French Farmer-Bluesmen The Inspector Cluzo Bring ‘Less Is More’ to Callaghan’s Oct. 28

MOBILE, Ala. — The Inspector Cluzo, a two-man blues rock band whose members spend their off days running an organic farm in southwestern France, will bring its high-energy sound to Callaghan’s Irish Social Club in Mobile on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m.

Before ghosts and goblins fill the streets of the Azalea City, the show offers an early Halloween-week treat from Mont-de-Marsan, France, as the duo introduces its heavy, blues-soaked rock to Mobile audiences.

If you go

• Who: The Inspector Cluzo
• When: Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Callaghan’s Irish Social Club, 916 Charleston St., Mobile
• Tickets: $15, available through the venue’s website

Two Gascon farmers and a 10-album catalog

The Inspector Cluzo features guitarist and vocalist Laurent “Malcolm” Lacrouts and drummer Mathieu “Phil” Jourdain. The band uses a two-member format in the same tradition as groups such as Flat Duo Jets, The White Stripes and The Black Keys.

The result is a 10-album catalog of blistering, progressive blues rock that has taken the duo to 65 countries and earned them opening slots for bands ranging from Suicidal Tendencies to Clutch.

Lacrouts and Jourdain have dedicated almost two decades to The Inspector Cluzo, and they recognize that bands with that kind of longevity are rare in today’s music industry. They have chosen to travel through life as a pair of bluesmen, weaving the world around them into fiery rock steeped in the blues.

“Our career looks like a journey,” they said. “We sing what we live or experience in our farm as professional farmers [Ferme Lou Casse], and also travelling all around the world. So, we’ve seen a lot. It’s our 10th LP, and we’re constantly evolving and finding the correct notes and tones.

“It’s kind of a mission for life, a bit like jazzmen or bluesmen were doing. We’re not interested in fame and greed. We’re interested in the search of the tone and making our art evolve constantly to something better. So, it will end when we decide it ends and not when the market decides.”

Inside the new album, ‘Less Is More’

The duo’s latest album, “Less Is More,” opens with the bold blues rock strut of “We Win Together, I’m Losing Alone.” The song is a good introduction to the band’s eclectic, progressive blues: when the hook breaks through the verses, the duo slips into a short, sweet mix of smooth indie rock, funk and soul before falling back into its audacious blues rock.

As the album goes on, The Inspector Cluzo moves through dynamic transitions in shades of blues, rock, funk, soul and psychedelia. The duo’s uncompromising approach holds until the final two tracks, which begin with a dramatic take on the Crosby, Stills & Nash classic “Almost Cut My Hair.”

The album closes with “Journey Men,” a slow, haunting acoustic piece drawn from the shadowy early days of the blues.

“Dynamics and harmony are our obsession,” they said. “It’s very close to what we do live. When we play live, the dynamic is even more obvious. We’ve done 1,300 gigs in 65 countries, so we’re a live band.”

Working with Nashville producer Vance Powell

To help shape the album’s dynamics, the band turned to producer Vance Powell of Sputnik Sound in Nashville. Powell’s credits include Clutch, The Revivalists, Jack White and Arctic Monkeys.

Powell has worked on four of the band’s albums, with more on the way. The duo said they are working with Powell on their next album, set for release in December, which features a past live performance with a symphony orchestra. The Inspector Cluzo has already written a 12th release that will be tracked with Powell.

“Vance is a kind of Yoda master,” they said. “He’s the best analog engineer in the world and always up front. He’s the only producer we met who can catch in the studio the live power of the band without making a live recording in the studio. He did that for Jack White, The Raconteurs, Chris Stapleton and many other massive artists.”

Life on Ferme Lou Casse

Away from the studio, the band lives in two very different worlds. One is the 45-acre Ferme Lou Casse, their farm in Gascony, the historic region of southwestern France. With the attitude that “running a family farm is more rock than playing rock ‘n’ roll music,” the two organically farm vegetables, corn and wheat and raise geese, sheep and chickens.

The other world is a busy touring schedule that carries the two Gascon farmers into a kaleidoscope of cultures, even in their home country. When touring in Europe, they note, a band crosses a continent with many countries, each with its own laws and cultural traditions. They said the United States also has many different cultures, all connected under one flag.

They also said America still has live music outlets where up-and-coming bands can build their reputation and their music. In Europe, they said, smaller venues that cater to newer acts are slowly disappearing, and many European venues are more focused on streaming data than on musical talent.

Bringing their blues to the Deep South

For the duo, the blues is ultimately a worldwide sound. They pointed to the African roots of the blues that still run through artists such as Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen and Songhoy Blues, and said bluesmen around the world long to bring their own style to America.

“We’re bringing our own blues from the two Gascon farmers stuck in their land and living in a 300-year-old farm and really curious about the world while fully respecting the original Deep South blues and adding something in their own way,” they said. “This is why we’re coming here in a very humble way to this very historical place to share this music and show that it [the blues] is also evolving and how it’s still very alive.”

The Gulf Coast has deep ties to that tradition. The blues grew up in the Deep South, especially in the Mississippi Delta, before spreading to cities across the country and around the world, and it went on to shape rock ‘n’ roll, soul and much of modern popular music. Bands like The Inspector Cluzo that draw directly from that well are, in a sense, bringing the music back to the region that gave it life.

About Callaghan’s Irish Social Club

Callaghan’s Irish Social Club, at 916 Charleston St. in Mobile’s Oakleigh Garden District, is a neighborhood bar and restaurant known for its intimate live music shows by touring and regional artists. Its small room puts the audience close to the stage, a good setting for a band that calls itself, first and foremost, a live band.

Tickets for The Inspector Cluzo are $15 and are available through the venue’s website. Fans are encouraged to buy early, since shows at the small venue can sell out.