Stu Weinberg would like you to listen to Donnie Green on his latest single and video — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
An ethereal instrumental invoking the cadence of jam-band music, Donnie Green — like the rest of his debut album Disco Stu Likes Disco Music — features skillfully crafted arrangements and performances that make each track unique. ”Some are funky, some are real funky, some are groovy,” Weinberg explains.
The album features sensational drumming provided by John Morgan Kimock (Phish’s Mike Gordon, Dead & Company’s Oteil Burbridge), while smooth-as-silk Andy Hess (Gov’t Mule, The Black Crowes, John Scofield) brings the bass. Todd Caldwell (Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Walsh), Robert Walter (Phish’s Mike Gordon, The Greyboy Allstars), and Marco Benevento (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead) are a trio of accomplished keyboard players that supply another critical layer to the album’s sound, and Weinberg is accompanied on guitar by legendary jazz player Oz Noy.
Weinberg’s meticulous attention to detail isn’t limited to players: The decision to have Disco Stu Likes Disco Music mixed by Juno-winning engineer Kevin Dietz (Glorious Sons, JJ Wilde, Portugal The Man), mastered by Noah Mintz (Arkells, The National, Broken Social Scene), and decorated with otherworldly, psychedelic artwork by artist Leesa Westwood meant the audio and visual components were perfectly balanced.
Disco Stu Likes Disco Music began as Weinberg’s personal answer to the pandemic blues, and the massive shift from what the active artist was used to pre-Covid. “As a session musician, that seemingly neverending schedule of tracking on records, traveling for tours, and learning material for gigs leaves little time to focus on your own musical projects,” he shares. “When I found myself stuck in my apartment with nothing but guitars and time, I looked at the blank calendar and knew: There would never be a situation like this again and, if I wanted to create music of my own, I’d have to jump at the opportunity.
“At the onset, the goal was to make music that I dug. When I first started out playing guitar, I was drawn to the classic instrumental guitar records but, as I evolved as a player, the songs take their inspiration from the jam-band scene. I love the freedom of jam-band music. It’s very much a guitar-based record, but it steers away from the technical playing with more of an emphasis on the melody and emotion of the song. It combines all the styles of playing that I’ve grown to love, and basically hits all the notes I’m not allowed to play on other artists’ records.”
Watch Donnie Green above, listen to Disco Stu Likes Disco Music below, and sit in with Stu Weinberg at his website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
