Words by Jordan Kirkland
Montgomery natives Blues Old Stand have had an exciting project in the works for the past year, and they’re excited to share it with their fans this week. The band’s self-titled album Blues Old Stand was originally released in September of 1993, featuring originals such as “In This Town,” “Souled Out,” “Assume Nothing,” and “The Git” by founding members Dave P. Moore, John Mark Turner, and Tyler Bell.
Over the course of 2025, Moore, Turner, and Bell reunited in the studio with bassist Freddie Smith, keyboardist Trey Evans, and drummer Marcus Donerlson to record a two new originals “Pass The Peace” and “Escape Yo Self.” The end result is a full vinyl rerelease of Blues Old Stand, the two new tunes, and a special live cut of longtime fan favorite “Mule.”
Those in the Montgomery area can celebrate with the band at the official listening party at Moe’s Original BBQ in Montgomery on Thursday, May 28th at 6:00 PM CST. Local legend DJ Jeffrey James will be spinning the record, while the band will be on site to hang out and sell official copies of the record.
I had a chance to catch up with John Mark and Freddie last week. The guys were kind enough to share some insight on the original ‘93 release, the latest studio recordings, and the listening party on Thursday night. Check out their feedback below, share this article with a few friends, and make sure you have plans to be at Moe’s Original BBQ on East Fairview Avenue on Thursday night at 6:00 PM CST.
On the original 1993 album release:
John Mark: We probably had half the songs on the album ready, arranged, and played on stage a whole lot, while the other half the tunes came together in the studio. We were kinda guinea pigs for the engineer's 24-track 2-inch tape machine. He was working out kinks as we went, but it really gave the record a unique sound. I think it sounds even better on the vinyl; a whole lotta analog goin on!
All the bass tracks were laid down by our great friend Ted White, who had never heard the songs before, but we knew he would knock it out of the park…and he did. If you listen closely, he's just phenomenal.
Our partner Jerry Beeks, then known as Head Demus, put the rap on “Formally the Galaxy.” He and his partner used to travel to shows with us and perform several songs, and that song was a good example of what we would do. Just improvise some chord changes and let them do their thing.
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The college kids were VERY divided on their feelings on that part of our show, a very love/hate situation. Some of the kids individually didn't know if they loved or hated it, but we loved it and it was a very novel thing on the Southern jam band circuit in the early 90s.
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And Jay Berry was just an 18 year old kid playing some of the best Hammond organ and keyboards ever. He was just fantastic. It was most of our first real experience in a recording studio. We were learning as we went, and we just tried to capture the energy of our live shows. Just being creative with some of the time we could fit on a CD. Great memories and a nice time capsule for the band.”
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On the latest studio session for “Pass The Peace” and “Escape Yo Self”:
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Freddie: Dave, John Mark, and I had been getting together to play a lot more shows mostly acoustic type shows over the last 2-3 years. We got Marcus Donerlson on drums, and Trey Evans had been joining us again too. This sparked a fire under us, and we got together and wrote the two new tracks at different times on/off at gigs and at my house.
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When you play with different people live, the band can take on different sounds, whether it be “in your face funk” to “grooved out rock n roll” to even, we grow together. Dave always comes up with great lyrics that have meaning to all of us.
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It was a joint song writing thing together, as we all added pieces and parts to bring the new tracks together. You can hear the difference and growth as a band from the original album to the new tracks. You can also hear some of the same qualities as well, which is cool.
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John Mark: I moved back to the US at the end of 2024, and we decided to start playing some BOS shows. We also decided to write and record a new song to kick start the engine. Our benefactor, Stewart Wilbanks, made it possible. We quickly wrote and arranged “Pass the Peace” and got it put down in Montgomery with our great friend Robert Shimp at Technical Earth Recorders.
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It went over great, so why not a B-side? We had an old song that I ran across during this time that we had never recorded and figured “why not now?” So we did, and “Escape Yo Self” was just released on Tuesday. A nice throw back to the time right after the album originally came out.”
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On the decision to include a live recording of “Mule”:
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Freddie: ” Yes, “Mule” is an awesome tune. We have tried to record that song in different studios over the years multiple times. We never could quite capture how it lives and breathes in the studio as we can when it’s live. Live performance just adds another character to it.”
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John Mark: ”Mule” was recorded about 10-12 years ago at Workplay Theater in Birmingham. We've always kicked around the idea of putting out a live record, and we probably will at some point, but we had some extra bandwidth on side D. We figured we might as well put a live song on the end, and “Mule” fit the bill.
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It's sonically different from the studio stuff, obviously, but the energy of that track we thought was a good way to close out the Deluxe part of the vinyl release. One of our staples that we closed out a lot of shows with over the years.
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On Thursday night’s album listening party…
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John Mark: I’m just looking forward to celebrating with some friends and family in the neighborhood where it was all born and developed. It will be nostalgic in a good way, and I'm sure there will be a lotta laughs and stories. Remembering a lot of fun stuff and also some friends who were there along the way and aren't with us anymore..That was the best time of my life, and I think a lot of us miss those days, even though we have tried to grow up a little.
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Freddie: For me I’m just looking forward to seeing all the great friends that we have made along the way. It’s been quite an experience to play bass in this band for 30 years. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Love all of our people.
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Comments
Lorissa Owens on May 27, 2026 23:24
Congratulations to all🤩been a long time coming