New York — ZZ TOP, eternal icons of rock, blues and boogie, have, after many months of planning, writing, wood shedding, experimentation and recording, at last emerged with their newest album in hand. Entitled Mescalero, it's another milestone in a remarkable career that encompasses an amazing 34 years of American rock and roll history. As it was in the beginning, the ZZ TOP of 2003 boasts its original personnel line up — Billy F Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.  It's the same "little ol' band from Texas," retooled and reenergized for the new millennium. Mescalero is the latest installment in an unparalleled resume that stretches back to 1969 when the group was founded in Houston out of the key components of The Moving Sidewalks (Gibbons) and The American Blues (Hill and Beard).

The completion of a new ZZ TOP album is cause for unbridled jubilance among the band's considerable fan base around the world, and this latest effort, to be released by RCA Records on April 15th, is no exception.  ZZ TOP's traditional recipe for rock, underpinned by a canon of songs that are innovative, sometimes enigmatic and often humorous, propelled by Billy's blues based guitar virtuosity, Dusty's driving bass and Frank's fierce drumming, is very much in evidence on Mescalero.  Not content to rest on their considerable laurels, the band has taken something of a cutting edge approach on the new album in both sonic and compositional terms. The result is a recording grounded in the band's glorious past with a decidedly contemporary flavor.

Mescalero includes sixteen tracks (fifteen of which were written for the album plus one cover song) for a total running time of approximately 63 minutes; the band refers to the album's length as "a buck and change."  The album was produced by Billy F Gibbons and Lone Wolf Production Company. Packaging, created by L.A. artist Ryk Maverick, is inspired by Mexico's "Dia De Los Muertes" in keeping with the border theme of the album.

"The album has some of that old ZZ sound," notes Gibbons, "it the same three guys playing the same three chords but we've gone in some new directions with them."  Dusty Hill adds, "You'll know it's ZZ TOP right away but we've kept it interesting and fresh."  Frank Beard attributes ZZ TOP's longevity to "the three 't's: tone, taste and tenacity."

The selections run the stylistic gamut from blues-rock to neo-metal to crypto-zydeco to boogie flavored vamps, even including a country inflected ballad and a big dose of TexMex border ambience.  In fact, one of the tracks, "Que Lastima" which might be described as techno-mariachi, is sung entirely in Spanish while the title song is a bilingual outing.  Beyond the Mescalero originals, the album includes "Tramp," the proto-rap R&B classic, written by Lowell Fulsom and Jimmy McCracklin, that was a hit duet for Otis Redding and Carla Thomas in 1967.

ZZ TOP recently headlined Rodeo Houston, attracting nearly 70,000 fans to their performance at the just opened Reliant Stadium.  Within their set, they previewed  "Buck Nekkid," and "Piece" from the new album, which received a great reception from the hometown throng.  Other Mescalero titles include "Two Ways To Play," "Alley-Gator," "Goin' So Good," "Me So Stupid," "Punk Ass Boyfriend," "Stackin' Paper," "What Would You Do," "What It Is Kid," "Crunchy," "Dusted" and Liquor."

After previewing the album for label executives, management, friends and family, Gibbons commented, "Mescalero — what it is?  Nobody really knows!  It is strange and alluring and that's a good thing.  Try it — you gonna like it."

ZZ Top will embark upon their "Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers" tour on April 25.  Tour dates are listed below.

 

Apr 25	Boosier City, LA	Century Tel Center
Apr 26	Birmingham, AL	Oak Mountain
Apr 29	San Antonio, TX	Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Apr 30	Laredo, TX	Event Center
May 2	Jackson, MS	Coliseum
May 3	Oklahoma City, OK	Ford Center
May 7	W. Palm Bch, FL	Corla Sky Amphitheatre
May 9	Raleigh, NC	Alltel Pavilion
May 10	Charlotte, NC	Charlotte Verizon Amphitheatre
May 11	Virginia Bch, VA	Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 13	Washington, DC	Nissan Pavilion
May 14	Columbus, OH	Germain Amp
May 16	Pittsburgh, PA	Post-Gazette Pavilion
May 17	Indianapolis, IN	Verizon Wireless Music Theatre
May 18	Cleveland, OH	Germain Amphiteatre
May 20	Boston, MA	Tweeter Center
May 21	Philadelphia, PA	Tweeter Center
May 23	Detroit, MI	DTE Energy Music Center
May 24	Chicago, IL	Tweeter Center
May 25	Milwaukee, WI	Alpine Valley
May 28	Cincinnati, OH	Riverbend Music Center
May 30	Nashville, TN	AmSouth Amphitheatre
May 31	St. Louis, MO	UMB Bank Pavilion
June 1	Kansas City, KS	Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
June 3	Albuquerque, NM	Journal Pavilion
June 4	Phoenix, AZ	Cricket Pavilion
June 6	Sacramento, CA	Sleep Train Amphitheatre
June 7	San Bernardino, CA	Glen Helen Pavilion
June 8	San Francisco, CA	Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 12	Tulsa, OK	Convention Center
June 13	Austin, TX	Frank Erwin Center
June 14	Dallas, TX	American Airlines Arena