In July, early-2000s electronic outfit Vida Blue—led by keyboardist/vocalist Page McConnell (Phish) alongside Oteil Burbridge (Dead & Company, Allman Brothers Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit), and Russell Batiste (The funky Meters) as well as new guitarist Adam Zimmon (Shakira, Ziggy Marley—announced the coming release of their new album, Crossing Lines, due out on September 20th.
On Friday, Vida Blue shared a one-minute audio preview of “Weepa”, the fifth track that appears on their forthcoming studio album. The brief excerpt from “Weepa” follows up the band’s previously released single, “Analog Delay”. Listen to a one-minute preview of “Weepa” below:
Vida Blue – “Weepa”
Your first listen: WEEPA from the new album Crossing Lines. Available for pre-order now at https://t.co/ORqwvjrAET @oteilburbridge @russellbatiste @adamzimmon pic.twitter.com/kWY7ednzGq
— Page McConnell (@pagemcconnell) September 6, 2019
Crossing Lines marks the third album by the all-star trio, following 2002’s self-titled release and 2003’s The Illustrated Band, which features four tracks performed alongside Grammy-winning Afro-Cuban outfit, the Spam Allstars. Vida Blue toured with the Spam Allstars behind The Illustrated Band throughout 2004 leading up to their final performance at the third annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 11th, 2004.
As Page noted in an interview with Rolling Stone about reviving the old project with the addition of a guitar player,
It can be so many different things, whether it’s Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Cream. But the keyboard trio in particular, with a keyboard, bass, and drums, just kind of seemed liberating to me. Maybe it’d been years and years of playing with a guitar player, but it was important that I did my own thing. I consciously didn’t want to have guitar in the band. And I think that that was fine for the studio, but I really do enjoy guitar in my band. I don’t know how much you know about Adam Zimmon’s playing or what he’s about, but he’s not only one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, he’s such a tasteful player. He worked on my solo projects. There’s a song called “Halfway to the Moon” on Fuego. That guitar line came from a track that I’d recorded with a solo band that Adam played on. He’s currently out with Ziggy Marley now, and he’s played with a lot of different folks over the years, he’s one of those guys.
Vida Blue will mark the arrival of Crossing Lines with three live shows in September. See below for Vida Blue’s upcoming tour dates and tracklist for their forthcoming album. For more information, head to Page McConnell’s website here.
