Jim Hanft is ready for something new.
And on Tuesday, April 10, the LA-based singer-songwriter is going to release that new something to the world. It’s a sound that is threaded with old-time music elements…. a little banjo here, some mando licks there, and a whole bunch of pedal steel.
‘I definitely knew I wanted pedal steel [on the new album]. There were tracks we got to that were just missing that certain edge… Adding the pedal brought that,’ Hanft explains.
The artist, who describes his music as ‘super detailed singer-songwriter… really into painting pictures with our words and sound,’ appears on Wednesday evening at the Hotel Cafe with partner Samantha Yonack and full band, ready to create the audio experience that appears on his new album Weddings or Funerals live and in person at the Hotel Cafe.
‘Using banjo and mandolin is kind of new for us. For a while we had a fiddle player, but on our previous tours it was just Sam and me and a guitar,’ Hanft said in a recent phone interview, ‘But as we got closer to recording, it was evident that all the bands and albums we really loved and that were influencing us were utilizing those instruments.’
Hanft is no stranger to the Hotel Cafe, having done a residency at the Cahuenga Boulevard club a few years back. But with his new release and expanded lineup, he likens this week’s show to ‘kind of like coming home.’
Join BGLA at Hotel Cafe this Wednesday night at 9:30pm for Jim’s homecoming and the new sounds from his album Weddings or Funerals. You can find out more about Jim and his music through his website: http://jimhanft.com/
-Amy @ BGLA
