The Drop: Benmont Tench

There are a few players out there, musicians who show up on credits of all kinds, who carry the tradition of “great sidemen” forward. Benmont Tench is one of them. But his situation is all the more interesting because, first and foremost, he’s the member of a band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In addition to every recording by the Heartbreakers, Tench has played on records by Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, the Dixie Chicks, the Replacements, John Prine, Waylon Jennings, John Fogerty, Elvis Costello, the Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash and more.  And now, Blue Note Records will release the debut solo album from  Tench, You Should Be So Lucky, on February 18, 2014. Produced by Glyn Johns, the album was recorded to tape at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles and features Tench handling lead vocals, piano and organs, joined by a team of collaborators including a core band of Don Was, Ethan Johns, Blake Mills and Jeremy Stacey and contributions by Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Joel Jerome, Tom Petty and Ringo Starr.  You Should Be So Lucky is a dynamic and distinguished album of songs written almost entirely by Tench over the course of his nearly four-decade career.  Please join us as we celebrate the release with an intimate discussion and special solo performance.