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“I have a new covers album called 1957 that’s mixed and done,” says busy Blizzard frontman Chris Leyva.
Leyva already dropped a solo full-length this month, Live Learn Loose (released on Valentine's day). 1957 is a collection of vintage rockers, covering Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Berry Gordy Jr., and others.
Jointly issued on local Blindspot Records and Black Cherry Group, 1957 will debut February 25 with a release party at the Griffin on Morena Boulevard.
“Expect us to be fully dressed in ’50s attire and attitude,” promises Leyva. “Think Memphis, circa 1957. Besides the songs on the album, we’ll be doing numbers that will be released later in the year as added bonus tracks, like Jerry Lee Lewis, a Marcels cover of ‘Blue Moon,’ some Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and a bit of Buddy Holly.” The Bandits will open the show.
1957 is made with the same spirit of the originals and featuring a cast of great musicians. Leyva takes center stage on songs by Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Berry Gordy Jr. & Janie Bradford, Ben E king and Phil Spector, and Vera Matson. The cast also features the great guitar work of Phillip Griebel, the dual rythm section of Thomas Lord on bass, and Ryan Schillawski on the skins. Special appearances by world renowned saxophonist Blaise Garza and boogie woogie keys by Salvatore Filipelli.
"It's similar to John Lennon's Rock and Roll," Leyva tells the Reader. "There are two songs that are not from the 1950s, but we felt they were important, as they penned the progressions of the time: 'Stand by Me' and Phil Spector's Be My Baby. Both songs marked the birth of rock and roll production, and what better way to end the record. The album is made to be played from beginning to end, as if you were home or in your car listening to the radio, narrated by Alan Freed."
While primarily a digital release, a CD version will be available at the Griffin release party, and at at http://www.ley-va.bandcamp.com . "There will be a vinyl version later in the year," says Leyva, "with more songs."
"We wanted to celebrate the music that inspired the rock and roll movement, which a lot of people take for granted, and just really capturing the great wardrobe and showmanship that has been forgotten. In that spirit, we want to keep it alive by paying tribute...we literally tracked down outfits as far away as Hawaii, Palm Springs, and Vegas! It took us a full year to get the right instruments and gear, from the guitars to the jackets, all the way to the amps."
Chris Leyva's 2008 solo debut Singled Out, produced by Lee Coulter, was nominated Best Local Recording at the San Diego Music Awards, while his 2009 release 27 was nominated for two SDMAs. The latter is more electronic-based than his previous projects, having been mastered and coproduced by Chris Reynolds, whose local techno act Red Flag made the Billboard top-ten charts back in 1988 with their song “Russian Radio.”
Leyva, who grew up in Mexico City, also books bands at venues around town and co-manages the Black Cherry Group that he founded in 2006 with Reliable Records main man Jerry Segal. “We wanted to offer something positive in the midst of the slow demise of the music industry,” says Leyva of the downtown San Diego company. “We handle artist relations, concert promotion, and we do a lot of brand marketing. [Black Cherry Group] was envisioned as a company that could help artists with the nuts and bolts of the music industry.”
Chris Leyva is currently playing around Southern California with his band Leyva & the Dead 67’s. "We play a mixture of early garage rock and punk...we should have something released by summer. Plus I have a summer album titled Summer of Life currently in the works, and a European and west coast tour is in the planning stages."
“I have a new covers album called 1957 that’s mixed and done,” says busy Blizzard frontman Chris Leyva.
Leyva already dropped a solo full-length this month, Live Learn Loose (released on Valentine's day). 1957 is a collection of vintage rockers, covering Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Berry Gordy Jr., and others.
Jointly issued on local Blindspot Records and Black Cherry Group, 1957 will debut February 25 with a release party at the Griffin on Morena Boulevard.
“Expect us to be fully dressed in ’50s attire and attitude,” promises Leyva. “Think Memphis, circa 1957. Besides the songs on the album, we’ll be doing numbers that will be released later in the year as added bonus tracks, like Jerry Lee Lewis, a Marcels cover of ‘Blue Moon,’ some Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and a bit of Buddy Holly.” The Bandits will open the show.
1957 is made with the same spirit of the originals and featuring a cast of great musicians. Leyva takes center stage on songs by Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Berry Gordy Jr. & Janie Bradford, Ben E king and Phil Spector, and Vera Matson. The cast also features the great guitar work of Phillip Griebel, the dual rythm section of Thomas Lord on bass, and Ryan Schillawski on the skins. Special appearances by world renowned saxophonist Blaise Garza and boogie woogie keys by Salvatore Filipelli.
"It's similar to John Lennon's Rock and Roll," Leyva tells the Reader. "There are two songs that are not from the 1950s, but we felt they were important, as they penned the progressions of the time: 'Stand by Me' and Phil Spector's Be My Baby. Both songs marked the birth of rock and roll production, and what better way to end the record. The album is made to be played from beginning to end, as if you were home or in your car listening to the radio, narrated by Alan Freed."
While primarily a digital release, a CD version will be available at the Griffin release party, and at at http://www.ley-va.bandcamp.com . "There will be a vinyl version later in the year," says Leyva, "with more songs."
"We wanted to celebrate the music that inspired the rock and roll movement, which a lot of people take for granted, and just really capturing the great wardrobe and showmanship that has been forgotten. In that spirit, we want to keep it alive by paying tribute...we literally tracked down outfits as far away as Hawaii, Palm Springs, and Vegas! It took us a full year to get the right instruments and gear, from the guitars to the jackets, all the way to the amps."
Chris Leyva's 2008 solo debut Singled Out, produced by Lee Coulter, was nominated Best Local Recording at the San Diego Music Awards, while his 2009 release 27 was nominated for two SDMAs. The latter is more electronic-based than his previous projects, having been mastered and coproduced by Chris Reynolds, whose local techno act Red Flag made the Billboard top-ten charts back in 1988 with their song “Russian Radio.”
Leyva, who grew up in Mexico City, also books bands at venues around town and co-manages the Black Cherry Group that he founded in 2006 with Reliable Records main man Jerry Segal. “We wanted to offer something positive in the midst of the slow demise of the music industry,” says Leyva of the downtown San Diego company. “We handle artist relations, concert promotion, and we do a lot of brand marketing. [Black Cherry Group] was envisioned as a company that could help artists with the nuts and bolts of the music industry.”
Chris Leyva is currently playing around Southern California with his band Leyva & the Dead 67’s. "We play a mixture of early garage rock and punk...we should have something released by summer. Plus I have a summer album titled Summer of Life currently in the works, and a European and west coast tour is in the planning stages."