As the Yardbirds gear up for a series of U.S. dates, stalwart member Jim McCarty admits to mulling over the idea of a new studio album. This tour, beginning June 20, 2014, will take the group into Texas — just a state away from the birthplace of the rootsy blues sound that became their original inspiration.
McCarty tells DMME.net that the idea of holding sessions there has been discussed. “Possibly. I don’t see it right at the moment,” McCarty says of recording something new. “I don’t envisage it, but it possibly could work. We were thinking at one point of going down to Mississippi and doing an album down there, a blues album in the right place, near the Crossroads.”
The Yardbirds’ last album, the star-studded Birdland, arrived back in 2003 and saw the band reuniting briefly with Jeff Beck for “My Blind Life.” Since, Chris Dreja — who played a notable role in many of the originals on Birdland — has left after a health crisis, and original guitarist Top Topham has returned. The Yardbirds are rounded out by Ben King, David Smale and Andy Mitchell.
That leaves a lot up in the air for any possible new recording project. “Well, I don’t know what it would be — it would be a combination of covers and things,” McCarty says. “There’s not a great motivation for that, but it’s a possibility.”
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