Ben Nichols & Rick Steff

Lucero lead singer Ben Nichols and keyboardist Rick Steff spent a day at Matt Ross-Spang’s Southern Grooves studio in Memphis, Tennessee recording acoustic versions of Lucero songs. Spanning the band’s career, the songs range from some of Lucero’s most popular crowd favorites to more obscure rarities and were all recorded live in the studio featuring grand piano and acoustic guitar. The double album, Lucero Unplugged, presents 20 stripped down tracks that offer fresh takes on the band’s exceptional catalogue.

The album Lucero Unplugged evolved out of the uniqueness and intimacy of the live acoustic shows Ben and Rick would sometimes perform together. Playing songs from the Lucero catalogue as a two piece with just acoustic guitar and piano was not only fun, it also led the musicians to elaborate on old parts and incorporate new takes on songs they’ve played with the full band for years.

Ben says, “I’ve been wanting to release acoustic versions of some old songs for a very long time but Lucero always seemed to have too many other projects and tours in the works. I knew keeping it as simple as possible was the key to getting it done and I knew Rick and I could go in and probably get most of the songs down in just one or two takes. So finally I decided to call up Matt Ross-Spang and book a day at the studio myself. I love Southern Grooves and Lucero has done our last two albums there. I knew if we could just get it that room and play some quieter, pretty versions of these songs, it would be something special. I love getting to really dig deep into Rick’s piano parts. I love hearing the parts up close both from the albums he is on with the band, as well as his parts that weren’t originally on the old albums before he joined the group. It’s a fresh take on Lucero. I hope old fans will like it and I also hope it will bring some new listeners to the table.”