Billy F Gibbons from ZZ Top plays The Bluestone Oct 17th 2018

August 10, 2018


Billy Gibbons
Blain Clausen

Billy Gibbons had plenty of help getting the blues for his upcoming second solo album, The Big Bad Blues; both from his assortment of musical collaborators and, on the track “Missin’ Yo’ Kissin’,” from Gilligan Stillwater, the woman he affectionately (and legally) calls Miz Gibbons.

“That was a gift,” the ZZ Top mainstay tells Billboard about the track, whose lyric video premieres exclusively below. “We had gotten maybe five (songs) recorded, and my lovely sweetheart Gilligan was scribbling away on the couch. I was, ‘Omigod, she’s reading the Chanel catalog. Hide the credit card!’ Then she took a break and the engineers kinda glanced over the scribbling and said, ‘Hey man, this looks pretty good. This could be nice and bluesy if we put something to it,’ which we did.

“Of course, I was like, ‘Why does that say ‘Missin’ Yo’ Kissin’?’ I hope she’s writing it about ME!'”

Due out Sept. 21 and the follow up to 2015’s Perfectamundo, The Big Bad Blues is an 11-track collection of Gibbons originals and covers of songs by Muddy Waters and Bob Diddley, some played on a Gretsch Duo-Jet guitar Gibbons “dusted off” just for the sessions in Houston. The set takes a different stylistic tact than the Afro-Cuban flavor of Perfectamundo, which Gibbons says came at the suggestion of Concord Records chief John Burk. “We had such a nice success, surprisingly, with such an unusual release, and then (Burk) said to me, ‘How would you feel about returning to some of your bluesier roots,'” Gibbons recalls. “I said, ‘I think that’ll be fine.’ That’s how we started, and we’re still walking that line.” Hitting the studio in Texas, Gibbons started playing for fun with drummer Greg Morrow and engineer Joe Hardy playing bass; Hardy had the temerity to record their jams, which put The Big Bad Blues in motion.

“It was really good, really natural,” Gibbons says. “After about three days (Hardy) said, ‘Would you like to hear some of the stuff?’ I said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ He said, ‘I’ve been recording the whole outing.’ That’s where the Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley numbers came from. It felt pretty good so I got busy and started writing some originals, and all in all we think that we hit on something alright.”

Gibbons will hit the road to promote The Big Bad Blues on Oct. 13 in Iowa with a “nice little outfit” that includes Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, The Cult, Velvet Revolver) on drums. His solo work will, of course, work alongside ZZ Top, which is on the road through August but is also hatching plans for a 50th anniversary celebration during 2019. Gibbons says bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard have already presented him with some “starter pieces” they’ve been working on in the studio, while other ideas are being exchanged about how the group will commemorate its five-decade mark.

“It’s such a rarity to find this, the same three guys playing the same three chords and you look up and say, ‘Gee, it’s 50 years!’ That’s pretty wild,” Gibbons says. “I think it’s cause for celebration. We’ll certainly pull out all the stops. Furthermore, it gives us a good excuse to go back and relearn some of the stuff we’re supposed to already know….”

Gibbons’ full The Big Bad Blues Tour itinerary includes:

Oct-13 Riverside, IA Riverside Casino and Golf Resort

Oct-14 Prior Lake, MN Mystic Lake Casino – Showroom

Oct-16 Chicago, IL House of Blues

Oct-17 Columbus, OH The Bluestone

Oct-18 St. Louis, MO The Pageant

Oct-20 Wabash, IN Honeywell Center

Oct-21 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom

Oct-23 Kitchener, ON Centre in the Square

Oct-25 Derry, NH Tupelo Music Hall

Oct-26 Beverly, MA The Cabot Theater

Oct-28 Huntington, NY The Paramount