As a drummer/percussionist, songwriter/composer, vocalist, educator and beyond, Jordan West wears many hats. Her longtime band Trackless – originating in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and now based in the Los Angeles area – is one of her primary artistic outlets, spanning genres and approaches as West and her bandmates explore music-making in ways that are as masterful as they are creative and exploratory. The band’s musicality is on full display on the new single “Blueberry Smoke,” available on digital platforms including Spotify, iTunes, Amazon music, Apple Music, and Soundcloud.
It’s the dream of many artists, and perhaps a cliché for an independent act to be encountered or “discovered” by a music industry legend at an ordinary live performance, but that’s exactly what happened in 2014, as Trackless performed in Fort Wayne, and the audience happened to feature music industry pros Bob Clearmountain and Betty Bennett. West and Clearmountain began a discussion that night; the lively back-and-forth continued via email, and once Trackless relocated to Los Angeles in 2015, Clearmountain was on board. He serves as producer and mixing engineer on the new single.
Clearmountain remarks, "Looking for something to do in Ft. Wayne after attending Sweetwater Sound’s Gear Fest, Betty and I stumbled into the little Brass Rail bar not believing what we were hearing and seeing. The band, Trackless, was laying down some serious R&B and funk grooves with Jordan West kickin’ it on drums and vocals accompanied by Jeremy Jones’s smooth vocals and viola. The chance meeting has culminated with the production of a tremendous debut single that the band, I and co-producer Sergio Ruelas are quite proud of."
Additionally, West found herself gaining other friends in high places. Andy Summers, guitarist of The Police and an acclaimed solo artist, met West when she came to set up a Roland TD-50 Electronic Drum Kit (as part of her day gig as a Roland demo artist and clinician) at Summers’ studio. Summers was impressed with her drumming and started a conversation about her music. West shared a work-in-progress of “Blueberry Smoke,” and the conversation led to West asking Summers if he would he interested in contributing a guitar solo to the song – and the rest is history!
Summers comments, “Jordan is a remarkable young musician who not only sings really well but also has innate musicality with perfect groove and pulse in her drumming. She rocks!”
West notes, “Over the past two years, we have been working to find a song and a sound that is organic and live. Current-sounding, but with the unique vibe that Bob is famous for helping create in an era where the idea of ‘the band’ defined music-making. We’ve achieved that with ‘Blueberry Smoke,’ and we’re very proud of the result. I look forward to getting this track out to the world into the ears of music fans.”
“Blueberry Smoke” by Trackless
Written by Jordan West and Jeremy Jones
Produced, engineered, and mixed by Bob Clearmountain and Sergio Ruelas
Executive Producer: Betty Bennett
Mastered by Bob Ludwig
Featuring Andy Summers on guitar*
Recorded at Apogee Studio
Mixed at Mix This! Studio (Bob Clearmountain’s studio)
*Andy Summers guitars recorded by Dennis Smith at Andy’s studio – Moving Target Studio
Musicians:
Jordan West – drums, lead vocals
Jeremy Jones – vocals, viola
Sergio Ruelas – guitars, synth
Devon Pangle – electric guitar
Diego Moran – bass
Andy Summers – guitar solo
Bob Clearmountain – additional guitar
“Blueberry Smoke” is available via various digital platforms, including the following:
Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/6IKgrw6COb9TVUkhysGpnO
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/blueberry-smoke-feat-andy-summers-single/id1283071809
