Date Signed: January 2023
Type of Music: Rock, Blues
Band Members: Thomas Tull, guitars; Blaise Lanzetta, drums; Tré Nation, lead vocals, Bennett Miller, bass; Johnny Baab, guitars; Joe Munroe, keys.
Management: DaLyn Bauman - Maple House Records
Booking: Ryan Edmundson - United Talent Agency
Legal: Harrison Reynolds - Reynolds Lawyers
Publicity: Luke Burland - 2b Entertainment
Web: ghosthounds.com
A&R: Elizabeth Heidt - Gibson Records
In March 2023, Gibson proudly announced the signing of Pittsburgh blues-rock band Ghost Hounds and dropped “Dirty Angel” as the lead single to their upcoming debut album on the label after four previous full-length collections on indie Maple House Records. In 2022, Ghost Hounds–who have toured with The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Garth Brooks and Bob Seger–headlined along with Jason Isbell and Black Pumas at the first annual Maple House Music and Arts Festival in their hometown.
Guitarist Johnny Baab traces the band’s signing with Gibson Records to a trip he and Ghost Hounds’ other guitarist Thomas Tull–both longtime Gibson players–took to the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville while on tour with the Stones. As Gibson Brand President Cesar Gueikian showed them around the facility, he spoke of the soon-to-launch label and its upcoming first release, 4 by Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators. Baab and Tull were particularly intrigued because Slash had guested on Ghost Hounds’ 2019 debut album Roses are Black.
In a unique gesture that in retrospect seemed to be foreshadowing, Guekian surprised Baab by tying a Gibson Bumblebee Capacitor on his necklace as a memento from the factory tour; the last person to receive this honor was Slash. “Even before that unique moment,” the guitarist says, “Thomas and our manager DaLyn Bauman had already nurtured a meaningful relationship with the company. When Cesar and his team found out Ghost Hounds were soon going to record a new project, they asked if we wanted to collaborate with them on the distribution side of things.
“Once it became clear that Gibson wanted to kick the label into high gear, our band was fresh in their minds,” he adds. “DaLyn’s longstanding connection ensured a meeting of the minds where we all agreed it was an opportunity to reach an audience Gibson had access to but we hadn’t connected with yet. Once we answered the big question about how we would collaborate, she and Thomas were the brain trust and catalyst behind putting the nuts and bolts of the deal together. The chance to be part of something historic with this legendary brand was a major motivating factor.” – Jonathan Widran
