“Florida Man Blues” features a swampy riff reminiscent of John Lee Hooker with over-the-top soloing, inspired by Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Says Skolnick: “The blues has always been a big component of my playing, across genres. In high school, BB King was on my turntable as much as Van Halen. And I’ve always loved the lyrical humor of folks like Junior Brown, Frank Zappa and early Tom Waits. “Florida Man Blues” presented an opportunity to fully display these influences for the first time on a recording.”

Alex Skolnick, who emerged in the late 80’s as the teenage lead guitar virtuoso of Bay Area thrash metal band Testament, has also made a name for himself in multiple genres, including jazz guitar with his trio, featuring drummer Matt Zebroski on and Nathan Peck on bass. This is the band’s first full-fledged blues song, and their debut of Alex in the role of both lead vocalist and guitarist.

“It gives me great pleasure to finally release this song!” says Skolnick, who wrote “Florida Man Blues” in 2019, based on real news stories from the Sunshine State. “In the two years since we tracked this tune, so much has happened.” Although he made news himself in 2020 for commenting on current events in written essays and even political rap tunes, here he casts politics aside with a song and video that is non-partisanly entertaining. “We can all use a good dose of solid blues and good humor during these times. I’m grateful to everyone involved, from tracking to filming, especially Adam, who believed in this song and felt it deserved a video as big as, well…Florida.”

Directed by Adam Dubin, co-director of legendary Beastie Boys videos “Fight for Your Right to Party” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” the “Florida Man Blues” video could only be brought to life by Dave Hill as an alligator-carrying booze enthusiast, with cameos by Brian Posehn and Dean Delray (of the podcast Dark Fonzie with Marc Maron). In an homage to Adam Yauch, Alex smashes a TV with a sledgehammer.

Recently, Dubin's music video for Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” topped one billion views on YouTube. Dubin adds, “I expect Alex’s video to do half that number.”

AUDIO CREDITS:

Recorded at Spin Studios, Long Island City, NY
Producer: Alex Skolnick
Engineer: Nik Chinboukas
Mixer: Nik Chinboukas & AST
Mastering: Andy VanDette for Evolve Mastering
Additional Background Vox: Viv Petillo & Ava Peklinsky
Scream: Ava Peklinsky

AST is:

Alex Skolnick – Guitar & Lead Vocals
Nathan Peck – Bass Guitar & Background Vocals
Matt Zebroski – Drums & Background Vocals

Music & Lyrics: Alex Skolnick
©℗2019 SkolnickMusic ASCAP
All Rights Reserved

VIDEO CREDITS:

Directed by Adam Dubin
Edited by Sean Fullen (Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story)
Cinematographer Robert Kassabian
Band Shot at Complete Music Studios, Brooklyn, NY

Cast (in alphabetical order):

Alex Skolnick
Alyx and Nella Dubin
Brian Posehn
Dave Hill
Dean DelRay
Maddy Sámaddar
Matt Zebroski
Nathan Peck
Riley “Kirwan” Thompson
Trevor Thompson
The Thompsons’ Parents (as Florida Police)