The Truth and Other Lies

STOMPIN' HOWIE and the VOODOO TRAIN are ready to roll with soulful grooves and timely messages on their debut CD “The Truth and Other Lies”. With Funk icon Fred Wesley hopping on for a couple of stops, this international collective covers serious ground. The album takes you on a journey of well crafted originals and deftly chosen covers, from the smooth-grooving introspection of “The Truth Is What I Wanna Know” to the burning Blues Rock of “Love and Hate”, along with jazzy turns and tasteful nods to the New Orleans piano legacy.

Stompin’ Howie, aka Austrian keyboard meister Christof Waibel, is the primary vocalist and composer on the record. His years backing American Blues and Soul artists, including Betty Harris, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Marc Stone and Chucky C, give Waibel’s playing a funky fluency not often found in his continental counterparts. His mastery of the panorama of American Roots music styles gives his writing plenty of variety and depth.

The VooDoo Train is at its heart a trio, with Waibel as the conductor and longtime collaborators - Brooklyn born Funk legend Lorenzo “Muki” Wilson on bass and Austrian producer and drummer Little Konzett - as the roaring engine. Adding another layer for the recording is L.A. session ace Billy Watts. Watts traveled to Austria to perform with the band and co-produce the album with Waibel and Konzett. He handles guitar duties throughout the album, and contributes an original tune and lead vocal on “Sugar Britches”.

Fred Wesley adds his legendary funky trombone to Waibel-penned instrumentals, “Where’s Eddie?” (written in honor of musician lost in transit from the states to Europe) and “A Minor Affair”. South African singer-songwriter Brendan Adams and L.A. studio legend David Raven contribute co-writes and backing vocals on a song each, and Waibel pays tribute to his stateside influences with Doug MacLeod's “The Sun Shine Down My Way” and Jelly Roll Morton’s “Hesitation Blues”.