The Immediate Family began as a studio project in 2018 when Danny Kortchmar was recording his solo album, Honey Don’t Leave L.A., for Vivid Records in Japan. He called on his friends and secured featured guest performances by artists he has worked with like James Taylor, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Michael McDonald. Danny played guitar and sang lead vocals on the release. On guitar and vocals was legendary rock and roll session guitarist Waddy Wachtel, who has played with many of the same artists, including collaborating for many years with Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards, and the late Warren Zevon, with whom he co-wrote and produced a number of hits. The band also included one of the most recorded and revered rhythm sections in the world – Leland Sklar (Phil Collins, Warren Zevon, James Taylor) on bass and Russ Kunkel (Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carly Simon) on drums, who have played on close to 5,000 records, many of them classics in the rock and roll pantheon. The Immediate Family also includes Steve Postell on guitar and vocals. Postell is a seasoned touring and session player who has worked with David Crosby, Jennifer Warnes, John Oates, Robben Ford and many others.
DANIEL KORTCHMAR (guitar & vocals) – Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar’s resume reads like a who’s-who of the music industry. A renowned guitarist, producer, songwriter, and session musician, he has played, produced, and written for James Taylor, Don Henley, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne, among many others. As a songwriter, Kortchmar has either written alone or collaborated with numerous artists, penning indelible tracks such as Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry,” “All She Wants to Do Is Dance,” and “New York Minute,” as well as Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby” and “Shaky Town,” to name a few. In the 1970s and 1980s, Kortchmar was a member of The Section (along with Sklar and Kunkel), best known for both their studio and live work in support of some of the top-selling singer/songwriters and solo singers in music history. Together, The Section helped define the sound of a generation. Recently, Kortchmar put members of The Section back together again, now performing regularly worldwide as The Immediate Family.
RUSSELL KUNKEL (drums) – Russ Kunkel has worked as a session musician with many well-known artists, including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Dan Fogelberg, Stephen Stills, Harry Chapin, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, Neil Diamond, Glenn Frey, Cat Stevens and Carly Simon. In the 1980s, Kunkel toured with Jackson Browne to promote the album Hold Out, and on the album Mad Love by Linda Ronstadt, Kunkel, along with Waddy Wachtel and Danny Kortchmar, performed on the songs “How Do I Make You” and “Mad Love.” Kunkel later went on to join Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac to create the Bella Donna, After the Glitter Fades, and Edge of Seventeen albums.
ROBERT “WADDY” WACHTEL (guitars and vocals) – Legendary rock and roll session guitarist, Waddy Wachtel got his first big break in the music business when he was hired by singer/songwriter Warren Zevon to be a guitarist in the backing band for the Everly Brothers. Wachtel’s first major album credit was on the 1972 Everly Brothers album “Stories We Could Tell” and subsequently went on tour with the famous duo. Waddy soon became a first call session guitarist, composer and producer contributing to hundreds of albums and singles, working with the likes of Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Keith Richards, Stevie Nicks, Carly Simon, Bryan Ferry, Jackson Browne and more. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Zevon; he co-produced Zevon’s first two albums and even co-wrote Zevon’s hit song “Werewolves of London”. Additionally, Wachtel has composed the scores for the movies “The House Bunny”, “Strange Wilderness”, “The Last Request”, “The Bench Warmers”, “Grandma’s Boy”, “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star”, “Joe Dirt” and “Up in Smoke”.
STEVE POSTELL (guitars and vocals) – Steve Postell has had a successful, prolific career that spans his days performing on Broadway in shows such as Evita and Man of La Mancha, co-writing the score for the off-Broadway rock musical Fallen Angel (starring Living Colour vocalist Corey Glover), touring with Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Princess Jasmine in Aladdin) as her musical director, and fronting the popular New York City bands Chain o’ Fools and Little Blue. Steve has written scores for film and television projects including ESPN’s SportsCenterfeaturing Greg Gumbel, and producer Lawrence Kasdan’s Jumpin’ at the Boneyard, a 20th Century Fox production starring Tim Roth and Samuel Jackson. Steve has written and produced jingles for Right Sound Music in New York City for clients including Pontiac, AT&T, DuPont and many others. He has performed live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kathie Leeand Live! with Regis and Kelly.
LELAND SKLAR (bass) – Leland Sklar has contributed as a session musician on roughly 2,600 albums by artists ranging from James Taylor to Alice Cooper, Billy Cobham to Barbra Streisand, B.B. King to Ray Charles and more. As a touring musician, Sklar has backed Jackson Browne, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Tracy Chapman, Véronique Sanson, Toto, Lyle Lovett and Phil Collins and has been touring every year since 1970. Sklar’s success began in the ‘60s as the bassist for James Taylor. The immense success of Taylor led to Sklar being a first-call session player for other big albums. Additionally, Sklar has recorded many soundtracks to films and television shows, including Man of Steel, The Ant Bully and Playing by Heart. Collaborating with fellow session musicians along the way, Sklar was also a member of The Section, and is touring with Phil Collins, Judith Owen, and of course, The Immediate Family.
Self-titled album coming later this summer:
Waddy Wachtel describes the inspiration and process behind the song “Fair Warning”:
“When I started writing Fair Warning, I didn’t yet have a title or a lyric concept, but I did have my Les Paul in an open D tuning, which can make for a very fun, loud afternoon. The chorus chord changes came together rather quickly, and not only were they great to play, but they had a very threatening sound to them. I sometimes develop melodies by playing them on guitar before singing them. Usually, I’ll replace the played melody with just the vocal, but with Fair Warning, the verses are sung with the guitar still playing the melodies. It added to the tension that exists in the music of the song. Once the lyrics were written, and I brought it to the band, I was very happy that everyone loved it, and as soon as we played it, we all knew we had a serious rock and roll song to record and play for everyone.”
Sacramento’s K-ZAP 93.3 FM plays The Immediate Family. All part of 50 years of Rock, Blues and More, 24-7 on our station’s stream at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN/
Check out The Immediate Family: