FINLEY, ROBERT - Goin' Platinum! (Sealed) (LP)

If Dan Auerbach touches something, it has a hand and foot. The Grammy-decorated producer and frontman of The Black Keys will have known why he chose Robert Finley as the first signer of his new label Easy Eye Sound. And you will also know it right away. The album captures an artist at his zenith, surrounded by an all-star cast of session musicians who can record it with his unique voice, including drummer Gene Chrisman (Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin), keyboarder Bobby Woods (JJ Cale, Bobby Womack), horn player from Preservation Hall and legendary guitarist Duane Eddy. Goin' Platinum! was co-written and produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, and included legends such as John Prine, Nick Lowe and Pat McLaughlin as songwriters. These guys are legends of their time, says Finley. I am grateful to be part of this team and to work with such exceptional musicians. We grabbed the soul and rock and roll and recorded a hotshot from an album. For Robert Finley - who comes from the small town of Bernice, Louisiana and once taught himself how to make music - the cooperation with top musicians is nothing new. As a teenager, Finley joined the army to become a helicopter technician. Soon, however, he found a job as leader of the army band, with whom he travelled the continent countless times, playing guitar himself and singing. After finishing his military service, Finley returned to the United States and made his living as a carpenter. Music continued to play a role in his life, but more as a hobby than professionally. Only when Finley was forced to withdraw from the joinery by the almost complete loss of his sight were two fortunate coincidences to revive his career. The first was that Finley, while playing for passers-by in Arkansas, met a member of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, an organization that supports older and underprivileged musicians. This led to his first LP,Age Don't Mean a Thing, which was released by Big Legal Mess Records in the fall of 2016. A video of Finley performing songs on the street also found its way to Dan Auerbach, frontman of The Black Keys and a record label owner who had just moved to Nashville. Auerbach instantly recognized the singer's tremendous and innate talent, and writing and recording songs with the house band of Easy Eye Sound led to the songs of Goin' Platinum!