocals

Broken (Matthews / Rigal) – Feat. Silje Hagen & Rory Evans

This is a song that Josh Rigal wrote about an old relationship that turned sour. He played it to me, I loved the song and said let us record it for this album. Rory Evans is one of my best friends, but also technically the best guitar player I know. So I just had to get him on board, and this country vibe felt perfect for that. I made sure I did the first solo on this song as there was no way I was going to follow him! Lol.

I have known Silje since I was around 14 years old! She is truly one of the greatest singers I have ever had the pleasure to work with and a damn beautiful soul. It has been a long time since we talked, and I had to get her on this record so I reached out to her and luckily she said yes!

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Silje Hagen  –Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Rory Evans – Guitar, Stevie Watts - Keys

Twenty Flight Rock (Cochran) – Feat. Martin Ace, Giles Robson, Willie Woigk, Peter Pansky, Alex Czerny & Cherry Lee Mewis

I started playing this song last year on a show I did as a tribute to Cliff and The Shadows. I instantly fell in love with this great Eddie Cochran tune! I have always loved rock and roll. So I wanted to get some of my favorite rock and rollers together. Martin Ace from Welsh band MAN has been a good friend for some time now. I love his old school vibe with how he attacks music. Very authentic. Giles is one of the best harmonica players in the world right now and I thought this would be good to showcase his amazing abilities.

Willie has been one of my closest friends for almost 15 years now. He is from East Germany and been rocking and rolling his whole life and still is. A real inspiration to all musicians. Peter played bass for me recently at a gig in Austria and I loved his playing so had to get him on this record, Alex Czerny has been a long time friend of mine and plays great so I wanted him on this record. And Cherry is not only a very good friend, but also one of the greatest rock’n’roll singers there is around. I had to have her on my record!

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Giles Robson – Harmonica & Vocals, Cherry Lee Mewis  - Vocals, Willie Woigk – Vocals, Martin Ace – Vocals, Peter Pansky – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts - Piano

Do What I Say (Tell / Torstensen) – Feat. Clawfinger & Millie & Luca Crew

I have known the guys in Clawfinger quite some time now. Especially Baard Torstensen. One of the founding members and a really great friend of mine. Apparently we jammed together in 2008 but I have no memory of that! Haha. We met again in 2014 and since then been great friends. Baard actually co-wrote and produced one of my records Monster In Me. Zak is just a real funny dude with a monster voice and a great energy. We did a funny acoustic version of this song together during the pandemic, and now I wanted to get my band to do a Krissy Matthews electric version of the Clawfinger classic Do What I Say.

The message of the song is written from a kids perspective, so I decided to invite my 6 year old niece to participate. She opens the song and my 3 year old nephew Luca closes the song. And the choir in the middle is her and her friends singing. It was pretty tough recording the kids but in the end we got there and it was great fun. I am really happy with how this turned out.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar, Zak Tell –Vocals, Millie & Luca Crew (Millie, Luca, Max, Ezra, Miles) –Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Baard Torstensen – Guitar

Outside Woman Blues (Reynolds) – Feat Rob Tognoni, Felix Dehmel & Josh Rigal

I have always loved this song by Blind Joe Reynolds which Cream made famous. We started to cover it recently at my live shows and it was going down well, so we decided to record a version of it! Rob Tognoni has been a great friend of mine for a long time now. I love what he does and this song seemed to be a perfect fit for his guitar and singing style.

A shout out to my incredible road band (Felix Dehmel and Josh Rigal) who play blinding every night and absolutely smashed this song out of the park and every other song they play live and in the studio with me. Thank you lads.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Rob Tognoni – Guitars & Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums

Bust a Button (Freeman) – Feat. Stoned Hillbillies & John Otway 

The Stoned Hillbillies is a band I occasionally play bass for when I have the time. Consisting of my old brother from another mother Mark Freeman on rhythm and vocals, my old touring drummer Chris Sharley on drums and my hero, role model, father and favourite guitarist Keith Matthews on guitar. Mark wrote this song and I love it. I wanted these guys on the record and this was the perfect choice. The nature of the lyrics is quite tongue-in-cheek so I asked Mark to call his old boss John Otway up.

I thought it could be quite fun. John said yes right away and got on the train to the studio. John was a great addition bringing the lyrics to life in the perfect way and we all had a real fun time tracking. I manage to squeeze a few notes out of my harmonica and Mark also manages to get some of his Punch & Judy in too for good measure!

Krissy Matthews – Bass, Harmonica & Backing Vocals, John Otway – Vocals, Mark Freeman – Guitar, Backing Vocals & Punch & Judy, Keith Matthews – Guitar & Backing Vocals, Chris Sharley – Drums & Backing Vocals

So Einfach Ist Das (Stoppok) – Feat. Hamburg Blues Band & Stoppok 

I met Stoppok a bunch of times the last years being with Hamburg Blues Band and he has become a very great friend both personally and professionally. He is an incredible talent.  I love this song he wrote and I also manage to sing for the first time in German on this! We had a lot of fun in his basement studio adding the finishing touches to the backing track recorded by myself and Hamburg Blues Band.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar and Vocals, Stoppok – Guitar & Vocals, Gert Lange – Guitar, Reggie Worthy – Bass, Eddie Fillip – Drums

I Don’t Know Where My Heart Is (Matthews) – Feat. Beth Morris 

I wrote this song when I was going through a very tough and confusing time personally and it always helps to channel emotions through song. I have known the amazing and beautiful Beth Morris for a few years and thought she would be the perfect voice to accompany me on this.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Beth Morris – Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts – Keys

Losing My Way (Matthews/Brown) – Feat. Wille Edwards & Erja Lyytinen

I wrote this song during some upsetting times. I was not feeling on top of the world and beginning to question my purpose in life. Both personally and professionally. I felt life running away and I started going on a downwards spiral. I asked Erja and Wille to be on this because we all have different voices and elements and knew it would work well together for this song. Plus they are both just amazing artists!!

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Erja Lyytinen – Guitar & Vocals, Wille Edwards – Guitar & Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts – Keys

Mr Brown’s Blues (Matthews) – Feat. Terry Marshall, Tommy Kristiansen, Amund Maarud, Eric Steckel, Siggi Schwarz, Kev Hickman & Walter Cerasani

I wanted to put some of my memories of Pete Brown into a song. I was actually sleeping on a plane and somebody annoyingly woke me up but luckily this song then came out of me in 5 minutes. The lyrics just rolled onto the paper. (Or should we say my Samsung Phone Notes). I asked Kev and Walter to be the rhythm section on this song as they are both long time great friends of mine and together, a super powerful rhythm section that I feel this song needed.

I got my favorite Norwegian players (Amund & Tommy) on this as Pete loved Norway and always asked me if we could go back there to play. Amund Maarud is the reason why I play blues rooted music. Tommy Kristiansen is hands down of the best guitarists in the world. Siggi Schwarz I met recently at a show.

Great personality on and off his instrument. Eric Steckel I have been aware of since I was around 11 years old and always thought he is a real powerful player. In fact, when I played with John Mayall in August 2004, some of the papers thought I was him! As he had been on the road with John the weeks before. So it was nice to get all these guitarists with individual characteristics together! Last but not least, I needed some horns on this as Pete loved a horn, and the obvious choice was my great friend Terry Marshall. I called him up and he was in the studio right away. An extremely kind hearted man and a fantastic talent. What another combination of talent!:-)

Krissy Matthews – Guitar and Vocals, Tommy Kristiansen – Guitar, Siggi Schwarz  – Guitar, Amund Maarud – Guitar, Eric Steckel – Guitar,Terry Marshall – Saxophone, Kev Hickman – Drums, Walter Cerasani - Bass

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (Benjamin / Ott / Marcus)– Feat. Arthur Brown & Felix Peikli

I have been lucky to get to know Arthur Brown the last years through my work with Hamburg Blues Band and he has become a great friend and is such a nice guy to work with. Not forgetting the fact that he is like a fine wine. The older he gets, the better he gets!! His range is simply mesmerizing and the way he jumps about on stage with different outfits – pure class. We always play this song live, and I wanted to try and re-create that similar energy on a studio version.

So me and the band recorded everything together in one take and then I went to see Arthur and he put his vocals on top. The icing on the cake came from one of my best friends of many years Felix Peikli. I desperately wanted his clarinet playing on this record and there was a nice gap near the front of the song so I decided to let him say hello at that point with a short and killer solo.

Krissy Matthews – Guitar & Vocals, Arthur Brown – Vocals, Josh Rigal – Bass, Felix Dehmel – Drums, Stevie Watts – Keys, Felix Peikli – Clarinet

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