Eric Tessmer

Austin-based guitar great Eric Tessmer has teamed up with Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer Nancy Wilson to record a set of genre-bending covers, the first of which premieres Friday March 13, 2020. Originally a synthpop smash for Depeche Mode, Policy of Truth gets a dramatic sonic makeover from Tessmer and Wilson, who share vocals on the guitar-heavy track. Tessmer - who Guitar World magazine ranks among its “best kept six string secrets” - first met Wilson after performing a private benefit show in 2017. “It was a mind blowing, jaw dropping thing to watch Eric for the first time,” Wilson recalls. “Eric was tapping into a pure rock-and-roll thing I can really appreciate.” The pair immediately bonded, and vowed to stay in touch and explore doing a project together. Though they were eager to get in the studio, Tessmer says they “weren’t interested in sending tracks back and forth or constructing a sound on a screen.” Wilson puts it this way: “There’s a more recent way of playing music, that’s more like putting music together. It sounds compartmentalized,” she explains. “That’s why I had to come here - we’ve gotta be in the same room.” The opportunity finally came in March 2019, when Wilson traveled to Austin to join Eric at The Clubhouse, a studio near South Congress. There in a one-room space they worked with producer/keyboardist David Rice, bassist Chris Maresh, and A&F DrumCo founder/drummer Ramy Antoun. The single was mixed by Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, David Bowie).