​Ben Nichols and Rick Steff (from the album Lucero Unplugged

​Ben Nichols and Rick Steff (from the album Lucero Unplugged

​Ben Nichols and Rick Steff (from the album Lucero Unplugged available on Liberty & Lament Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
Guitar, piano, and vocal back the songs of Lucero when band members Ben Nichols and Rick Steff partner for the recent release, Lucero Unplugged. Forming in Memphis, Tennessee during the late 1990’s, Lucero have released an even-dozen studio albums since 2000’s The Attic Tapes. Ben Nichols and Rick Steff head back to their debut for “Diamond State Heartbreak” on Lucero Unplugged, opening the album with another tune from their first release, “In Lonesome Times”. A wealth of material was in easy reach for the pair of musicians as they selected a small sampling of the band’s catalog to fill out the roster of the album 
Workingman’s words, a rich history of musical influences, and the attitude of Punk Rock; the songs of Lucero stand proud as relatable stories to a universal community. The stripped-back delivery of the tracks on Lucero Unplugged allows the emotional beauty of the words and music to stand stark in the light of the re-imagined cuts. Ben Nichols’ raw voice becomes the loneliness experienced in “It Gets the Worst at Night” while the sparkle of acoustic guitar notes and piano rambles soften the story of “Tears Don’t Matter Much”. Longtime collaborator Matt Ross-Spang produced and recorded Lucero Unplugged in a single day at his Memphis studio. Fan favorites and obscure tracks were revisited when Ben Nichols and Rick Steff, armed with only a honky tonk piano and an acoustic guitar, brought the intimacy of a live show into the recording. The mood turns somber with stuttered chords in “When You Decided to Leave”, using the instruments for accents as “When I Was Young” drifts into reverie. Singing musical history, Lucero Unplugged traces a lover’s story that stretches between “Texas & Tennessee” as it wanders “Among the Ghosts”. Ben Nichols and Rick Steff whisper “Hello Sadness”, shuffle up sawdust as a night ends with “Slow Dancing” as they feel the pull of road with “That Much Further West”. (by Danny McCloskey) 
Listen and buy the music of Ben Nichols and Rick Steff from AMAZON
 
Please go to the Ben Nichols and Rick Steff website for more information