IDA MAE

We take a look at the tones of the husband-and-wife duo’s new sophomore album, Click Click Domino, track by track, with guitar sensation Chris Turpin

- Rod Brakes

Ida Mae are currently on home turf having relocated from the US back to Blighty. But slide guitar phenomenon Chris Turpin and multi-instrumentalist Stephanie Jean stand poised to hit the road again. The duo had chalked up thousands of miles on tour supporting the likes of Willie Nelson & Alison Krauss, Greta Van Fleet and Marcus King, but the pandemic suddenly forced them to isolate at their Nashville home-from-home where they immediately set about writing and recording Ida Mae’s new album, Click Click Domino.

“Everything except the acoustic drums, bass and strings was recorded at our place in Nashville,” Chris tells us. “Ethan Johns tracked the drums in his studio, and our bass player, Nick Pini, also tracked his parts separately. It’s a proper lockdown record!”

Ida Mae’s connection with famed producer/musician Ethan Johns (whose studio credits include Paul McCartney, Kings Of Leon and Laura Marling) began with their first record, 2019’s critically acclaimed Chasing Lights. As news of the duo’s spellbinding live shows and Chris’s superlative British folk cum Delta blues-inspired guitar playing quickly spread, the pair were invited to Ethan’s studio to discuss their new project. Finding plenty of common ground in their creative approach to making music, they hit it off immediately. Steph, a talented multi-instrumentalist, has also sporadically played keys in Ethan’s band Black Eyed Dogs, and by way of Ethan’s long-established studio relationship with Tom Jones was recently spotted duetting on piano with the Welsh singing legend for a string of prime-time TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic.