On The Verge

Blues and Lasers

Burlington, VT
Exploring the Dark, Delta Blues Side of The Nocturnals
www.bluesandlasers.com

“I’m a music junkie, man, so much so that it’s actually kind of a problem,” Grace Potter and The Nocturnals guitarist Scott Tournet says with a laugh. “My mom was mad because I didn’t go home for Christmas, and I forget my niece and nephew’s birthdays, because I was recording at home. I’m the bad son and bad uncle.” That obsession has given rise to Blues and Lasers, which features all three Nocturnals (Tournet, bassist Bryan Dondero and drummer Matt Burr), plus second drummer Steve Sharon and Tournet’s writing/singing partner guitarist, Benny Yurco. Bubbling up since the fall of 2007, the band allows the restless Tournet, who released two solo albums prior to joining Potter, a chance to get his writing fix, and to keep playing and writing when The Nocturnals touring comes to a momentary halt. The band has issued a self-titled EP—with one song clocking in at nearly ten minutes and another at nearly 13—and has enough material for a full-length album. “With two drummers, it’s pretty testosterone-fueled, in a way—for better or worse,” he laughs. “It’s very forceful. We take the dark, delta blues side of The Nocturnals and explore it.”