Troy Redfern releases "Stone" single and music video to coincide with Robert Jon & The Wreck UK Tour
NEW SINGLE "STONE" TO COINCIDE WITH UK TOUR SUPPORTING ROBERT JON & THE WRECK FROM SEPTEMBER 16–26, 2021
TAKEN FROM THE NEW ALBUM "THE FIRE COSMIC"
ORDER THE ALBUM HERE
STREAM THE NEW SINGLE // ORDER THE ALBUM
"Troy Redfern is one of this year's prime movers and his star is most definitely on the rise.
Get yourself dialled into The Fire Cosmic and see what all the excitement is about." - Rock and Blues Muse
"Troy Redfern is a living testament to the potency of great material, superb playing and the power of an honest, raw heart full of soul." - Metal Talk
Guitarist and singer-songwriter, Troy Redfern, dubbed as Britain's "King of slide guitar," releases Stone his new single on Friday September 10th. The single dovetails his UK tour supporting Robert Jon & The Wreck (September 16 – 26). Stream the single HERE.
Stone is the fourth single taken from The Fire Cosmic. It follows hot on the heels of his previous singles Sanctify, Ghosts and Waiting For Your Love.
Written on a vintage National guitar, and accompanied with a wide open ¾ drum goove and whiskey drenched vocal, Stone is described by Troy as "an Appalachian style roots rocker that builds into a stratospheric anthem, and features a slide guitar solo that stretches out across vast sonic horizons."
"Troy Redfern is about to unleash his career-defining album that elevates him to a whole new level." - Great Music Stories
"Troy Redfern is one of the country's best players and writers and the album is a blast from start to finish." - Music News, 4/5
Stone epitomises what Troy Redfern does best - honest heavy-weight blues – John Lee Hooker riffs on steroids, thunderous bass by Dave Marks and spectacular drumming by Darby Todd.
Stone is available to stream and download HERE. Order the The Fire Cosmic album HERE.
The new album, The Fire Cosmic, follows five unprecedented albums that Troy released in 2020. It was recorded at the legendary Rockfield Studios in North Wales, the same studio where Queen recorded all their early albums including Sheer Heart Attack (1974) followed by A Night At The Opera (1975) – the latter featuring the legendary single Bohemian Rhapsody.
For the recording of the new album, Troy enlisted one of the best rhythm sections in the UK, including the legendary Darby Todd on drums (The Darkness, Robben Ford, Martin Barre, Paul Gilbert), virtuoso bass guitarist Dave Marks (Hans Zimmer), plus guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal (Guns 'N Roses, Asia, Sons of Apollo) on the song On Fire, in what Troy describes as "the ultimate dream team" and what is arguably the British guitarist's most compelling release to date.
Photo Credit: © Rob Blackham
Says Troy, "I chose Rockfield Studios because so much of the music I grew up listening to was recorded at this legendary studio (Queen, Black Sabbath, Mott The Hoople). The studio is hallowed ground for every musician, and the rooms there are charged with so much magic and history of all the iconic, classic albums that have been produced there."
"It was important for me to capture the raw energy of three guys playing live in the same place, at the same time. That's something that you just can't get if you're sending files from different locations, it doesn't have the same vibe or feel if you do it that way."
As soon as we arrived at Rockfield, everyone, including Darby and Dave who've recorded all over the world, were excited to be there," continues Troy. "It's that kind of place. It has that effect on every musician who records there. Even before we started recording, the energy and vibe was there, which definitely set the tone for the entire album."
Troy has cut his teeth and refined his style over the last few years, playing festival main stages and blazing a trail across Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia. He's also become a well-known draw on the UK Blues Rock festival circuit, playing alongside rock luminaries including Robert Plant.
"Troy is a passionate, intense, free-spirited musician whose ferocious slide guitar style twists and turns timeless themes and ideas to his own ends. He's a musical visionary unafraid to trample on the boundaries of restricting labels," said Blues Matters Magazine.
The forthcoming studio album is a culmination everything Troy has learnt so far on his musical journey, and, more importantly, brings into sharp focus a much tighter song-writing and more visceral, muscular production style.
For production duties, Troy enlisted the Brighton- based producer Paul 'Win' Winstanley, best known for his epic rock production style, and whom Troy met and had worked with previously on the 2019 RHR album, Hotel Toledo. Troy and Win bonded immediately, and shared the same musical aesthetic, no nonsense work ethic and dry sense of humour.
Rockfield's vintage mics, mixing desk, and analogue outboard gear gave Win options to capture the dynamic performances on the album. "It was like being a kid in a candy store," says Win.
Photo Credit: © Haluk Gurer
"It was important for the album to sound massive," says Troy. "It was a much bigger sound than anything that I've released before. As soon as we heard the first takes in the control, we were blown away. We knew that we captured something special. It sounded fantastic."
"For the session, Darby Todd brought his vintage Ludwig Vistalite acrylic drums of John Bonham fame. The drums are renowned for sounding massive. Hearing them in one of the best drum rooms in the world, they sounded out of this world! Roger Taylor's drums recorded for Queen's Sheer Heart Attack album at Rockfield are some of my favourite drum sounds on any recording."
Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal states, "It all starts with the drums, if you've got a great drummer, great sounding room, great board, it's going to sound phenomenal, and it does!"
"I met Ron at a festival in Poland that we were both playing at, we immediately hit it off," recalls Troy. "He let me use his signature double neck guitar to play on Anthony Gomes encore set at the festival, that was an absolute blast. He's such a cool, generous guy. When I returned to the UK, I emailed him to ask if he'd like to play on my new album. He was totally fired up to do it."
Troy continues, "The album really is a step up. It's the best album I've made. Hiring Rockfield, getting the best players, the best producer – it was a risk, but it paid off tenfold. I've made an album I really couldn't be happier with."
"With all the hard work that went into getting this album to sound as great as possible, there was only one option when it came to mastering. I decided to hire Frank Arkwright (Biffy Clyro, Oasis, Iggy Pop, Paul Weller, System of a Down). Frank is the senior mastering engineer at Abbey Road. The mastering at Abbey Road added that final sheen. Frank did an absolutely amazing job in bringing out every nuance of the recording."
"When it came to the album artwork, I was originally going to get an artist from Brazil to do it for me, however, I started working on some artwork of my own in the silver age Marvel comics style, based on the four guys that were on the album. I posted a few visuals on the socials and was overwhelmed by the response.
It was a huge kick getting responses from Joe Satriani, Richie Kotzen and my slide guitar hero Denny Walley of Frank Zappa fame. As a result, I created my own comic-style illustrations to package the album."
TROY REDFERN – VOCALS, GUITARS
RON 'BUMBLEFOOT' THAL – GUITARS (TRACK 5)
DARBY TODD – DRUMS
DAVE MARKS - BASS, PIANO, KEYS, PERCUSSION
RECORDED & MIXED AT ROCKFIELD STUDIOS BY PAUL 'WIN' WINSTANLEY
ASSISTANT ENGINEER – JOE JONES
MASTERED BY FRANK ARKWRIGHT AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
1. SCORPIO (4:50)
2. WAITING FOR YOUR LOVE (3:34)
3. ONE WAY TICKET (3:50)
4. LOVE & WAR (4:37)
5. ON FIRE (4:09)
6. LAY THAT LOVE DOWN (3:23)
7. GHOSTS (4:02)
8. SAVING GRACE (4:07)
9. SANCTIFY (3:46)
10. STONE (5:50)
THE FIRE COSMIC!
A rip-roaring "rockabilly on steroids" opener. Like a tequila-drenched, mescaline-fuelled hot rod race through the Mexican desert at sunset, Scorpio sets up the sonic tonal landscape for what's to come.
WAITING FOR YOUR LOVE
This bombastic blues boogie has the swagger and attitude of an anti-hero from an old western movie. Driven by Darby Todd's Ludwig Vistalite drums, Troy's vintage 1929 National Triolian steel guitar cuts through the mix like a samurai sword to deliver this heavy hitting, sassy blues explosion.
It's a straight up four on the floor rocker, bristling with a fierce slide guitar attitude and a monstrous hook laden chorus, which deals with themes of overcoming obstacles and breaking through.
LOVE & WAR
Love & War is a powerhouse blues/rock tune based in the infamous Purdie Shuffle drum groove. Its verse is a straight up blues field holler morphing into an epic 'wide open skies' feel chorus. The guitar solo in this song has a distinct free form feel that builds, twists and turns as it reaches its sonic climax.
This is the point in the album where the full moon rises, and things turn deliciously heavy and feral. Featuring guitar legend Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal on guitar (Guns N Roses, Asia, Sons of Apollo) who adds his distinctive virtuosic fire brand stamp, playing his signature double neck guitar.
LAY THAT LOVE DOWN
Things turn funky! Like a party Lenny Kravitz threw for the Black Crows, Lay That Love Down is an upbeat slinky rocker with a good time, sunshine feel. Stratocaster vibes and a blistering slide guitar solo along with a big, sing along chorus make this one an instant crowd pleaser.
Conjuring up visions of the wide-open plains, Ghosts is a western story about escaping a doomed relationship and heading off into the sunset horizon. From the opening 'train track' beat, to the searching guitar solo and the epic chorus, this song has that 'sunshine after the rain' feel.
This track was recorded using close mic'd acoustic guitars, a Maton six string and a 1929 National Triolian, and has a deeper, intimate, introspective feel. The wistful slide intro, melodic chorus melody and Beatles style harmonies across the mid-section give this track it's unusual, unique flavour.
Heavy blues-billy boogie stomp that Troy is best known for. This song epitomises everything that Troy Redfern does best - honest heavy weight blues. John Lee Hooker riffs on steroids, thunderous bass by Dave Marks and the 'foot to the floor' drums of Darby Todd.
The closing track fades in on the vintage National guitar, a wide open 3/4 drum groove and whiskey drenched vocal. Building and morphing from an Appalachian style roots rocker to a stratospheric Joe Cocker style anthem, as the slide solo stretches out across the vast sonic horizons. The famous piano at Rockfield Studios that Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was recorded on was used on the outro section, the final, lingering notes you hear on the album is Dave Marks playing that iconic instrument.