[Cover photo credit to Lauri Reimer]

Robby Krieger and The Soul Savages have released the ensemble’s self-titled debut album via Provogue Records / Mascot Label Group. The band have also released the single and humorous official music video for “Ricochet Rabbit.”

As a founding member of The Doors, guitarist Robby Krieger loves free-flowing collaboration and group interplay and assembled a group of musicians for this project and to create a new band.

Robby Krieger And The Soul Savages was recorded in an old-school style “with a bunch of friends jamming and recording in a relaxed studio setting.” Tracked at Krieger’s own Love Street Studios in Glendale, California, it finds Krieger inspired by classic Soul, 1960s Jazz, Blues, Rock, Psychedelic Rock, and more.

Krieger explains:

I’ve had this studio for the last 6 or 7 years, and it’s really made me branch out as a musician. We wrote together, and soul music became a big part of this album. These guys are world-class players—they’ve worked with Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Kahn, Lenny Kravitz—they have that great groove pedigree.

Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of The Doors’ most enduring compositions, including “Light My Fire,” “Love Me Two Times,” “Touch Me,” and “Love Her Madly.” Since the 1970s, Krieger has continued as a Jazz-fusion guitarist with a catalog of solo albums, including the Grammy-nominated record, Singularity. Robby has also stayed active jamming with artists such as Gov’t Mule and Alice In Chains. Recently, he released the memoir, Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors.

He adds:

This band inspired a style of playing I hadn’t done in a while, and it also inspired me to do new things. For example, in the past, I reserved my slide playing for more of the bluesy stuff, but I stretched out on the album playing slide over jazz, funk, and soul grooves. I want to keep evolving, and these guys really inspire me.

Some of the other band members include bassist-songwriter Kevin “Brandino” Brandon who co-wrote and recorded with Robby Krieger on the Singularity album, and he has won over half a dozen Grammy awards as well as three Emmy awards.

Also in the mix is keyboardist-songwriter Ed Roth, a Grammy-nominee known for his work in Jazz, Rock, and Pop, and has worked with Ringo Starr, Brothers Johnson, Coolio, Shuggie Otis, and Annie Lennox. They are joined by drummer-songwriter Franklin Vanderbilt. Among others, his credits include drumming for Chaka Khan, recording with fusion Jazz pioneer Stanley Clarke, and touring worldwide with Lenny Kravitz.