Californian desert rock collective, Yawning Balch (Yawning Man and Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch), have just released their latest single, “Winter Widow Part II.” It comes off their third album, Volume Three, due out on February 21st via the Heavy Psych Sounds record label. Check it it out below.
Pre-order Volume Three here: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS338
About new album, Bob Balch recalls: “When Gary Arce mentioned that Yawning Man was gonna record and we should do another round of Yawning Balch jams, I was super stoked. I’ll always jam with those guys. Once the invite was extended I knew I had to drop some money on new pedals (laughs). Not that I don’t have enough already, but jamming with Yawning Man means you have to build a massive pedal board and try to get the most “out there” sounds you can, or at least that’s what it means to me. Another aspect is once we start jamming, I like to improvise riffs but keep them in mind so I can return to them throughout the jam. It was an honor to share a few hours playing with those dudes and I’m always surprised how much material we get out of it.”
Yawning Balch is the collaborative and endlessly creative outfit uniting Californian guitarist Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Big Scenic Nowhere) and desert rock progenitors Yawning Man, incarnated by guitarist Gary Arce, drummer Bill Stinson and legendary bassist Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson). Their dreamy and jam-driven psychedelic rock journey started in 2023 with the release of “Volume One” and “Volume Two”, a two-volume set carved out of a five-hour jam between Balch and the trio in the Joshua Tree desert. This expansive and blissful sonic journey will continue with the upcoming release of the third chapter Volume Three in the winter of 2025.
Volume Three was captured on April 20th, 2024 at Gatos Trail Studio in Joshua Tree, CA. It features two tracks (“The Taos Hum” and “Winter Widow”) for a total run of 35 minutes. It was once again engineered and mixed by Dan Joeright, mastered by Kent Stump at Crystal Clear Sound, with an artwork by John McGill and logo by Pia Isaksen. Stream the previous track “The Taos Hum Part I” here: https://youtu.be/7aLh5hoRagI
Volume Three tracklisting:
01 The Taos Hum (20:26)
02 Winter Widow (14:02)
About the project, guitarist Bob Balch says: “In November of 2022, I went out to Joshua Tree for a day of jamming with the guys in Yawning Man with the intention of calling it “Yawning Balch”. No riffs were planned. We just plugged in and played. The only discussion beforehand was that Gary Arce and I wanted to mess with tons of guitar pedals. I knew that while we were jamming it sounded great, but it wasn’t until I got home and listened to it all that I realized we had something special. It’s hard to believe that we jammed for five hours and got two full-length LPs and then some out of it. Every player killed it on these recordings and I’m beyond grateful to have my name involved with this legendary band. Fingers crossed they invite me back out annually for more jam sessions. I hope you enjoy these jams and please use responsibly.”
Yawning Balch is:
Gary Arce – Guitar
Bob Balch – Guitar
Mario Lalli – Bass
Bill Stinson – Drums
Follow Yawning Balch:
https://www.facebook.com/yawningmanofficial
https://yawningman.bandcamp.com/album/yawning-man-live-at-giant-rock
https://www.instagram.com/yawningmanofficial/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2d06W6CY8NotPTPdIAgVoe