From left: Jimbo Mathus, Larry Nix, King Louie, Kevin Nix
It's been a long and arduous process, but a new project from King Louie Bankston should see the light of day soon. The project is called King Louie and the Loose Diamonds and consists of Bankston along with Jack Yarber on drums, Harlan T. Bobo on guitar, Adam Woodard on keys, with Chad Booth and Jimbo Mathus trading time on rhythm guitar. Although the record is being touted as having been recorded at Jimbo Mathus' Delta Recording Studio in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the history of the project is actually a lot more lengthy.
Recording of the album, titled Memphis Treet, originally began at Easley-McCain Studios. The early recordings survived that studio's tragic fire in March 2005, but then futher recording was postponed due to the Katrina Hurricane after Bankston was uprooted from his home in New Orleans. The tapes ended up in a basement studio in Memphis, made their way down to Mississippi and then ended up at Jim Dickinson's Zebra Ranch Studio to be mixed. The final mastering was done in April by Nix Mastering located inside Ardent Studios.
After being plagued by fires, hurricanes, and makeshift recording sessions, the album will finally be released this summer by Seattle's Empty Records.
But don't expect after four years for there to be a lot of hoopla around the release. Yarber and Bobo, who will be releasing his sophomore album I'm Your Man on July 17th, are both headed back to Europe to tour this summer, while Bankston plans to focus all of his attention on his latest band, "I'm spending all my time with The Black Rose Band right now, I'm just gonna let this record do it's thing."
Tracklisting:
1. Negative Contact
2. Memphis Treet
3. Gypsy Switch
4. Girl in the Holler
5. Heart
6. Wheelbarrow Whiz (Jack's Theme)
7. Fire on the Sun
8. She's Losing Her Hair
9. Lookin' for a Heart
10. Mountain of Lore
11. Untitled Lament
12. Burning Sands
Memphis Treet Fun Fact:
Treet is a canned meat product, similar to SPAM, that is marketed under the brand name Armour Star by the Dial Group in the USA. Treet is made with chicken and pork. SPAM is made with ham and pork. Treet is often less expensive than SPAM.
Treet has a less greasy texture than SPAM, more akin to bologna or vienna sausages. Like SPAM, it is often heated before consumption. This includes frying or baking. Baked Treet with ketchup or steak sauce is often referred to as "Treet loaf" after meat loaf. Although it is officially a "spiced luncheon loaf", Treet is often called "Treet meat". For unknown reasons, possibly ingredient costs, Treet is copied for private label luncheon loaf more often than SPAM. While very popular, Treet does not have SPAM's cult following.
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