Paul Gilbert is an artist, and a consummate craftsman. He has superb technical insight, but this used to develop interesting, insightful music that stands impressively as an expression of the soul and spirit. People first heard him in full flow with the much respected Racer X. Their 1986 debut album ‘Street Lethal’ was well received, as was the follow up ‘ Second Heat’ a year later. In 1988, he left the band helped form Mr. Big, one of the most acclaimed names of the era. Across four studio albums, the foursome gained commercial success, and had a chart topping US single in 1992 with ‘To Be With You’.

Now he has his 16th solo studio album ready to prove to everyone that this master continues to raise the bar on what he can achieve. “I was planning to record in the spring of 2020,” explains Gilbert. “I had the studio booked, and the musicians ready to rehearse. But suddenly the world locked down, and I had to put everything on hold. It was hard to let go of my passion for recording ‘live’ in the studio, but as the lockdown dragged on, I began to think about other ways that I could make the record, and still be inspired by the recording process.” Gilbert’s solution allowed him to express his wide instrumental dexterity by playing all the instruments heard on the album. “It took some time, but it finally occurred to me that I could play all the instruments myself. I’ve always loved playing drums, and I can play bass and keyboards well enough to get the job done.”

‘Werewolves Of Portland’ is a remarkable album. It sounds fresh, vital and certainly takes the listener on a glorious journey. For Gilbert it’s the development of a process which began on his previous album. “The process of writing lyrics, then melody, then guitar, then backing it all up with the other instruments is a wonderful discovery that really started coming together for me on ‘Behold Electric Guitar’. “‘Werewolves Of Portland’ was written in a similar way,” he continues. “It’s a much more traditional way of writing, a path that I tried to avoid for most of my career, since rock ‘n’ roll has a spirit of being non-traditional. I’m sure that I still do enough face-melting playing to get me kicked out of any Black Crowes audition. But that’s OK. I’ll bet we can still eat some pie together.”