To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a fluke. McIntosh has been making a living as a professional sideman for 25 years, including playing in the house band on Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular TV special, as well as working with other FX and WB network programs, and joining the Vegas production of Mamma Mia. Besides his bluesy wailing, McIntosh also sports an engaging harmonic sense borne of study under jazz guru Charlie Banacos (who also counts Mike Stern and Wayne Krantz as pupils). And the fact that, prior to propositioning Wood, McIntosh had already laid down tracks with his friends in the legendary Neville Brothers rhythm section—Art, Ivan, and Cyril Neville, and drummer “Mean” Willie Green—probably didn’t hurt his chances, either.

How did you manage to hook up with Wood and Beck?
Through Art Neville, I met Ronnie briefly in 1999, but he certainly wouldn’t have remembered me. Also, I had purchased copies of Ronnie’s artwork in the mid ’90s through his previous manager. I called the manager, and he put me in touch with Ronnie’s son, Jamie Wood, who is his current manager. I emailed Jamie, and said, “This is a non-commercial, mostly instrumental record with me and the Nevilles, inspired by the Meters and the Stones.” About a week later, I got an email saying, “Ronnie is interested.”

What happened from there?
About three weeks later, my wife and I flew to Ronnie’s house just outside London, where we recorded in his home studio. I sent the tracks to him beforehand to make sure there wouldn’t be any surprises, and Ronnie was just going to play on the vocal piece, “It Was a Virus.” But the night before the session, Steve Bush, the engineer, said, “Ronnie recorded these last night on his baritone guitar. Check this out.” He’d also played on “G-Spot” and “Mama Funk,” and we listened to it, and thought, “Wow, it sounds great!” When we met Ronnie the next morning, he said, “I told Jeff Beck about this project, and he might drop by today and want to play.” I was speechless.

What were the sessions like?
Everything Ronnie played was one take. His nickname in the Stones is “One-Take Ronnie,” and he’s brilliant. He’ll listen to something once, and then punch in and just be awesome. He’s a feel virtuoso. On the long vamp at the end of “Virus,” Jeff is in the right channel, and Ronnie is in the left. When Ronnie was done, he said, “I played some Cornell Dupree on there.” He’s a real fun guy, so the session turned almost into a party. They both gave me the thumbs-up a few times, too, which made me feel great.

What gear did you record with?
Jeff played his Stratocaster, and Ronnie played a Versoul Raya Baritone and a Fender Eric Clapton Strat. Both played through a stock Fender Hot Rod Deville. I used a Suhr Classic S loaded with an SSV humbucker in the bridge, two Fletcher-Landau-Suhr single-coils, the Suhr Silent Single-Coil System, and a vintage Fender bridge—which has a steel block rather than an alloy block for better sustain. I also have a Suhr Classic T with a rosewood fretboard. I use D’Addario XL110 strings, and Fender Custom Shop medium picks. My amp is a Custom Audio Electronics OD-100 head through Custom Audio cabs—a 2x12 with Celestion Vintage 30s, and a 4x10 with Kendrick Blackframes. My effects are a Maxon SD-9 Sonic Distortion, a Sweet Sound Mojo Vibe, an Xotic Effects RC Booster, a Chicago Iron Octavia clone, and a Boss SE-70 for reverb and slapback.

What was the biggest takeaway lesson from this experience?
I got a little guitar lesson from Jeff. He was doing these pedal-steel licks, and he did these two-string bends where he just about bent the high E and B strings off the neck. It wasn’t your basic “Pedal Steel 101” bend that most guys do on the guitar. I thought, “What the heck—I’ll ask him to show it to me.” And he said, “Yeah, sure.” He seemed to like that I asked him. But the biggest thing that stuck with me was the loose approach these guys have in the studio. They just go for it. Everything is loose and fun. Think about all the records they’ve both played on, and, for the most part, it’s first-take stuff. That says a lot.