"As simple as it seems I just stick with the content and what I know about, I just keep it to three chords and the truth."

A successful addition to Alligator Records' legendary blues and soul roster, Eric Lindell has been a journeyman and bandleader for over a decade. On his latest release, Low on Cash, Rich in Love, he cuts loose with his hot New Orleans-based band, adding tight improvisation alongside honest, well-written lyrics.

To Lindell, signing with the well-known roots music label seems like a perfect plot twist in his career. Eric is a gentleman on the phone, with a worn but thoughtful voice; he speaks like someone who can sing the blues if need be.
 
"I was really into blues in my early 20s, so it's strange that I wound up on Alligator because it has come full circle," he says. "I was really into my favorites, Junior Wells, et cetera, but when putting a band together, I was always into high-energy dancing crowds, with blues mixed in. After you have played millions and millions of gigs, you settle into your own sound. But when I moved into New Orleans I started to play with so many different people, and that can take you in many different directions."

Since the move to New Orleans in '99, Eric's collaborators have now ranged from members of iconic funk-jam outfit Galactic to Branford Marsalis and the Neville Brothers. What engages the listener most about his new record is that it is not just blues music - the songwriting is well-crafted yet earnest, and there is much richer orchestration. When the band pulls loose, the spontaneity sounds like a live group recording. As well it should; Lindell cuts his records without a safety net.

"Every time I do a new record I just go in a do it live," says the singer-guitarist. "We actually recorded 18 songs in one day. The week before we went in we had written a couple new songs as well. It's the best way to get it down, it is always my goal, to capture that live thing. About a week ago we went in and recorded another 11 songs the same way. We pride ourselves on being a live band, and that's what we are trying to get down on tape.

"We can go from a three-piece to an eight-piece. The new record we are working on, we brought the whole big band in live, and tracked it all, and on the road there are six of us right now.  As simple as it seems, I just stick with the content and what I know about, I just keep it to three chords and the truth. I don't write too many fictional songs and I really feel that it's about honing your craft as a songwriter. But sometimes, I just realize that I have played three love songs in a row. "

The Eric Lindell Band will appear at Tampa's Skipper's Smokehouse on July 18.

ericlindellband.com