Keep It Hid

Submitted by nonesuch on
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

The Black Keys' singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach's 2009 self-produced solo debut mixes, he says, "psychedelia, soul music, loud and soft guitars." Backed by a full band, he prowls the dark end of the street, with gritty, impassioned vocals lending drama to tales of romantic betrayal and suspicious minds. Guests include singer Jessica Lea Mayfield. 

Description

Nonesuch Records released Keep It Hid, the solo debut from singer/songwriter/guitarist Dan Auerbach—best known as half of The Black Keys—on February 10, 2009. While working on and touring in support of The Black Keys’ most recent album, Attack & Release, Auerbach also was writing songs that would become Keep It Hid. "This record is a mixture of things I like to listen to, psychedelia, soul music, country harmonies," says Auerbach. 

Keep It Hid was produced and engineered by Auerbach at his studio, Akron Analog, and features him playing a variety of instruments, including drums, guitar, percussion, and keyboards. Many of Auerbach’s friends and family play on the album, including his uncle James Quine, who contributes vocal harmony and electric guitar on the track “Street Walkin.” Other musicians include fellow Ohioans Jessica Lea Mayfield, who sings on the track “When the Night Comes,” and Bob Cesare, who plays drums on “Whispered Words,” a song originally written by Auerbach’s father. Of the recording process Auerbach states, “I wanted a live, organic sound. Nothing was too plotted or planned, just a lot of spontaneity.” The record was mixed by Auerbach’s good friend Mark Neill at Neill’s Soil of the South studio.

With his Black Keys bandmate Patrick Carney, Auerbach has recorded five critically acclaimed full-length albums, beginning with 2002’s The Big Come Up. In 2008, Attack & Release debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #14, marking The Black Keys’ highest position to date. The New York Times called it a “savage, bitter concoction built on a snarling punk-rock riff,” while the Los Angeles Times called it “without doubt the Keys’ most dynamic effort yet.” Auerbach also has been busy with his own record label, Polymer Sounds, for which he produced the 2008 debut from Jessica Lea Mayfield, With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt; Pitchfork praised Mayfield’s album as “fascinating and endlessly listenable.”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Album Recorded and Engineered by Dan Auerbach
Assistant Engineer: Bob Cesare
Mixed by Mark Neill for Soil of the South Productions
Mastering by Jim Demain at Yes Master
Tracks 4 and 7 recorded and engineered by Mark Neill for Soil of the South Productions

All songs written by Dan Auerbach, except track 2 by Wayne Carson Thompson, track 4 by Dan Auerbach and Mark Neill, track 5 by Charles Auerbach, track 7 by Dan Auerbach and Charles Auerbach

Photography: James Quine
Design: Amy Burrows

Nonesuch Selection Number

517241

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
Album Status
Artist Name
Dan Auerbach
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Bob Cesare, drums/percussion (2, 3, 5, 8-13), rhythm guitar (14)
Dave Huddleston, upright bass (5)
James Quine, electric rhythm guitar (8, 13), harmony (1, 3)
Jessica Lea Mayfield, harmony (7)
Rob "Thorny" Thorsen, upright bass (8)
Mark Neill, maracas (3)
Dan Auerbach, all other instrumentation

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597983852BUN
Label
MP3
UPC
075597983845
Label
LP+MP3
UPC
075597949131
  • 517241

News & Reviews

  • Dan Auerbach will make his directorial debut in a documentary feature about Dr. John, aka Mac Rebennack. RadicalMedia has announced its partnership with Auerbach for the project, which will tell a story about the storied musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who died in 2019, and his impact in music and on the culture. Auerbach, who produced Dr. John's 2012 Grammy-winning Nonesuch album, Locked Down, says: "I’m still learning bits about him that I never knew, and I hope the movie provides a lens into the story of the life of Dr. John."

  • Dan Auerbach was a guest on WNYC's All of It with Alison Stewart, part of the show's week-long series showcasing this year's Grammy nominees ahead of the awards ceremony this Sunday. Auerbach is nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, for several recordings on his Easy Eye Sound label, including Early James's Singing for My Supper. You can hear their conversation here.

  • About This Album

    Nonesuch Records released Keep It Hid, the solo debut from singer/songwriter/guitarist Dan Auerbach—best known as half of The Black Keys—on February 10, 2009. While working on and touring in support of The Black Keys’ most recent album, Attack & Release, Auerbach also was writing songs that would become Keep It Hid. "This record is a mixture of things I like to listen to, psychedelia, soul music, country harmonies," says Auerbach. 

    Keep It Hid was produced and engineered by Auerbach at his studio, Akron Analog, and features him playing a variety of instruments, including drums, guitar, percussion, and keyboards. Many of Auerbach’s friends and family play on the album, including his uncle James Quine, who contributes vocal harmony and electric guitar on the track “Street Walkin.” Other musicians include fellow Ohioans Jessica Lea Mayfield, who sings on the track “When the Night Comes,” and Bob Cesare, who plays drums on “Whispered Words,” a song originally written by Auerbach’s father. Of the recording process Auerbach states, “I wanted a live, organic sound. Nothing was too plotted or planned, just a lot of spontaneity.” The record was mixed by Auerbach’s good friend Mark Neill at Neill’s Soil of the South studio.

    With his Black Keys bandmate Patrick Carney, Auerbach has recorded five critically acclaimed full-length albums, beginning with 2002’s The Big Come Up. In 2008, Attack & Release debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #14, marking The Black Keys’ highest position to date. The New York Times called it a “savage, bitter concoction built on a snarling punk-rock riff,” while the Los Angeles Times called it “without doubt the Keys’ most dynamic effort yet.” Auerbach also has been busy with his own record label, Polymer Sounds, for which he produced the 2008 debut from Jessica Lea Mayfield, With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt; Pitchfork praised Mayfield’s album as “fascinating and endlessly listenable.”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Bob Cesare, drums/percussion (2, 3, 5, 8-13), rhythm guitar (14)
    Dave Huddleston, upright bass (5)
    James Quine, electric rhythm guitar (8, 13), harmony (1, 3)
    Jessica Lea Mayfield, harmony (7)
    Rob "Thorny" Thorsen, upright bass (8)
    Mark Neill, maracas (3)
    Dan Auerbach, all other instrumentation

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Album Recorded and Engineered by Dan Auerbach
    Assistant Engineer: Bob Cesare
    Mixed by Mark Neill for Soil of the South Productions
    Mastering by Jim Demain at Yes Master
    Tracks 4 and 7 recorded and engineered by Mark Neill for Soil of the South Productions

    All songs written by Dan Auerbach, except track 2 by Wayne Carson Thompson, track 4 by Dan Auerbach and Mark Neill, track 5 by Charles Auerbach, track 7 by Dan Auerbach and Charles Auerbach

    Photography: James Quine
    Design: Amy Burrows