John Idan’s return to the Yardbirds doesn’t simply reunite the group with their Birdland-era lead singer; it completes a circle for Idan, who still vividly remembers the first band he ever heard play the blues.
“The Yardbirds, funnily enough,” Idan told Early Blues. “My older brothers were listening to heavy metal music, Deep Purple, Steppenwolf and then we got a Yardbirds album, and I was like: ‘Wow, this is like … more primitive, heavy, but primitive in its approach.’ Then, of course, I discovered all those guitar players, and John Mayall’s records pointed me to the black players – because they’d always say who the writers were, Otis Rush, Albert King – and then I’d buy their albums.”
Idan, originally with the Yardbirds from 1992-2009, co-wrote the album-closing tribute to Yardbirds co-founder Keith Relf on 2003’s guest-packed Birdland. He’d earlier worked with Yardbirds stalwart Jim McCarty’s solo band, as well as original Yardbirds guitarist Top Topham. Idan returns to a lineup that finds McCarty joined by singer/harpist Myke Scavone, bassist Kenny Aaronson and guitarist Earl Slick, who had a similar formative passion for the band.
John Idan also appeared on 2006’s Live at B.B. King’s with the Yardbirds. He released his debut solo album, called The Folly, two years later. He’s now set to rejoin the Yardbirds for a series of confirmed dates this fall. His long history with the band will, no doubt, serve Idan well.
“Back in my early teens, I learned every lick I could find off Yardbirds records,” John Idan told Blues.gr. “My high school group performed a lot of their music in our set. I collected rare Yardbirds records and figured out some interesting arrangements and we incorporated these into the group. … So, when I eventually started to play with Top and Jim McCarty, I had a pretty solid knowledge of their music and the kind of blues that we would play together.”
- Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop, “When I Fall” (2024): Video premiere - March 15, 2024
- Disaster Pony,“Dead Neon & The Noon Sun” from ‘Disaster Pony’ (2024): Video premiere - February 27, 2024
- Christopher Hoffman, “Farewell Forever” from ‘Vision Is The Identity’ (2024): Streaming premiere - February 19, 2024
