Bay Area native Alex Jordan has shared the stage with icons like Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Peter Rowan, but today, he’s taking a step forward as a frontman and songwriter as he announces his new LP Queen Kerosene, produced by four-time GRAMMY-winner Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and releasing March 8, 2024 via Andy Logan Productions. Jordan has also shared the first single/title track, which is a sweeping coming-of-age story soundtracked by grungy electric guitar and his crystal-clear voice.

“‘Queen Kerosene’ came together last in the process of making the record,” shares Jordan. “I sat on the edge of my bed the night before a flight home and had a new verse idea come to me in the moments before I gave up for the night. I stitched it together with an existing chorus I had written in 2020 and worked out a new story over the next week. What started out as a protest song turned into a story of self discovery and unexpected adventure.” 

Queen Kerosene was recorded at The Finishing School in Austin, Texas with a band of Austin-based musicians — including harmony singer Carrie Rodriguez and accordion player Josh Baca (the protégé of Norteño icon Flaco Jiménez). Jordan and Berlin captured the album’s songs in a series of live takes, emphasizing the chemistry of the players in the room. After the instrumental parts were tracked, the two reworked each song tirelessly, with Jordan scrapping more than 50% of the record’s original lyrics in favor of tighter, tauter lines.

The result is a quintessentially American LP composed of barn burners, piano ballads, Americana anthems and adventurous explorations of organic roots music. It pays homage to the artists Jordan consumed in his youth — from the jazz composers he discovered as a kid playing jazz trombone to rootsy acts like Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Crosby, Stills & Nash and the songwriters who stuck with him as a young adult like Hayes Carll and Robert Hunter, famed lyricist for the Grateful Dead. Like those artists, Jordan’s new music is timeless in its sound and its songwriting, and his songs tell the stories of the people who have, who do and who always will inhabit this land we call home.

Jordan may be a fresh face when it comes to his solo career, but he’s spent the better part of the past decade playing with West Coast bands like Midnight North, fronted by Grahame Lesh. His ability to play guitar, piano and Hammond B3 organ landed him onstage with Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Peter Rowan, becoming a fixture at Lesh’s Bay Area music venue Terrapin Crossroads. Now, Jordan has developed a sound that is entirely his own, resulting in a kaleidoscopic LP that pulls from soul, Tex-Mex, groove-driven R&B, Americana, jazz, honky-tonk and heartland rock & roll. 

Next month, Jordan will hit the road with The Band of Heathens for a run of shows through Portland, Seattle and more. See below for a full list of dates or at alexjordanjams.com:

10/21: Winters, CA – Berryessa Brewing

10/22: Sausalito, CA – Sausalito Cruising Club 

11/6: Portland, OR – Polaris Hall ^

11/8: Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern ^

11/9: Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall ^

11/10: Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room ^

11/11: Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater ^

11/19: Sausalito, CA – Sausalito Cruising Club 

^ – supporting The Band of Heathens

Photo Courtesy: Lauren Bettino