Hi everybody, I hope you’re doing marvellously well.
Every now and then, you get to talk to somebody whose love of music runs so deep that it comes through in every sentence. That is JJ Blair. He is an incredible producer, engineer, mixer, musician, and one of those people who seems to understand not just records, however the human beings inside them.
Recently, I sat down with my old friend JJ to talk about a very special project, the completion and release of Mike Finnigan, the self-titled album by the legendary Mike Finnigan, who sadly passed away before the record was finished.
This was not just another album release. This was a labour of love, a years-long journey, and in many ways an act of devotion.
A friendship that became something deeper
JJ and Mike Finnigan were close for more than 30 years. This was not some casual working relationship. Mike was one of JJ’s dearest friends, and as JJ put it, the closest thing he had to a father after losing his own dad when he was young.
That kind of bond matters, because it changes the way you hear the story. JJ was not simply producing a record for an artist he admired. He was carrying something precious for someone he loved.
And Mike Finnigan was certainly worth carrying.
For those who know the name, the résumé is staggering. Mike played Hammond on Hendrix tracks like Rainy Day, Dream Away and Still Raining, Still Dreaming. He worked with Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James and Dave Mason. He had a rich and storied career as a sideman, session player, band member, singer, and musical force of nature.
However, for all of that history, JJ felt there was still one record missing.
He knew what Mike could do. He knew the depth of his voice, the soul in his playing, and the sheer authority he brought to blues, soul, funk and country. In JJ’s eyes, Mike had never quite made the definitive album that put him in exactly the setting where he could do what he did best.
So JJ kept pushing him to make it.
The session that started it all
The turning point came after Mike played a gig in town with a phenomenal band including James Gadson, Abe Rounds Jr. and others. Mike was on fire, and JJ finally said, let’s stop talking and just do it.
The idea was simple. Go into EastWest for a day, each pick a song, bring in the right musicians, and see what happens. If Mike loved it, they would keep going. If not, they would forget the whole thing ever happened.
The very first thing they recorded, the first take, was magic.
JJ described it as one of those performances you play for people and they just stare at you in disbelief. Live vocal, live feel, first take, the sort of moment you cannot fake and could never improve by overthinking it.
That was enough. The project had begun.
Originally, there was a plan to shop the material for a label deal. Joe Bonamassa heard the early recording and wanted to put it out, which seemed like a natural path forward. However, after Covid and after Mike’s death, things became far more complicated. Label terms, licensing issues, and the understandable wishes of Mike’s family meant JJ ultimately had to carry the project forward himself.
And that is where the story became even more remarkable.
Finishing a record after loss
JJ and Mike had recorded ten tracks, however only seven vocals had been completed before Mike passed away.
At that point, this could easily have become one of those heartbreaking unfinished records that never sees the light of day. Instead, JJ found a way to honour Mike without compromising him.
That meant patience. It meant giving Mike’s family the time and space to grieve. It meant waiting until the moment was right. And it meant figuring out, very carefully, how to complete songs that had been left unfinished.
One track had been intended as a duet with Mike’s son, Kelly Finnigan, a phenomenal singer and frontman in his own right. JJ was able to build that performance using enough of Mike’s scratch vocal to shape it into the duet it was always meant to be.
Another song had originally been planned as a duet with Smokey Robinson. JJ had Smokey sing part of it, then brought in James Gadson and Dorian Holley to complete the picture, with Dorian also handling harmonies.
On another song, after plenty of complications and politics over who would sing it, JJ landed on Stephen Stills, who performed it as a duet with his son Chris Stills, another stunning vocalist.
This is where the project reveals what it really was. Not simply a producer finishing a record, however a community of great musicians stepping in to help complete the final chapter of a friend’s story.
Capturing magic, not perfection
One of the most beautiful things JJ said was that when you are working with truly special musicians, the goal is not to avoid mistakes. The goal is to capture the moment.
That is such an important distinction.
We live in a time where so much recording can become about control, correction and endless refinement. However, JJ wanted something else for Mike. He wanted the electricity of live performance, the feel of musicians listening to one another in real time, the kind of chemistry that only happens when everybody is fully present.
A perfect example is their version of Sing Me Back Home.
JJ had heard the Grateful Dead do a slower version of the Merle Haggard song and thought it revealed the true emotional core of the lyric. Mike, who was a huge Ray Charles fan, took that idea and reshaped it into something like a slow 6/8 ballad, almost as if Ray might have interpreted it.
The track was cut with a live vocal, with Mike playing Hammond and singing at the same time, while Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher and Val McCallum sang harmonies live behind gobos. That blend, that feel, that spontaneous chemistry, is right there in the record.
JJ talked about Mike with his eyes closed, singing his heart out while working the Hammond drawbars and switches in real time. That is not just musicianship. That is a whole body performance. And when the right people are in the room, you do not try to sanitise that. You capture it.
According to JJ, there are spine-tingling performances all over this record.
Mike Finnigan, the singer
It is easy to talk about Mike Finnigan’s pedigree as a keyboard player and sideman, because that history is immense. However, one thing JJ was adamant about was Mike the singer.
He did not speak in half measures. He called Mike one of the great blues singers of all time.
Not good. Not underrated. Not underappreciated. Great.
And in JJ’s mind, that is not hyperbole. He believes that when people hear tracks like Don’t Answer the Door, they will understand exactly what he means.
That says everything. This album was not just about documenting a respected veteran. It was about finally putting Mike Finnigan, the artist, fully in focus.
An album years in the making
Although the record only recently came out, this project actually began back in December 2018.
Like many great records, it did not begin with some grand business strategy. It started with a couple of songs, a little hope, and the willingness to break the piggy bank if necessary.
At a certain point, JJ stopped waiting for outside momentum and simply decided to make the album properly. He locked out EastWest, brought in some of his favourite musicians and Mike’s closest musical allies, and committed to building the record the way it deserved to be made.
The cast is extraordinary. David Goodstein, Tony Braunagel, James Gadson, Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher, Val McCallum and others all contributed. These are not just hired hands. These are musicians with touch, personality, taste and deep musical vocabulary.
That matters, because this is exactly the kind of record where feel is everything.
Getting it released
Even after the album was finished, the hardest part still remained, finding a label.
JJ discovered something that makes perfect sense, however is still sobering to hear. Labels are often reluctant to take on a record by an artist who is no longer here to promote it.
That is the business reality.
However, JJ believed the album still had a chance, because although Mike had passed, the music was alive, the collaborators were alive, and the audience was there. He knew there was a story, a community, and a musical lane this record belonged in.
Eventually, Eric Corne at Forty Below Records understood the vision and helped bring it home.
And the music found its way out into the world.
A record built with love, taste and ears
There was another lovely detail in our conversation that says a lot about JJ as a producer.
Some of the songs, particularly those with Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher and Val McCallum, were mixed by Bob Clearmountain. That alone is enough to make any recordist smile. Bob is, quite simply, one of the greats.
JJ laughed about how pleased he was that Bob liked his snare sound enough not to replace or radically reshape it. In engineer terms, that is a proper badge of honour.
However, what is even more telling is that JJ listened carefully to what Bob did, noticed the extra excitement and punch in the kick and snare, asked questions, learned from it, and then went back and remixed his own songs so the whole album would sit together at the same standard.
That is the mark of a great producer and mixer. No ego, just ears. Just commitment to making the record better.
Why this album matters
There are albums that arrive with huge campaigns and endless noise around them. Then there are albums like this, records that carry a human story inside them.
This one matters because it is about friendship. It matters because it is about finishing what you started. It matters because it gives a great artist one more chance to be heard in the way he deserved. And it matters because JJ Blair did not let the project disappear when things got difficult.
He stayed with it.
For eight years, through grief, delays, unfinished vocals, label complications, shifting plans and the sheer emotional weight of the material, he stayed with it.
That kind of commitment is rare. And beautiful.
Final thoughts
Talking to JJ reminded me of something I love about great record makers. The very best of them are not just technically gifted. They are custodians of feeling. They understand songs, performances, people and moments. They know when to push and when to get out of the way.
JJ Blair is one of those people.
And with Mike Finnigan, he has done something very special. He helped bring a remarkable album across the finish line, not by forcing it, however by protecting what made it meaningful in the first place.
That is a wonderful gift to Mike’s legacy, to his family, to his friends, and to all of us who get to hear the result.
The album is available now on all major streaming platforms, with CDs available through Forty Below Records, and digital copies through the usual outlets.
Go and listen to it.
Mike Finnigan was the real deal.
And thanks to JJ Blair, this record proves it.
