This week, Chicago roots rock band The Empty Pockets joined Midday Music host Evan Miller for an interview and studio session. The band played several songs from their new album, Gotta Find The Moon, which was released in September 2023 and reached #1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart. In the interview, the band talked about recording Gotta Find the Moon at the iconic London studio Abbey Road. They also described working with artists like Kenny Loggins, Al Stewart, and comedian George Lopez, and joked about the highs and lows of life on the road. The Empty Pockets features Josh Solomon (guitar, vocals), Erika Brett (keyboards, vocals), Nate Bellon (bass, vocals), and Adam Balasco (drums).
The Empty Pockets visited WYSO at the end of a lengthy tour, yet the band was chipper. “Evan, I think we’ve done 100 shows this year in, like, 40 states,” Josh Solomon said. “So that’s how we’re feeling— Great!”
Even after their musical equipment was plundered from their tour van earlier this year, The Empty Pockets managed to carry on with their tour. Erika Brett talked about the outpouring of support from fans that allowed them to scrounge enough gear to stay on schedule:
“We got lucky. Our fans pulled through. They gave us money. They gave us stuff. They promised us the world and we were able to replace everything and keep going. We literally went back on tour like two days later.”
Despite the road bumps, Josh said, it was a “glorious year” for The Empty Pockets. The band is clearly comfortable on the road; they told Evan they’ve played hundreds of shows with comedian George Lopez, and with Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart. On a recent tour in England, Stewart helped facilitate the band’s use of Abbey Road, the London recording studio made world-famous by the Beatles’ record of the same name.
“We had Studio Three to ourselves for two days.” Josh said. “That’s where they recorded Dark Side of the Moon. It’s where they recorded Ticket To Ride.” The visit to Abbey Road was enormously productive. “We live-tracked everything we did, with almost no overdubs.” Josh told Evan. “We thought we'd record a couple of songs, and we recorded almost an entire album there.”
The band also spoke with Evan about performing with American singer Kenny Loggins, and about the under-appreciated merits of New Haven-style pizza. They will conclude this year’s tour with a performance in Chicago, Illinois, on December 17, and in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 19, before returning to the road in January 2024. Gotta Find the Moon, their new album, is available on digital streaming services. More information about the band, including updates on tour dates and music releases, is available on theemptypockets.com, or on social media.
