February 16, 2024 – The Immediate Family’s much-anticipated new studio album, Skin In The Game, is out today via Quarto Valley Records. The legendary musicians’ second full-length studio album is a skillful blend of power, precision, fun and introspection, featuring soaring harmonies and a burst of R&B with the pure essence of rock and roll. Produced by the band themselves, the album includes fourteen tracks that showcase the remarkably versatile musical skills possessed by all five members of The Immediate Family: acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarists Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel and Steve Postell, and one of the most renowned rhythm sections in rock history, Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar.
Launching with the raucous opening track “Whole Lotta Rock and Roll,” the album’s thirteen original songs exuberantly careen from funky rockers such as “24/7/365” and “Lost in the Shuffle,” to gentler numbers, such as “Fragile Heart” and “Catch You on the Other Side.” On “Looking Away,” they effortlessly build the emotional drama by shifting from restrained acoustic guitars to a blast of electric guitar fury. Similarly, the band’s satiric edge can slide from the dark side on “Party at the Graveyard” to the lighter-hearted fun of “High Maintenance Girlfriend.” Sklar and Kunkel’s subtly profound ways of building and holding down a song’s foundation are present throughout Skin In The Game. The album’s title track begins with Kunkel’s drumbeat, complemented by Sklar’s sonorous bass. Together, they bring a gravitas that supports the song’s message that life isn’t just about the money; you need to have heart, soul, pride, and be willing to risk everything – “skin in the game.”
The first single from Skin In The Game is its only cover tune: an arresting reimagining of Sparks’ “The Toughest Girl in Town.” Guitar Player Magazine hailed The Immediate Family’s rendition: “’The Toughest Girl in Town’ is transformed from eccentric synth-pop gem to ax-centric masterpiece.” The second single, the album’s title track “Skin In The Game” (and its accompanying video) is a searing, insightful rocker demonstrating what it means to be fully committed to craft and creativity and willing to risk it all without fear of failure. It’s a hard-earned philosophy that the unique quintet has gained from decades of being among rock’s most revered musicians.
Sporting a resume unrivaled in rock history, this tight-knit quintet has collaborated with many of music’s biggest names, including Keith Richards, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, Billy Joel, David Crosby, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, to name a few. However, Skin In The Game gloriously reveals that their best collaborators are each other.
The new album follows the release of the universally praised documentary Immediate Family, directed by Denny Tedesco (The Wrecking Crew). Immediate Family has been featured by major media outlets such as the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Chicago Sun-Times and Los Angeles Times, which proclaimed, “its glimpse of the last great era of live-in-studio recording is an enjoyable, personality-rich one.” Variety raved about the Magnolia Pictures release as the “ultimate liner-note movie,” while the Hollywood Reporter hailed it as “time well spent with delightful subjects who played crucial roles in shaping the popular music of a ground-shifting era.”
The film tracks the rise and collaborations of this group of legendary studio musicians, Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar, through the 1970s and onward, spotlighting their prestigious partnerships and their indelible mark that helped define the sound of a generation. Immediate Family is a backstage tour of rock history, featuring intimate interviews with the band members and memorable stories from some of music’s most iconic performers.
A Magnolia Pictures release, Immediate Family is available now on streaming platforms everywhere. |