Hardware, the widely anticipated third solo album from ZZ Top front man Billy F Gibbons is out. The album was recorded last summer in the California desert near Joshua Tree and includes a dozen songs, all but one of which were written by Gibbons. The album’s release has been preceded by three videos to date including “My Lucky Card,“ “West Coast Junkie,” and “Desert High.” A fourth video, “She’s On Fire,” will be out June 10; all were shot on location by Texas filmmaker Harry Reese while the album was in production.
Billy F Gibbons mentioned: "We’re looking forward to checking out the grooves with everybody in the world, known or otherwise, who wants to join us. We’re really delighted with the way it turned out, not to mention that we managed to avoid rattlesnake bites and cactus punctures over the course of the recording process.”
Hardware follows Gibbons' The Big Bad Blues three years ago and 2015's Perfectamundo. The bearded one produced the album along with Guns n' Roses and The Cult veteran Matt Sorum, who also played drums during the sessions. Guitarist Austin Hanks rounded out the recording roster, having already played on Gibbon's previous The Big Bad Blues.
That album tore into the blues canon with gusto, with blazing licks inspired by the plantation blues of Son House and the urban sophistication of Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon in post World War 2 Chicago. Before that the ZZ Topper explored Cuban styles on his first solo foray Perfectamundo. This new release dives into country territory, when that style fused with the blues in Memphis to form the first sounds of rock n' roll. But don't worry; this ain't redneck honky-tonk - this is southern-fried, boogie-fied, and unadulterized, strapped-to-the-'Eliminator' Billy Gibbons , y'all!