Very few things last forever. Family does though. In the face of trauma, trials, and tribulations, it weathers every storm. Eric Krasno consecrates, commends, and celebrates the permanence of family on his fourth full-length solo offering, Always. The Soulive and Lettuce co-founder, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter-producer defines himself as not only an artist, but also as a husband, father, and man across these ten tracks with inimitable instrumentation, eloquent songcraft, and raw honesty.

“Before 2020, I was having a good time, but I wasn’t grounded at all,” he explains. “I was going from gig to gig. I was always running around without a purpose. During the last year, I found my people in terms of my wife and son. I’ve created a family who will always be there for me. That’s what the album is about.”

A dynamic career thus far positioned him to present such an everlasting vision. Something of a musical journeyman, his extensive catalog comprises three solo albums, four Lettuce albums, twelve Soulive albums, and production and/or songwriting for Norah Jones, Robert Randolph, Pretty Lights, Talib Kweli, 50 Cent, Aaron Neville, and Allen Stone. As a dynamic performer, he’s shared stages with Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, and The Roots. Out of seven nominations, he picked up two GRAMMY® Awards for his role as a songwriter and guitarist on Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Revelator and guitarist on Derek Trucks Band’ Already Free. In 2019, he served up Telescope under the KRAZ moniker. The cinematic concept album earned widespread acclaim from the likes of Relix and Salon who hailed it as “a timely New York story.”

As the Global Pandemic irrevocably changed the world’s plans, he found himself thinking a lot and writing just as much. At the suggestion of old Lettuce bandmate Adam Deitch, he followed musician and producer Otis McDonald on social media. They conversed online until Otis asked him to contribute to the SongAid performance series. Bob Dylan’s “The Man In Me” had recently taken on a deeper significance for Eric, so they covered the tune in support of NAACP and uncorked instant creative chemistry.

“During the past two years, my wife and I got married, bought a house, and had a baby,” he recalls. “When she was pregnant, I kept hearing ‘The Man In Me’. I had heard the song many times before, but it had never quite hit me the way it was hitting me. I recorded it with just acoustic guitar and vocals, and I loved what Otis did to it. He sent it back to me, and I thought, ‘This is exactly how I want to make my next record’. I wanted it to sound like a band but knock like a hip-hop record. We didn’t even have to talk about it. We were going to do the album.”

The initial sessions took place virtually, but as life took on some semblance of normalcy, Eric ventured up to the Bay Area’s legendary Hyde Street Studios famous for 2Pac, Grateful Dead, and Digital Underground to record face-to-face. Even though “90% of the record happened online,” they managed to tap into a shared spirit as co-producers. They also formed Eric Krasno & The Assembly with Otis on bass, Wil Blades on keys and organ, Curtis Kelly on drums, and James VIII on guitar and vocals.

“My goal was for this to feel like a band record, and I ended up with a great band,” he smiles. “You’ll hear a lot of guitar harmony or what I like to call ‘guit-harmony’,” he laughs.