The Harlem-born blues firebrand Solomon Hicks has revealed the lyric video for his latest single, Driftin’ And Driftin’, which you can watch HERE.
The song is the second to be taken from his upcoming album How Did I Ever Get This Blue?, which will be released on 23 January via Artone/Provogue.
Popularised by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band on their 1967 album The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw, Hicks gives his own spin on Driftin’ And Driftin’. “There’s a live video of Paul Butterfield singing this with Mike Bloomfield and David Sanborn playing horns. With the [original] horns, it’s very classy, almost like Count Basie or Frank Sinatra’s big band. But it wasn’t until Kirk (Yano) and I started playing the song on the road that it evolved into something heavier, with almost Led Zeppelin-ish guitar. After hearing a lot of people play that song, nobody has this type of sound.”
Hicks is a thrilling paradox, a sonic contradiction. He’s an old-soul roots scholar who salutes ancient musical forms – blues, jazz, soul, funk, gospel – but also a renegade gunslinger here to bend, stretch and scratch them for the modern world. His songs range from earworm originals, past pop covers torn up with electronica and punky riffs, to reignited blues standards that prove how potent this genre still is in the right hands.
The single follows Further On Up The Road – made famous by Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland – which was released in September. The album includes untamed reworkings of Adele’s Rumour Has It and Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man (not to mention Hicks’ originals, How Did I Ever Get This Blue and I’m Burnin’ Up). Far from a ‘covers album’, each song unfolds as you’ve never heard it before. “I’m not looking to copy or recreate sounds from the past,” he nods.
Tracking in Austin, Texas, with producer Kirk Yano, Hicks assembled a crack-squad studio band that spans from US roots icons like Chris ‘Whipper’ Layton of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble to seminal Bronx turntablist DJ Logic. The album’s all-star cast also includes Kevin McCormick (bass), French vocalist Bénabar, Joanna Connor (slide guitar), Tommy Mandel (keys), Keith Shocklee from Public Enemy (drum programming), John Nemeth (harmonica), Les Warner (of The Cult on drums) and Frank Amato (vocals).
Fusing age-old human truths with street-smart modern attitude – while tearing up the rulebook of how roots music can sound – How Did I Ever Get This Blue? is the instant-classic sequel that will lock down devotees and rally new fans to the cause. “I’ve gone through life since Harlem,” he says. “Relationships, breakups, breakdowns – to put all that into this new album was so inspiring. For me, this record is something that musically excites me. And that’s the most important thing – that my soul is recharged…”
2026 Tour Dates
Feb 26, The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton, FL
Feb 28, 2026, Vero Beach Blues Festival, Vero Beach, FL
