The evening of July 1st, 2010, at Antone’s in Austin Texas turned out to be a very special night indeed. The billing was for Pinetop Perkins 97th birthday celebration and his CD release party for “Joined At The Hip”, an album I had produced for Pinetop and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith that went on to win a Grammy Award for them the following year. Opening the night were two young men from Bastrop, Texas; The Peterson Brothers. Glenn Jr, then 14 years old and Alex, then 11 years old, put on a rousing set to huge applause and dropped jaws from those in attendance, something that would be repeated many times over and in many places in the months ahead. It was very apparent that if they stayed the course and worked at their craft, they could become a prominent part of a new and young generation of up and coming artists with roots in Blues and associated genres. Pinetop’s manager, Pat Morgan had spoken enthusiastically to me about The Peterson Brothers some weeks before I flew down to Austin for the show and felt we should all get to know each other and with a view to exploring the possibilities of my becoming involved in the making of their first recordings. After the boys came off stage that evening, introductions were made and following a series of conversations with the boys and their parents, a journey began, culminating in signing them to my new label Blue Point and producing the recordings embodied in this, their debut CD that you now have in your hands. As I got to know Glenn and Alex it became very apparent that their musical influences were rich and deep and reached far beyond what one might expect from young men of their age today. They delve into both traditional and contemporary Blues, “old school” and contemporary R&B, Soul, and a hint of Jazz. Elements from each of those styles can be found in both their choices of material and performances today. From the time I first met them until the early part of 2014 when we began to cut the basic tracks for this album, time was spent working on performance, songs compositions, and arrangements. Several demo sessions took place in Austin to measure progress over a period of time and to allow Glenn and Alex to become familiar with the recording studio environment and process which is so very different from live performance. Meanwhile, the success of their live shows had not gone unnoticed. Recommendations and new bookings placed them in some enviable venues and festivals and to the great delight of audiences who wasted no time in showing their appreciation and support for these young musicians. Opening sets for B.B.King, Willie Nelson, Hubert Sumlin, Marcia Ball, Jimmy Vaughan, Los Lonely Boys and other major artists came about. A residency at The Continental Club in Austin and repeat appearances at other venues and the King Biscuit Festival propelled further bookings for The Chicago Blues Festival, Springing In The Blues Festival in Florida, The Austin City Limits Festival and others in their home state of Texas. Recent shows have now taken them to Washington DC and New York City. Chance meetings and an element of fate often create remarkable outcomes and the team that came together for these sessions speaks volumes to this. Brady Blade the renowned drummer and percussionist and Chris Bell, the chief engineer at Blade Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana who I knew well, became fans of The Peterson Brothers at a SXSW performance. Brady joined the boys for an impromptu show at a Shreveport venue some months later. The chemistry and energy was undeniable. Their encouragement and Brady’s generosity to make all of this happen with him as our drummer and at his studio with Chris engineering convinced me to cut the record there and it was a superb decision. In the interim, I had met and worked with keyboard player James Pace on a session in Chicago and immediately felt that he would be a perfect and needed addition to the section. Glenn and Alex agreed and James eagerly came on board. Within minutes of the first run down of the first song at Blade Studios, I knew that we were absolutely in the right place and had the right people on the sessions. The support for Glenn, Alex and this record was awesome and gave them the confidence to play to the best of their ability. Everyone involved became so invested and made so much happen effortlessly. Overdubs, vocals and final mixes remained and after a visit to Arlyn Studios in Austin the choice of studio to complete the record became obvious. Once again enthusiasm to be a part of this record played a huge part in that choice and subsequently the outcome of the finished record. Engineer Jacob Sciba brought much to our sessions, providing expertise and an easy and comfortable environment for Glenn and Alex while working tirelessly with me on our mixes. In Los Angeles, Howie Weinberg’s sensitive mastering provided the appropriate finishing touch. The songs on this record display many of The Peterson Brothers’ diverse influences, some first forays into their own compositions and solid adaptations of traditional and more contemporary works. Opening with a strong version of Albert King’s “You’re My Woman” and on to a Little Johnny Taylor composition, “If You Love Me Like You Say”, Glenn and Alex then provide us with a light swing composition of their own, “Hey Baby”. Their version of “I Wouldn’t Treat A Dog (The Way You Treated Me)”, well known from covers by Bobby Blue Bland and Bernard Allison lead into Tampa Red’s “Don’t You Lie To Me”. Two more original compositions; “I Gotta Go” and “Tell Me Everything” follow, paving the way for a lively version of Earl King’s “Come On”, an instrumental original “Feeling Like Home” and a sensitive arrangement of “Amazing Grace”. The record closes with a swing version of “I Gotta Go”. Each cut on this record has its’ own identity, feel and energy but the entire work takes us on a very personal journey for these two young artists. Glenn and Alex should be very proud of this first outing. It holds great promise for their future and I hope you will enjoy this record as much as we all did while making it. Please welcome The Peterson Brothers. Michael Freeman