Solomon Hicks has released his new album How Did I Ever Get This Blue? today via Artone / Provogue. The record is available now on all streaming platforms, with physical formats also on sale.
To mark the release, Hicks has shared a video for “Flyin’ High (Yesterday)”, his take on a song originally recorded by the late Texas blues singer and guitarist Johnny Copeland. First released in 1992, the song is reworked here with Hicks’ own guitar-led approach, bringing new weight and texture without losing the spirit of the original.
Hicks says the song stayed with him long before he recorded it. “I first heard it done by a drummer called Barry Harrison when we were playing B.B. King’s in New York,” he explains. “It felt like putting the key in the ignition and taking off down a dirt road. The song didn’t really land until I’d lived a bit more and understood those highs and lows. I wanted to take a Johnny Copeland song you don’t hear as much and put my own guitar stamp on it.”
“Flyin’ High (Yesterday)” follows earlier singles “Driftin’ And Driftin’”, originally popularised by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and “Further On Up The Road”, made famous by Bobby “Blue” Bland. Across the album, Hicks reshapes familiar material rather than recreating it. He also includes striking reworkings of Adele’s “Rumour Has It” and Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man”, alongside original songs including the title track and “I’m Burnin’ Up”.
Despite its range of source material, How Did I Ever Get This Blue? is not presented as a covers album. Hicks treats every song as raw material, reshaping it through his own playing and perspective. “I’m not looking to copy or recreate sounds from the past,” he notes. Instead, the album reflects his grounding in blues, soul, jazz, funk, and gospel, filtered through a modern, restless approach.
The result is a record that moves easily between tradition and reinvention. Hicks plays with the weight of the blues rather than its surface details, keeping the emotion intact while allowing the sound to stretch into new spaces.
Hicks will support the album with live dates across the United States in early 2026, including New Jersey and Florida appearances.
