Treadmarks

TREADMARKS was produced by Mark Doyon (Arms of Kismet) and recorded near Washington DC. It was intentionally recorded in one long session with little overdubbing or sweetening. The album (entitled per Blair's devotion to bicycle riding) is a sequel to 2002's predominantly acoustic/Americana project, SNAPSHOTS. Comparatively, TREADMARKS benefitted with an outside producer guiding Blair through new songs and stripped-down remakes of older material. While Blair was initially ambivalent about the project, most of the material has become touchstones of his live show, and TREADMARKS met with mostly good reviews. Highlights include the Marvin Gaye-inspired "Music Up Inside Of Me," a Sam Cooke tribute ("Sam Said"), the Celtic-rock tour de force "Frontiers of Love," the Dean Martin/Staple Singers send-up "Somebody Loves You (Like Dino Said)," and the debut of Blair's autobiographical "I Like The Street."