“‘Out Of The Coop!’ is an auto-production, inspired by two acoustic CDs with Lurrie Bell, ‘The Devil Ain’t Got No Music’ and ‘Second Nature’ with Carey Bell. Although extraordinary, it isn’t just the music that moves me in these CDs. I’m intoxicated by the sound of the recording, mix and mastering. This natural sound and sense of intimacy and space are where my inspiration began. I took advantage of the flexibility of auto-production and took risks to incorporate as much of our diversity as possible. We took our time to get it right with what we had to work with, creativity and experienced musicians. I call it organic recording. Most tracks were recorded in our apartments in Normandy and Nantes, France with trains passing, amps tucked in closets, and the pantry padded with pillows. ‘Fever’ was recorded sitting on the edge of the bathtub and you may hear a train pass in ‘Slow Down’. My favorite moments of music are the ones that happen behind the scene, bare bones, simple and rich like Keb Mo with just his guitar or Diunna Greenleaf’s grandmother recorded singing in her kitchen. I was interested in this type of organic sound for the duo & trio’s electric roots blues to the edge of old jazz style. The full band West Coast, Texas & Chicago Blues were recorded more traditionally in the drummer Denis’ studio. He brilliantly engineered the recording in the spirit of early Muddy Waters. “Trouble No More” was captured live in one take.” There were many doubts as to whether I could match the sounds of many different spaces and microphones, put opposing genres of blues and jazz side by side or create a CD with songs in duo, trio and a very fat sounding band, but that’s what we are, so I had faith. The mix took a lot of work, but I knew the mastering would be key. By chance, Blaise Barton the Grammy winner who did the engineering, mixing and mastering for ‘The Devil Ain’t Got No Music,’ one of the CDs that inspired this process, was available to bless our CD with his talents, and that he did. This was my first time taking the lead as producer, co-engineer, mixer, and designer and I had a blast! You have to take some risks to find rich surprises. Thanks for listening!” Lil’ Red 

CREDITS: 

Vocals – Jennifer ” Lil Red” Milligan 
Guitar – Pascal Fouquet 
Harmonica – Thomas Troussier 
Bass – Jeff Vincendeau 
Drum – Denis Agenet 

Recorded by Jennifer Milligan, Pascal Fouquet (duo/trio tracks) & Denis Agenet (4 band tracks). Mixed by Jennifer Milligan. Mastered by grammy winner Blaise Barton. Cover Art by Jennifer Milligan.