(L-R: Thom Swift, Joel LeBlanc, Tom Easley. Photo contributed.)
Hot Toddy is back. Not that the band ever really went anywhere, but the New Brunswick three-piece has been so busy working on solo projects and other musical endeavors that it’s been about four years since their last proper album as a trio.
Hence the band’s new album title – Trio. It’s another collection of fine blues, folk, roots and a dash of jazz the band has become known for.
“That’s what it is, it’s a trio album,” bassist Tom Easley explains.
The rash of other projects – guitarist Thom Swift won numerous awards for his recent solo disc, Into the Dirt; guitarist Joel LeBlanc plays in Big Alice and the Joel LeBlanc Trio; and Easley shared an East Coast Music Award this year with pianist Bill Stevenson for their work on the album For The Record – shouldn’t lead one to believe Hot Toddy has lost its focus.
“It’s definitely the biggest creative focus in my life,” Easley recently told East Coast Noise. “And I’m sure it is for the other boys as well. You don’t dedicate 12 years into something to throw it away.”
In fact, Easley says Trio, released in April, came together easier than any of their previous discs, a sign that Toddy hasn’t lost a step.
“We could visualize it a lot better,” he explains. “This one all came together very quickly. We knew what we wanted out of this project. It came together in a very natural way. There didn’t seem to be many hurdles to jump.”
Trio features 12 tracks, including several instrumentals showing off the band’s chops. Each member contributed four tracks to the album, and most of the disc was recorded live off the floor at Echo Chamber Studio in Halifax with Charles Austin.
There were some overdubs here and there, but Easley said they wanted to “retain the integrity of a live album.”
Hot Toddy played several dates around the Maritimes in April and May, and they’re looking at more dates throughout the summer.
Easley hasn’t ruled out further collaboration with friends Isaac & Blewett (Tim Isaac, Jim Blewett) either. The two groups have toured extensively together over the last few years, going so far as to release a live album, Live at the Black Box, together in 2005.
“They’re our brothers,” he says about the Albert County, N.B.-based duo.
At the time of the interview, Easley said the band had put feelers out about some potential West Coast dates.
As of this writing, there were no tour dates listed on the Hot Toddy’s website.
