Casey Russell | Let's Get It

Casey Russell, best known as the keyboardist of tour circuit mainstays, The Magic Beans, has revealed "Let's Get It," the second single off of his solo record Patience due out on Color Red on November 8, 2024. Russell is at the helm on keyboards and lead vocals accompanied by a star-studded backing cast of Shira Elias (Cool Cool Cool) & Kim Dawson on background vocals, Eric “Benny” Bloom (Lettuce) on trumpet, Nick Gerlach on tenor sax, Jeff Franca (Thievery Corporation) on drums, and Taylor Frederick on guitar. 

“Let’s Get It” is an assertive anthem that showcases the more upbeat side of the album with influence drawn from Prince, Morris Day & The Time, and Allen Toussaint. Every musician shines on the arrangements with punchy horn lines, powerhouse vocal harmonies, and a poignant instrumental breakdown section laced with Russell’s synthesizers interplay with Gerlach and Bloom on horns. “Let’s Get It is an ode to laying it all out there with confidence,” attests Russell, “I had written a few sad boy heartache tunes, and wanted to get something down on the page that showed the other side. This song features my favorite instrumental portion on the record. Jeff Franca (Drums/Percussion) and Dan Africano (Bass) were locked in in the studio.”

Russell began writing the album shortly after the pandemic lockdown, pouring energy that would normally be used on gigging heavily into sending demos back and forth between musical colleagues locked down in their studios. In late 2020 with a solid batch of demos in-hand, he called Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds & The Lucky Strokes) to book a session at Color Red Studios and record 8 songs in 2 days. The new collection of songs positions itself perfectly with stalwarts of the soul revival in recent years such as The California Honeydrops, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, and Leon Bridges who have stormed the scene and airwaves with the new school of soul and R&B music. With Color Red’s trusty Tascam-388, Russell was able to hone in on the old school analog sound while putting his imprint on the reemergence of soul music that honors carefree arrangement sensibility,  breezy vocal harmonies, and a locked-in rhythm section. The record was mixed & mastered by Josh Fairman of Laskin productions who was a standout part of the process dedicating many hours to the process of honing in on Russell’s signature soul sound.

“Patience is my love letter to old school Soul and R&B music,” proclaims Russell, “From the song writing to the recording methods, I wanted to take a step back in time to my favorite sounds of the 60s and 70s, with a little bit of modern flare mixed in. It has a very funky retro-soul feel, complete with an 8 piece band recording through analog equipment.”

The studio recording features Dan Africano (Thievery Corporation), Jeff Franca (Thievery Corporation), Taylor Fredrick, Lyle Divinsky, Nick Gerlach, Eric “Benny” Bloom (Lettuce), Parris Flemming (Harry Styles, The Parrisian), Alex Cazet (Mama Magnolia), Shira Elias (Cool Cool Cool), and Kim Dawson throughout.

To celebrate the release of Patience, Russell will be performing the album in its entirety at Cervantes’ Other Side in Denver, Colorado on November 9th joined by an all-star band featuring Dan Africano (Thievery Corporation) on bass, Collin O’Brien (Neal Francis) on drums, Taylor Fredrick on guitar, Brittany Beckett (Watermelon Funk) on vocals, Will Trask (High Hawks) on percussion, Gabriel Mervine on trumpet, and Alex Cazet on saxophone. Jamtronica quintet Splendid Blend will open the night.