The Mother Hips, Announce New Album, California Current on Blue Rose
Iconic California Rock Band, The Mother Hips, Announce New Album, California Current on Blue Rose
The new album blends their signature West Coast sound with lyrical mastery
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, The Mother Hips, one of the Bay Area’s most iconic rock and roll outfits, will release their latest album, California Current, an 11-song collection of original music (plus a fan-favorite cover of The Kinks “This Is Where I Belong”) that masterfully showcases the unique “California Soul” sound the band has built its 30-year success upon.
Scheduled for release on the Blue Rose label, California Current seamlessly blends the storied sonic innovation of The Mother Hips with their deep-rooted influences in folk, rock, and Americana that has made them one of the most lauded bands in California history.
Founded in 1991 by Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono while students at California State University, Chico, The Mother Hips quickly developed a devoted following with their signature West Coast aesthetic combined with lyrical whimsy to establish a distinctive style that remains both timeless and innovative.
“Reflecting on what is most important to us as a band, we agree that writing and recording music as much as possible is our top priority,” says Loiacono.
“Three years ago, Joe Poletto, the founder of Blue Rose, and The Hips set a goal to record and release one album per year,” says Bluhm. “Of course, it’s not unusual for any record to include ideas collected from years past, but this frequency of releases exhausts stored-up ideas and requires a steady stream of fresh material.”
Earlier this year, the band began laying down tracks with Jason Crosby (Jackson Browne, John McLaughlin) on electric piano at 25th Street Recording as well as at Bluhm’s Forrest Power studio, to record what is their 13th studio album. California Current showcases the band’s deep connection to their roots in The Golden State, as well as their ability to craft songs that bend ears and minds with radiant harmonies, lyrical enchantment, and musical mastery.
“California Current, as the title suggests, is a fine representation of the state of our art,” says Loiacono. “It’s a distinctly Mother Hips record that bursts with the love, energy, and beauty that California brings to us all.”
Praised for their “rootsy mix of 70’s rock and power pop” by Pitchfork, lauded for their ability to “sing it sweet and play it dirty” by The New Yorker, and called “divinely inspired” by Rolling Stone, The Mother Hips continue to stretch artistic limits while crafting albums that not only represent their storied past, but also celebrate the canyons, beaches, mountains, and souls that enrich their radiant golden state.
“We entered the studio ready to push ourselves further than we’ve ever gone in the songwriting process,” says Loiacono. “After thirty years of recording and touring, California Current proved to us that there is still so much to explore with our hearts, minds, and voices—and, once again, we laid it all down for the world to hear.”