Mike Mattison Announces Turn A Midnight Corner

Tedeschi Trucks’ Mike Mattison Solo LP Jan 16

Mike Mattison, a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band and the Derek Trucks Band for over 23 years, is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of Turn A Midnight Corner, his third solo outing for Landslide Records, out January 16, 2025. The first single, “Going Down The Alley,” premiered via Relix magazine.

So, what is Turn A Midnight Corner? As is often the case with Mattison, there is a back story. “I had an idea to write a novella about a country blues duo from the 1930s, ‘Ted ’n’ Turk,’ who are ‘rediscovered’ in the early 1970s by a music critic. They’re brought together as aging men and are poised to re-record their old 78 rpm sides. However, the ‘rediscovery’ turns into a bit of a media circus when rock stars come sniffing around, money muddies the waters, race stuff encroaches, resentments emerge, and the whole thing falls to pieces.”

Trying to write mostly on the road with the Tedeschi Trucks Band was slow going, explains Mattison. “I wrote whenever I had a spare moment on the bus or backstage. One of the most entertaining parts was making up titles for songs that didn’t exist. And then it occurred to me, ‘Why don’t you just write the songs for Ted ’n’ Turk’s legendary lost album?’ So, I did. Now their songs are out in the world, and I have to find time to finish this [expletive] book.”

All the songs in this collection were written by Mike Mattison and recorded in a couple of week-long sessions at Studio MG in Roswell, GA. The LP was co-produced by Mattison and mix engineer Jason Kingsland (Band of Horses, Bryan Ferry, Belle & Sebastian) and engineered by Spencer Garn and drummer Tyler “The Falcon” Greenwell. It features members of his current band, Trash Magic: guitarist Dave Yoke (Dr. John / Susan Tedeschi Band / Scrapomatic), guitarist Greg Spradlin (Los Lobos satellite member), bassist and keyboardist Wesley Flowers, and drummer Tyler Greenwell.

“We recorded mostly live in the room together, to capture that shambolic feel. Kingsland is all about an adventurous sonic palette, which he brings in spades. But at its heart, this is really a blues album,” says Mattison. “The band is deeply simpatico. Dave [Yoke] and Greg [Spradlin] come from Alabama and Arkansas, respectively, and have played with Dr. John and Los Lobos. They both have this indefinable guitar THING that, taken together, makes these songs pop. We bleed a little bit into rural blues — even country itself — with a whiff of Tin Pan Alley, but at its heart, this record is the blues.”

A native Minnesotan and Harvard University graduate, Mattison penned some of Tedeschi Trucks Band’s signature tunes, including “Midnight in Harlem.” With TTB and DTB, Mattison has won two GRAMMYs, eight Blues Music Awards, and four Canadian Maple Blues Awards. He’s toured the planet, played on five continents, and every state except Alaska.

And the title itself? The phrase “Turn A Midnight Corner” comes from Yusef Komunyakaa, the great Louisiana-born poet, from his poem “Blue Dementia.” “I guess you can find my takeaway in a line from the album’s opening track, ‘Going Down The Alley.’ The idea that if you’re not careful, you can ‘turn a midnight corner’ and ‘smack up right in to yourself.’”

“Some of these songs are meant to be modern updates of old songs from the 1930s. But some of the songs are actually about [the fictional blues duo] Ted ’n’ Turk. These guys supposedly knew each other and worked together as young men. And then they’re asked to recreate that magic years later, after a lifetime of ups and downs. So the theme of the album tends to be friendship and fidelity. How do people change and how do they stay the same? As friends, what do we — and what don’t we — owe each other over the years? Does love mean the same thing to me as it means to you? These are sticky human questions that are definitely ‘blues matters,’ so I think the message meets the music.”

The songs certainly run the gamut, from the deconstructed Ray Charles burn of “Get It Back,” to the unrelenting boxcar chug of “Be Like A Train,” or the down-home acoustic balladry of “Waiting For Lola.” Particularly appealing are the front-porch romps “Traveler” and “Sore Losers Own This Town.” “As I get older, I find it much more entertaining to write in voices that aren’t mine,” notes Mattison. “That’s ‘Traveler.’ It’s very freeing to sneer like a two-bit card sharp.”

And “Sore Losers Own This Town”? “That was actually graffiti on the wall of the men’s bathroom in the CC Club, a dive bar in my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It sat there at eye level for decades, in crappy blue ink: ‘Sore Losers Own This Town.’ Then one day, Zap! It was painted over. I always thought it’d make a great song.”

Mike Mattison & Trash Magic will tour behind the release with shows throughout the Southeast and Northeast. “It will take time,” says Mattison, referencing his busy touring schedule with the Tedeschi Trucks Band (who are also releasing an album in early ’26), “but we will, beyond a doubt, be bringing our show to most corners of the US this year.”

MIKE MATTISON & TRASH MAGIC ON TOUR
Jan. 8 Athens, GA; Hotel Indigo (w/ Randall Bramblett)
Jan. 15 Charleston, SC; Pour House
Jan. 16 Atlanta, GA; The Garden Club
Jan. 17 Asheville, NC; Asheville Music Hall
Jan. 21 Austin, TX; Antone’s
Jan. 22 San Antonio, TX; Sam’s Burger Joint
Jan. 23 Dallas, TX; Ferris Wheeler’s Backyard
Jan. 24 Tulsa, OK; Cain’ Ballroom
Jan. 27 Nashville, TN; Exit/In
Jan. 29 Boca Raton, FL; Funky Biscuit
Jan. 30 Jacksonville, FL; The Albatross
Feb. 12 Bridgeport, CT; Park City Music Hall
Feb. 13 Pembroke, MA; Soundcheck Studios
Feb. 14 Brooklyn, NY; Brooklyn Bowl