Extra namen voor Moulin Blues 2012
Aan de affiche werden zonet de volgende namen bijgevoegd:
Jimmie Vaughan & Tilt-A-Whirl Feat. Lou Ann Barton
Jimmie Vaughan is far more than just one of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the world of popular music. As Guitar Player Magazine notes, “He is a virtual deity–a living legend.” After all, Vaughan provides a vital link between contemporary music and its proud heritage, as well as being a longtime avatar of retro cool.
Since releasing his first solo album in 1994, he has set the standard for quality modern roots music. Throughout his career, Vaughan has earned the esteem of his legendary guitar-playing heroes and superstar peers along with successive generations of young players. His musical ethos and personal style have had an impact on contemporary culture, from spearheading the current blues revival with The Fabulous Thunderbirds to his longtime, innate fashion sense of slicked-back hair and sharp vintage threads (now seen throughout the pages of contemporary fashion journals) to becoming a premier designer of classic custom cars. But for Jimmie Vaughan, none of it is part of a crusade or a career plan. It’s just his natural way of living his life and pursuing the interests that have captivated Vaughan since his youth.
Now, with his third solo release and Artemis Records debut, Do You Get The Blues?, Vaughan has fashioned his most compelling and appealing musical statement yet, creating a rich and variegated masterpiece of 21st Century rhythm and blues. From the first notes of the opening instrumental, “Dirty Girl,” it’s clear that Vaughan has created a contemporary classic. Driven by Vaughan’s lyrical guitar work, the skin-tight drumming of George Rains and the verdant Hammond B-3 work of the song’s writer, Bill Willis (whose long career includes work on the seminal R&B and blues sides issued by King Records as well as stints with Freddie King and Lavern Baker), the song speaks volumes without a single word, and sets a tone of distinctive and emotion-laden musical articulation that continues throughout the disc.
Do You Get The Blues? travels through a virtual galaxy of musical moods and modes across its 11 vibrant selections. Highlights include a rare Jimmie Vaughan acoustic slide track–a tribute to his friend and mentor Muddy Waters–and harp by blues legend James Cotton on “The Deep End,” a fusion of vintage R&B and jazz on “Don’t Let The Sun Set,” the sexy and seductive mood of “Slow Dance,” the syncopated soul of “Let Me In,” and a classic Texas blues shuffle with “Robbin’ Me Blind.” Jimmie offers a glimpse of the continuing Vaughan legacy on “Without You,” co-written by his son, rising Austin musician Tyrone Vaughan, who plays guitar with Jimmie on the track. The album also features Texas singing legend Lou Ann Barton, a founding member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Jimmie and Lou Ann’s potent vocal chemistry shines on the fiery “Out Of The Shadows” and the searing “Power of Love.” The two also join forces with the Double Trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton on the classic shouter, “In The Middle of the Night.” By the time the album lands on “Planet Bongo,” the imaginative mood piece that caps the disc, it’s clear that Do You Get The Blues? is a tour de force that draws from Jimmie Vaughan’s vast reservoir of musical traditions to create a modern classic.
“I wanted to make a romantic blues album,” explains Vaughan. “I was listening to a lot of Sarah Vaughan and a lot of jazz. So I wanted to put my dirty blues guitar and the romantic feelings and the ins and outs of love together on one album. It’s got a lot of gospel stylings, it’s got blues, it’s got R&B. I don’t consciously think, okay, we need to put some of this in here; I like that beat, that’s cool. I don’t plan it out or try to decipher what it is. I just try to create what I feel.”
Vaughan’s musical abilities and sense of style were obvious from an early age. Growing up in Oak Cliff, just south of downtown Dallas, TX., he was weaned on classic Top 40 radio (which was invented in his hometown), vintage blues, early rock’n'roll and the deepest rhythm and blues and coolest jazz of the day, thanks to the sounds he heard on Dallas’ AM radio powerhouse KNOX and border radio stations like XERB, where personalities like the legendary Wolfman Jack sparked a youth revolution. “I never got over that stuff, and I never will. That’s the kind of music I like,” he explains.
When he was sidelined by a football injury at the age of 13, a family friend gave Vaughan a guitar to occupy him during his recuperation. From the moment Jimmie’s fingers touched the fretboard, it was obvious that he was a natural talent. “It was like he played it all his life,” his mother Martha Vaughan later noted. He also began tutoring his younger brother Stevie, who would cite Jimmie as his biggest inspiration and influence throughout his own career.
At age 15, Vaughan started his first band, The Swinging Pendulums, and was soon playing the rough and tumble Dallas nightclub scene many nights a week. By the time he hit 16, Jimmie joined The Chessman, who became the area’s top musical attraction, eventually opening concerts in Dallas for Jimi Hendrix. After hearing Muddy Waters and Freddie King play in Dallas, Vaughan began to delve deep into the blues, melding his many influences into a style that was clean, economical and highly articulate, concentrating on rhythmic accents and lead work that relies on the power of his less is more approach.
In 1969, Vaughan helped found Texas Storm, a group that eschewed Top 40 covers for blues and soul with a Texas accent. The band eventually migrated to Austin, where they won over the college crowd and the Black and Chicano communities on the Capital City’s East Side. Vaughan also helped jump start his brother Stevie’s career when the younger Vaughan joined Texas Storm on bass.
Determined to create an ideal vehicle for blues music that was both modern in its impact and appeal yet true to the tradition, Vaughan founded The Fabulous Thunderbirds with Kim Wilson in the mid 1970s. When Antone’s nightclub opened in Austin in August of 1975, the Thunderbirds became the house band, sharing the stage and jamming with such blues greats as Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Albert King and a host of others, all of whom recognized Vaughan as the man who would keep the music they developed alive for future generations. As Jimmie recalls, “One time when we were playing Antone’s, opening for Muddy, I thought, okay, I’m going to do this Muddy Waters-style slide thing and see if I can get a reaction from him. And the next night I did it again. And he came out behind me and grabbed me around the neck, and said he liked it. And he told me, ‘When I’m gone, I want you to do that, and show everybody that’s what I did. I want you to do it for me.’”
Vaughan recorded eight albums with The Fabulous Thuderbirds: Girls Go Wild on Tacoma/Chrysalis; What’s The Word, Butt Rockin’ and T-Bird Rhythm on Chrysalis; and Tuff Enuff (certified platinum), Hot Number, Powerful Stuff and Wrap It Up on Epic. On the strength of such hits as “Tuff Enuff,” two Grammy Award nominations and years of worldwide touring, The Fabulous Thunderbirds brought the blues back into the pop charts and the contemporary musical lexicon, sparking a blues revival that continues unabated today. Prior to leaving the group in 1990, Jimmie had joined up with his brother Stevie to record Family Style, an album that reflected their mutually deep musical roots and maturing modern artistic sophistication. Then in August, 1990, just a few weeks prior to the album’s release, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin. The tragedy devastated Jimmie, who retreated from touring and recording, though he continued to play guitar every day, as he has throughout his life. Meanwhile, the success of Family Style further enhanced Jimmie’s reputation as a distinctive musical stylist.
Eventually, Vaughan’s friend Eric Clapton invited him to open a series of 16 special concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall. After the warm reception for his solo debut at the Clapton shows in early 1993, Jimmie started recording his first solo album. The resulting disc, Strange Pleasure, was produced by Nile Rodgers (who worked with the Vaughan brothers on Family Style), featured 11 songs written or co-written by Jimmie, and was dedicated to Stevie Ray and the recently deceased Albert Collins. It debuted at Number One on the Billboard Heatseeker Chart, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Blues Album and garnered reams of critical acclaim as Vaughan also stepped out on tour as a solo artist and bandleader.
His next album, 1998?s Out There, solidified Vaughan’s status as a solo artist, thanks to a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (for the song “Ironic Twist”). As The Boston Phoenix noted in a four-star rave review, Out There featured “his best playing ever, bringing rich-toned exuberance to the familiar trappings of rippling blues and shuffle beats, soul grooves, and vocal arrangements that tap the celestial richness of the glory days of doo-wop.”
As Jimmie Vaughan emerged as an artist in his own right, his reputation as a master musician became even more apparent, thanks to the admiration of blues legends like B.B. King and Buddy Guy, such guitar superstars as Eric Clapton and Z.Z. Top’s Billy Gibbons, and rising talents like Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. As Clapton notes, “The first time I heard Jimmie Vaughan, I was impressed with the raw power of his sound. His style is unique, and if I’ve learned anything from him, it’s to keep it simple.” Likewise, Buddy Guy once proclaimed: “He’s unbeatable when it comes to the blues. He just plays it like it’s supposed to be played.” Even Stevie Ray Vaughan acknowledged that when people would compare his playing to that of his brother, there was really no contest. “I play probably 80 percent of what I can play. Jimmie plays one percent of what he knows. He can play anything.”
Jimmie Vaughan is more modest in assessing his abilities, though very clear when it comes to his approach. “I try to speak with my guitar in sentences,” he explains. “The people that I enjoy and the music that I enjoy are not about just a bunch of licks strung together. If you just play a bunch of guitar licks that aren’t connected, it’s like throwing a lot of words into a bowl. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s just words. “When I listen to Gene Ammons, the great saxophone player, I get the feeling he’s telling you a story. That’s how I’d like to play guitar someday, when I grow up. That’s the goal. That’s what I enjoy. That’s what makes me get chill bumps–when you listen to music where the phrasing comes out and it speaks. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to after 37 years of playing.”
Jimmie Vaughan’s style as a player, songwriter and bandleader can be thought of as an amalgamation of so many influences. Known for his deceptively simple yet complex attack, his clean, uncluttered style capitalizes on conveying the emotion and message within the music, He utilizes raw emotion, simplicity, and an elegance that is powerful and accessible, yet communicates exactly what he feels inside. It’s an approach that has earned him the respect of many of the greats of contemporary music, and guest appearances on such albums as B.B. King and Eric Clapton’s Riding With The King, Bob Dylan’s Under The Red Sky, Willie Nelson’s Milk
Cow Blues, Carlos Santana’s Havana Moon and Don Henley’s Inside Job.
And in the same fashion that Vaughan revitalizes the classic blues and soul that informs his music, he has also become one of the foremost designers of classic custom cars. “I don’t play golf. Socars are my hobby,” he says with a chuckle. “I was into cars as soon as I was old enough to walk. I built lots of models when I was a teenager. It’s not like transportation. It’s art you can drive to the store.” His first custom restored hot rod is a 1951 Chevy Fleetline that’s become a well-known sight on the streets of Austin, TX over the years. He then augmented his collection with a 1963 Buick Riviera, and a 1961 Cadillac Coupe DeVille that took First Place at the 1999 Sacramento Autorama and Second Place at the 50th Annual Grand National Roadster show, and is currently on display at the Peterson Car Museum in Los Angeles. Vaughan is credited by his pal Eric Clapton with inspiring him to begin collecting and restoring classic roadsters as well.
Yet for all his accomplishments and the admiration he has earned, Jimmie Vaughan remains modest when it comes to his life and work. “I’m just trying to have fun like everyone else,” he concludes. “I’ve been playing since I was 13. I play every day. I’ve never stopped. I can’t imagine that I could exist without it.”
http://www.jimmievaughan.com
Vidar Busk & His Bubble Of trouble
Vidar Busk is een Noorse gitarist, zanger en producer geboren op 19 mei 1970. Hij groeide op in Langesund maar ging reeds op 15 jarige leeftijd naar de States waar hij samen met de bluesband van Rock Bottom (die hij in Noorwegen had leren kennen) gedurende 4 jaar door de Zuidelijke staten reisde en deel uitmaakte van de band.
Door het feit dat hij illegaal in de USA vertoefde en problemen kreeg met de overheid ging hij terug naar Noorwegen. Hij vormde Vidar Busk & His True Believers en bracht in 1997 “Stompin our feet with Joy” uit, dit album werd een waar succes. Op deze CD bezingt Rock Bottom het leven van Vidar Busk in het nummer “The ballad of Vidar Busk” Met zijn volgende album won hij in 1998 een Grammy.
Op zijn eerste 3 albums speelde hij vooral op swing gebaseerde bluesrock.
In 2001 met zijn album “Venus, Texas” veranderde hij van stijl, de muziek werd veel zachter en gevoeliger. Ook op de volgende cd’s ging hij meer experimenteren en flirten met verschillende muziekstijlen, op een van deze cd’s deden zelf 2 rappers mee. De naam van de band wijzigde ook naar “Vidar Busk & The Voo Doodz”
Onlangs nam hij echter de beslissing om terug naar de roots weer te keren en opnieuw met “His True Believers” te gaan toeren. Hij is en blijft een geweldige gitarist en heeft door de jaren heen op verschillende vooraanstaande Europese en Amerikaanse bluesfestivals gespeeld.
http://www.vidarbusk.no/Default.aspx
Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat
Hot Buskers
Texan Trail
En met deze namen is de affiche nu compleet!
Aan de affiche werden zonet de volgende namen bijgevoegd:
Jimmie Vaughan & Tilt-A-Whirl Feat. Lou Ann Barton
Jimmie Vaughan is far more than just one of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the world of popular music. As Guitar Player Magazine notes, “He is a virtual deity–a living legend.” After all, Vaughan provides a vital link between contemporary music and its proud heritage, as well as being a longtime avatar of retro cool.
Since releasing his first solo album in 1994, he has set the standard for quality modern roots music. Throughout his career, Vaughan has earned the esteem of his legendary guitar-playing heroes and superstar peers along with successive generations of young players. His musical ethos and personal style have had an impact on contemporary culture, from spearheading the current blues revival with The Fabulous Thunderbirds to his longtime, innate fashion sense of slicked-back hair and sharp vintage threads (now seen throughout the pages of contemporary fashion journals) to becoming a premier designer of classic custom cars. But for Jimmie Vaughan, none of it is part of a crusade or a career plan. It’s just his natural way of living his life and pursuing the interests that have captivated Vaughan since his youth.
Now, with his third solo release and Artemis Records debut, Do You Get The Blues?, Vaughan has fashioned his most compelling and appealing musical statement yet, creating a rich and variegated masterpiece of 21st Century rhythm and blues. From the first notes of the opening instrumental, “Dirty Girl,” it’s clear that Vaughan has created a contemporary classic. Driven by Vaughan’s lyrical guitar work, the skin-tight drumming of George Rains and the verdant Hammond B-3 work of the song’s writer, Bill Willis (whose long career includes work on the seminal R&B and blues sides issued by King Records as well as stints with Freddie King and Lavern Baker), the song speaks volumes without a single word, and sets a tone of distinctive and emotion-laden musical articulation that continues throughout the disc.
Do You Get The Blues? travels through a virtual galaxy of musical moods and modes across its 11 vibrant selections. Highlights include a rare Jimmie Vaughan acoustic slide track–a tribute to his friend and mentor Muddy Waters–and harp by blues legend James Cotton on “The Deep End,” a fusion of vintage R&B and jazz on “Don’t Let The Sun Set,” the sexy and seductive mood of “Slow Dance,” the syncopated soul of “Let Me In,” and a classic Texas blues shuffle with “Robbin’ Me Blind.” Jimmie offers a glimpse of the continuing Vaughan legacy on “Without You,” co-written by his son, rising Austin musician Tyrone Vaughan, who plays guitar with Jimmie on the track. The album also features Texas singing legend Lou Ann Barton, a founding member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Jimmie and Lou Ann’s potent vocal chemistry shines on the fiery “Out Of The Shadows” and the searing “Power of Love.” The two also join forces with the Double Trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton on the classic shouter, “In The Middle of the Night.” By the time the album lands on “Planet Bongo,” the imaginative mood piece that caps the disc, it’s clear that Do You Get The Blues? is a tour de force that draws from Jimmie Vaughan’s vast reservoir of musical traditions to create a modern classic.
“I wanted to make a romantic blues album,” explains Vaughan. “I was listening to a lot of Sarah Vaughan and a lot of jazz. So I wanted to put my dirty blues guitar and the romantic feelings and the ins and outs of love together on one album. It’s got a lot of gospel stylings, it’s got blues, it’s got R&B. I don’t consciously think, okay, we need to put some of this in here; I like that beat, that’s cool. I don’t plan it out or try to decipher what it is. I just try to create what I feel.”
Vaughan’s musical abilities and sense of style were obvious from an early age. Growing up in Oak Cliff, just south of downtown Dallas, TX., he was weaned on classic Top 40 radio (which was invented in his hometown), vintage blues, early rock’n'roll and the deepest rhythm and blues and coolest jazz of the day, thanks to the sounds he heard on Dallas’ AM radio powerhouse KNOX and border radio stations like XERB, where personalities like the legendary Wolfman Jack sparked a youth revolution. “I never got over that stuff, and I never will. That’s the kind of music I like,” he explains.
When he was sidelined by a football injury at the age of 13, a family friend gave Vaughan a guitar to occupy him during his recuperation. From the moment Jimmie’s fingers touched the fretboard, it was obvious that he was a natural talent. “It was like he played it all his life,” his mother Martha Vaughan later noted. He also began tutoring his younger brother Stevie, who would cite Jimmie as his biggest inspiration and influence throughout his own career.
At age 15, Vaughan started his first band, The Swinging Pendulums, and was soon playing the rough and tumble Dallas nightclub scene many nights a week. By the time he hit 16, Jimmie joined The Chessman, who became the area’s top musical attraction, eventually opening concerts in Dallas for Jimi Hendrix. After hearing Muddy Waters and Freddie King play in Dallas, Vaughan began to delve deep into the blues, melding his many influences into a style that was clean, economical and highly articulate, concentrating on rhythmic accents and lead work that relies on the power of his less is more approach.
In 1969, Vaughan helped found Texas Storm, a group that eschewed Top 40 covers for blues and soul with a Texas accent. The band eventually migrated to Austin, where they won over the college crowd and the Black and Chicano communities on the Capital City’s East Side. Vaughan also helped jump start his brother Stevie’s career when the younger Vaughan joined Texas Storm on bass.
Determined to create an ideal vehicle for blues music that was both modern in its impact and appeal yet true to the tradition, Vaughan founded The Fabulous Thunderbirds with Kim Wilson in the mid 1970s. When Antone’s nightclub opened in Austin in August of 1975, the Thunderbirds became the house band, sharing the stage and jamming with such blues greats as Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Albert King and a host of others, all of whom recognized Vaughan as the man who would keep the music they developed alive for future generations. As Jimmie recalls, “One time when we were playing Antone’s, opening for Muddy, I thought, okay, I’m going to do this Muddy Waters-style slide thing and see if I can get a reaction from him. And the next night I did it again. And he came out behind me and grabbed me around the neck, and said he liked it. And he told me, ‘When I’m gone, I want you to do that, and show everybody that’s what I did. I want you to do it for me.’”
Vaughan recorded eight albums with The Fabulous Thuderbirds: Girls Go Wild on Tacoma/Chrysalis; What’s The Word, Butt Rockin’ and T-Bird Rhythm on Chrysalis; and Tuff Enuff (certified platinum), Hot Number, Powerful Stuff and Wrap It Up on Epic. On the strength of such hits as “Tuff Enuff,” two Grammy Award nominations and years of worldwide touring, The Fabulous Thunderbirds brought the blues back into the pop charts and the contemporary musical lexicon, sparking a blues revival that continues unabated today. Prior to leaving the group in 1990, Jimmie had joined up with his brother Stevie to record Family Style, an album that reflected their mutually deep musical roots and maturing modern artistic sophistication. Then in August, 1990, just a few weeks prior to the album’s release, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin. The tragedy devastated Jimmie, who retreated from touring and recording, though he continued to play guitar every day, as he has throughout his life. Meanwhile, the success of Family Style further enhanced Jimmie’s reputation as a distinctive musical stylist.
Eventually, Vaughan’s friend Eric Clapton invited him to open a series of 16 special concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall. After the warm reception for his solo debut at the Clapton shows in early 1993, Jimmie started recording his first solo album. The resulting disc, Strange Pleasure, was produced by Nile Rodgers (who worked with the Vaughan brothers on Family Style), featured 11 songs written or co-written by Jimmie, and was dedicated to Stevie Ray and the recently deceased Albert Collins. It debuted at Number One on the Billboard Heatseeker Chart, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Blues Album and garnered reams of critical acclaim as Vaughan also stepped out on tour as a solo artist and bandleader.
His next album, 1998?s Out There, solidified Vaughan’s status as a solo artist, thanks to a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (for the song “Ironic Twist”). As The Boston Phoenix noted in a four-star rave review, Out There featured “his best playing ever, bringing rich-toned exuberance to the familiar trappings of rippling blues and shuffle beats, soul grooves, and vocal arrangements that tap the celestial richness of the glory days of doo-wop.”
As Jimmie Vaughan emerged as an artist in his own right, his reputation as a master musician became even more apparent, thanks to the admiration of blues legends like B.B. King and Buddy Guy, such guitar superstars as Eric Clapton and Z.Z. Top’s Billy Gibbons, and rising talents like Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. As Clapton notes, “The first time I heard Jimmie Vaughan, I was impressed with the raw power of his sound. His style is unique, and if I’ve learned anything from him, it’s to keep it simple.” Likewise, Buddy Guy once proclaimed: “He’s unbeatable when it comes to the blues. He just plays it like it’s supposed to be played.” Even Stevie Ray Vaughan acknowledged that when people would compare his playing to that of his brother, there was really no contest. “I play probably 80 percent of what I can play. Jimmie plays one percent of what he knows. He can play anything.”
Jimmie Vaughan is more modest in assessing his abilities, though very clear when it comes to his approach. “I try to speak with my guitar in sentences,” he explains. “The people that I enjoy and the music that I enjoy are not about just a bunch of licks strung together. If you just play a bunch of guitar licks that aren’t connected, it’s like throwing a lot of words into a bowl. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s just words. “When I listen to Gene Ammons, the great saxophone player, I get the feeling he’s telling you a story. That’s how I’d like to play guitar someday, when I grow up. That’s the goal. That’s what I enjoy. That’s what makes me get chill bumps–when you listen to music where the phrasing comes out and it speaks. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to after 37 years of playing.”
Jimmie Vaughan’s style as a player, songwriter and bandleader can be thought of as an amalgamation of so many influences. Known for his deceptively simple yet complex attack, his clean, uncluttered style capitalizes on conveying the emotion and message within the music, He utilizes raw emotion, simplicity, and an elegance that is powerful and accessible, yet communicates exactly what he feels inside. It’s an approach that has earned him the respect of many of the greats of contemporary music, and guest appearances on such albums as B.B. King and Eric Clapton’s Riding With The King, Bob Dylan’s Under The Red Sky, Willie Nelson’s Milk
Cow Blues, Carlos Santana’s Havana Moon and Don Henley’s Inside Job.
And in the same fashion that Vaughan revitalizes the classic blues and soul that informs his music, he has also become one of the foremost designers of classic custom cars. “I don’t play golf. Socars are my hobby,” he says with a chuckle. “I was into cars as soon as I was old enough to walk. I built lots of models when I was a teenager. It’s not like transportation. It’s art you can drive to the store.” His first custom restored hot rod is a 1951 Chevy Fleetline that’s become a well-known sight on the streets of Austin, TX over the years. He then augmented his collection with a 1963 Buick Riviera, and a 1961 Cadillac Coupe DeVille that took First Place at the 1999 Sacramento Autorama and Second Place at the 50th Annual Grand National Roadster show, and is currently on display at the Peterson Car Museum in Los Angeles. Vaughan is credited by his pal Eric Clapton with inspiring him to begin collecting and restoring classic roadsters as well.
Yet for all his accomplishments and the admiration he has earned, Jimmie Vaughan remains modest when it comes to his life and work. “I’m just trying to have fun like everyone else,” he concludes. “I’ve been playing since I was 13. I play every day. I’ve never stopped. I can’t imagine that I could exist without it.”
http://www.jimmievaughan.com
Vidar Busk & His Bubble Of trouble
Vidar Busk is een Noorse gitarist, zanger en producer geboren op 19 mei 1970. Hij groeide op in Langesund maar ging reeds op 15 jarige leeftijd naar de States waar hij samen met de bluesband van Rock Bottom (die hij in Noorwegen had leren kennen) gedurende 4 jaar door de Zuidelijke staten reisde en deel uitmaakte van de band.
Door het feit dat hij illegaal in de USA vertoefde en problemen kreeg met de overheid ging hij terug naar Noorwegen. Hij vormde Vidar Busk & His True Believers en bracht in 1997 “Stompin our feet with Joy” uit, dit album werd een waar succes. Op deze CD bezingt Rock Bottom het leven van Vidar Busk in het nummer “The ballad of Vidar Busk” Met zijn volgende album won hij in 1998 een Grammy.
Op zijn eerste 3 albums speelde hij vooral op swing gebaseerde bluesrock.
In 2001 met zijn album “Venus, Texas” veranderde hij van stijl, de muziek werd veel zachter en gevoeliger. Ook op de volgende cd’s ging hij meer experimenteren en flirten met verschillende muziekstijlen, op een van deze cd’s deden zelf 2 rappers mee. De naam van de band wijzigde ook naar “Vidar Busk & The Voo Doodz”
Onlangs nam hij echter de beslissing om terug naar de roots weer te keren en opnieuw met “His True Believers” te gaan toeren. Hij is en blijft een geweldige gitarist en heeft door de jaren heen op verschillende vooraanstaande Europese en Amerikaanse bluesfestivals gespeeld.
http://www.vidarbusk.no/Default.aspx
Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat
Hot Buskers
Texan Trail
En met deze namen is de affiche nu compleet!
Jon Amor Blues Group !
Natuurlijk ook bekend van The Hoax, maar met zijn eigen band minstens zo geweldig. Jon Amor komt Ospel in vuur en vlam zetten !
http://www.myspace.com/jonamormusic
Natuurlijk ook bekend van The Hoax, maar met zijn eigen band minstens zo geweldig. Jon Amor komt Ospel in vuur en vlam zetten !
http://www.myspace.com/jonamormusic
De Franse verrassing voor dit jaar: Cotton Belly's !
Niet alleen in Frankrijk maar inmiddels ook ver daarbuiten razend populair. Nu is het de beurt aan Nederland: Madames et monsieurs, les Cotton Belly's !
http://www.myspace.com/cottonbellys
Niet alleen in Frankrijk maar inmiddels ook ver daarbuiten razend populair. Nu is het de beurt aan Nederland: Madames et monsieurs, les Cotton Belly's !
http://www.myspace.com/cottonbellys
Ook RJ Mischo op MB 2012 !
Het is 19 jaar geleden dat hij in Ospel was en het is ook alweer even geleden dat hij in Nederland was. Voor het eerst weer te zien op Moulin Blues 2012: RJ Mischo!
Singer/Harmonica player R.J. Mischo began his music career over 20 years ago in Minneapolis. He worked with the area’s legends of the Blues scene like Muddy Waters alumni Mojo Buford and Sonny Rogers, as well as Percy Strothers & Milwaukee Slim. R.J. then led his own groups and gained a reputation as one of the region's top blues acts.
During his tenure in Minneapolis, R.J. was nominated in several categories by the Minnesota Music Academy and in 1996 won the award for Best Harmonica Player.
RJ Mischo scoops up everyday life and personal experiences and funnels them through his harp and vocals, and what pours out is the hot-blooded passion, the playful humor and high voltage energy of the blues.
R.J. was introduced to audiences worldwide when he and guitarist Teddy Morgan formed the RJ & Kid Morgan Blues Band featuring Percy Strother. In 1992 they released Ready To Go on the W. C. Handy award-winning Blue Loon Records.
1994 brought the critically acclaimed Gonna Rock Tonight also on Blue Loon Records. After several successful tours of Europe, RJ recorded Rough ’N" Tough "live in Europe "in 1996 and Cool Disposition in 1997 on the prestigious German label, Crosscut Records.
In 1998 R.J. Mischo and His Red Hot Blues Band moved to San Francisco, California and quickly established himself in the local music scene as each performance typically runs the gamut from mellow-down-easy acoustic to highly-charged full-on electric.
The CD "West Wind Blowin'" featured advances in R.J.'s writing style and guest performances by guitarist/vocalists Steve Freund and Rusty Zinn. RJ waxed three more Albums in California plus appeared on 2 volumes of Blues Harp Meltdown CD"s compilations featuriing live recording's of Mark Hummel's famous blues harmonica blow-outs with Kim Wilson, James Harman, Billy Branch, Rick Estrin, Gary Primich, Johnny Dyer, Annie Raines, Gary Smith, and Cephas & Wiggins.
His latest and 9th CD "King Of a Mighty Good Time" 2008 was recorded "live" in the studio to best capture the energy and interplay of sympathic musicians under optimal recording conditions.
RJ and his Wife now reside in Fayetteville, Arkansas. R.J. works in the area with Northwest Arkansas' finest including guitar-MARK HUMMELace Jimmy Thackery, the Table Rockers, Zack Bramhall and Arkansas legend Earl Cate. As well as touring worldwide performing on Blues Festivals and clubs with his own Red Hot Blues bands!
www.rjblues.com
Het is 19 jaar geleden dat hij in Ospel was en het is ook alweer even geleden dat hij in Nederland was. Voor het eerst weer te zien op Moulin Blues 2012: RJ Mischo!
Singer/Harmonica player R.J. Mischo began his music career over 20 years ago in Minneapolis. He worked with the area’s legends of the Blues scene like Muddy Waters alumni Mojo Buford and Sonny Rogers, as well as Percy Strothers & Milwaukee Slim. R.J. then led his own groups and gained a reputation as one of the region's top blues acts.
During his tenure in Minneapolis, R.J. was nominated in several categories by the Minnesota Music Academy and in 1996 won the award for Best Harmonica Player.
RJ Mischo scoops up everyday life and personal experiences and funnels them through his harp and vocals, and what pours out is the hot-blooded passion, the playful humor and high voltage energy of the blues.
R.J. was introduced to audiences worldwide when he and guitarist Teddy Morgan formed the RJ & Kid Morgan Blues Band featuring Percy Strother. In 1992 they released Ready To Go on the W. C. Handy award-winning Blue Loon Records.
1994 brought the critically acclaimed Gonna Rock Tonight also on Blue Loon Records. After several successful tours of Europe, RJ recorded Rough ’N" Tough "live in Europe "in 1996 and Cool Disposition in 1997 on the prestigious German label, Crosscut Records.
In 1998 R.J. Mischo and His Red Hot Blues Band moved to San Francisco, California and quickly established himself in the local music scene as each performance typically runs the gamut from mellow-down-easy acoustic to highly-charged full-on electric.
The CD "West Wind Blowin'" featured advances in R.J.'s writing style and guest performances by guitarist/vocalists Steve Freund and Rusty Zinn. RJ waxed three more Albums in California plus appeared on 2 volumes of Blues Harp Meltdown CD"s compilations featuriing live recording's of Mark Hummel's famous blues harmonica blow-outs with Kim Wilson, James Harman, Billy Branch, Rick Estrin, Gary Primich, Johnny Dyer, Annie Raines, Gary Smith, and Cephas & Wiggins.
His latest and 9th CD "King Of a Mighty Good Time" 2008 was recorded "live" in the studio to best capture the energy and interplay of sympathic musicians under optimal recording conditions.
RJ and his Wife now reside in Fayetteville, Arkansas. R.J. works in the area with Northwest Arkansas' finest including guitar-MARK HUMMELace Jimmy Thackery, the Table Rockers, Zack Bramhall and Arkansas legend Earl Cate. As well as touring worldwide performing on Blues Festivals and clubs with his own Red Hot Blues bands!
www.rjblues.com
JD McPherson op MB 2012 !
De kleine grote man uit Oklahoma brengt u rock & roll en rhythm & blues in de stijl van de jaren '50, maar dan op zijn eigen unieke manier! Hij werd onlangs zelfs door National Public Radio in de USA verkozen tot een van de artiesten die je niet mag missen. Grijp die kans dus in Ospel!
Sometimes the most American of settings can reveal the deepest artistic talents the world has ever known. Johnny Cash on the farms of Arkansas, Mike Ness on the mean streets of Los Angeles, and a skinny kid from the ghettos of Tupelo named Elvis who happened to be brimming with soul. JD Mcpherson is one of those talents cut from that same artistic cloth. Growing up in southern Oklahoma, Mcpherson, the progeny of an ex-military, farming father and “good word” preaching mother, Mcpherson had an intriguing childhood and those influences shine blissfully through his music. His sound is raw it feels old, like the hum of a 50’s convertible cruising the back roads of the Mississippi delta, but it’s new and innovative.While most kids from the sticks heros were rodeo stars and country singers, Mcpherson heard the liberal screech of The Talking Heads and Bad Brains and let it empower him. But the allure of the American Roots Music scene is what made his musical mouth salivate. The honest troubadours of song that roamed from honky tonks to back alley bar rooms that machine gunned a town every night, one song at a time.
http://www.jdmcpherson.com/
De kleine grote man uit Oklahoma brengt u rock & roll en rhythm & blues in de stijl van de jaren '50, maar dan op zijn eigen unieke manier! Hij werd onlangs zelfs door National Public Radio in de USA verkozen tot een van de artiesten die je niet mag missen. Grijp die kans dus in Ospel!
Sometimes the most American of settings can reveal the deepest artistic talents the world has ever known. Johnny Cash on the farms of Arkansas, Mike Ness on the mean streets of Los Angeles, and a skinny kid from the ghettos of Tupelo named Elvis who happened to be brimming with soul. JD Mcpherson is one of those talents cut from that same artistic cloth. Growing up in southern Oklahoma, Mcpherson, the progeny of an ex-military, farming father and “good word” preaching mother, Mcpherson had an intriguing childhood and those influences shine blissfully through his music. His sound is raw it feels old, like the hum of a 50’s convertible cruising the back roads of the Mississippi delta, but it’s new and innovative.While most kids from the sticks heros were rodeo stars and country singers, Mcpherson heard the liberal screech of The Talking Heads and Bad Brains and let it empower him. But the allure of the American Roots Music scene is what made his musical mouth salivate. The honest troubadours of song that roamed from honky tonks to back alley bar rooms that machine gunned a town every night, one song at a time.
http://www.jdmcpherson.com/
Etta James R.I.P. (1938-2012)
Rhythm & blues icoon Etta James is op 20 januari op 73-jarige leeftijd in Californië overleden aan de gevolgen van leukemie. In haar turbulente carrière won ze talloze Grammy Awards en Blues Music Awards; in 2003 won ze zelfs een Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Een van haar bekendste nummers is ongetwijfeld I'd rather go blind, hier vertolkt door Trampled Under Foot die dit jaar in Ospel op de planken staan.
Siblings Danielle, Kris and Nick Schnebelen grew up with the Blues. Their parents, Bob and Lisa, were active in the thriving Kansas City Blues scene, playing in local bands and competing in the Kansas City Blues Challenge. Bob and Lisa’s band didn’t make it to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis — but their kids did. When TUF arrived in Memphis for the 2008 IBC they were followed by huge, wildly enthusiastic throngs of hometown supporters, eager to cheer for their favorite musical family. And when TUF took First Place in the competition and Nick won the Albert King award for best guitarist, it was a sweet victory for the Schnebelen family and for Kansas City itself. TUF has been on a roll ever since, becoming popular repeat headliners at clubs, festivals and cruises around the world and releasing CDs and a DVD on their own label. Trampled Under Foot’s brand new CD, Wrong Side of the Blues was produced by Tony Braunagel, and features guest appearances by Mike Finnigan, Kim Wilson, and engineer/guitarist Johnny Lee Schell. It also features one of their dad’s songs, and backup vocals by their mom. In the future, when people speak of the great Blues dynasties, musical families who breathed the same musical air and produced the highest form of the art, chances are they’ll refer to the Allmans, the Dickinsons, the Burnsides, the Brookses, the Neals… and the Schnebelens.
http://www.tufkc.com/
Rhythm & blues icoon Etta James is op 20 januari op 73-jarige leeftijd in Californië overleden aan de gevolgen van leukemie. In haar turbulente carrière won ze talloze Grammy Awards en Blues Music Awards; in 2003 won ze zelfs een Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Een van haar bekendste nummers is ongetwijfeld I'd rather go blind, hier vertolkt door Trampled Under Foot die dit jaar in Ospel op de planken staan.
Siblings Danielle, Kris and Nick Schnebelen grew up with the Blues. Their parents, Bob and Lisa, were active in the thriving Kansas City Blues scene, playing in local bands and competing in the Kansas City Blues Challenge. Bob and Lisa’s band didn’t make it to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis — but their kids did. When TUF arrived in Memphis for the 2008 IBC they were followed by huge, wildly enthusiastic throngs of hometown supporters, eager to cheer for their favorite musical family. And when TUF took First Place in the competition and Nick won the Albert King award for best guitarist, it was a sweet victory for the Schnebelen family and for Kansas City itself. TUF has been on a roll ever since, becoming popular repeat headliners at clubs, festivals and cruises around the world and releasing CDs and a DVD on their own label. Trampled Under Foot’s brand new CD, Wrong Side of the Blues was produced by Tony Braunagel, and features guest appearances by Mike Finnigan, Kim Wilson, and engineer/guitarist Johnny Lee Schell. It also features one of their dad’s songs, and backup vocals by their mom. In the future, when people speak of the great Blues dynasties, musical families who breathed the same musical air and produced the highest form of the art, chances are they’ll refer to the Allmans, the Dickinsons, the Burnsides, the Brookses, the Neals… and the Schnebelens.
http://www.tufkc.com/
The Big Pete Blues Band!
Als je als Nederlandse bluesmuzikant een album opneemt op het gerenommeerde Delta Groove label met de top van de Amerikaanse westcoast blues en daardoor ook nog eens genomineerd wordt voor een Blues Music Award, mag je wat ons betreft niet ontbreken op Moulin Blues. De muzikant in kwestie is Big Pete en hij komt laten horen en zien waarom men in de USA zo enthousiast is!
http://www.myspace.com/bigpete1977
Als je als Nederlandse bluesmuzikant een album opneemt op het gerenommeerde Delta Groove label met de top van de Amerikaanse westcoast blues en daardoor ook nog eens genomineerd wordt voor een Blues Music Award, mag je wat ons betreft niet ontbreken op Moulin Blues. De muzikant in kwestie is Big Pete en hij komt laten horen en zien waarom men in de USA zo enthousiast is!
http://www.myspace.com/bigpete1977
Lightnin' Guy plays Hound Dog Taylor !
België is dit jaar goed vertegenwoordigd in Ospel. Naast Tiny Legs Tim zal Lightnin' Guy zijn opwachting maken en de tent ongetwijfeld in vuur en vlam zetten met zijn eerbetoon aan Hound Dog Taylor!
Lightnin’ Guy is the hardest working performer in the Belgian blues & roots scene. After Blue Blot & the Electric Kings, Belgium has a new top act that not only conquers the hearts of the blues-and-rootslovers in Belgium, but also is on the brink of a breakthrough onto the European stages.
Since his first show in May 2008 he is on a crazy rollercoaster ride. During the first half-year on the road Lightnin’ Guy played more than 40 shows, toured through the Netherlands & Austria and recorded his debut album „Live from the Heart“. In 2009 he did over 70 shows, played on the legendary Peer Blues, Kwadendamme Blues & Gouvy Jazz-Blues Festival. He also signed a record deal with Parsifal Records to record a new studio album & released his debut album on their Blue Sting label.
Today Lightnin’ Guy is considered a real hot live sensation and continues to conquer the hearts of the blues & roots lovers in Belgium & Holland. Nowadays he plays the biggest festivals and already shared the same bill as John Fogerty, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, John Mayall , Joe Bonanmasa, Derek Trucks, ... Lightnin’ Guy also opened concerts for The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Joe Louis Walker, Canned Heat, Eddie C. Campbell, Sherman Robertson, Dr. Feelgood, The Nighthawks, Ian Siegal …
Lightnin' Guy was born on the 22nd of March 1976 as Guy Verlinde in a small village near Bruges. As a child he was always obsessed with music: making his own toy guitars, being a bedroom dj, singing in the church choir, being a local playback star, playing in the local harmony …
But it all started to fall into place once he bought his first guitar and harp at the age of 16. After moving to Bruges, he discovered the blues through the massive record collection of a friend’s father. Soon after he founded his first band Smokin’ Chillums at the age of 17. They played intensively the Belgian & Dutch blues scene for 6 years. Because of his energetic performances his fans gave him the nickname “Lightnin’ Guy”.
Every talent needs a master, a guide and a bullshit detector. After moving to the city of Ghent, he met slide guitar player Marino Noppe of the legendary bluesband Maxwell Street. He spent countless hours in his house, listening to old vinyl & blues stories, playing his old vintage guitars, … With Marino he learned everything about being a blues musician. As the backing guitar player of Maxwell Street he toured through the States and Europe playing with Hash Brown, Johnny Moeller and Louisiana Blues legend Roscoe Chenier.
Together with Marino Noppe he started the band Mo’ Rice where Lightnin’ Guy for the first time really focussed on the blues harp. During that time he developed himself as an energetic harp player influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, James Cotton and Lester Butler, who had a big impact on his playing.
Since he started playing the guitar, Lightnin’ Guy felt attracted to the slide guitar. First influenced by Chris Whitley and later blown away by Hound Dog Taylor it became clear that this was his path to walk. Even though he incorporated the soul of the traditional slide guitar players as Fred McDowell, Bukka White, Elmore James … he also got inspired by contemporary artists like John Mooney, Anders Osborne, Sonny Landreth, Ben Harper and John Butler.
As his slide & harpstyle are very emotional, unique & authentic, a Lightnin’ Guy show is always very energetic. As he says:“ In a world of plastic & virtuality, people want real things“. A Lightnin’ Guy show is all about energy and total surrender to the audience. This makes him a real crowd pleaser. By playing in the ‘Louisiana swamp & Chicago slide & harp’-tradition, he always succeeds in making everybody dance and sing along to his tight, groovy, honest riffs & licks. Lightnin' Guy is not only an excellent musician & singer, but also an all-round entertainer. It does not matter for whom he plays nor where, people always start shaking their asses and having a mighty good time, when Lightnin’ Guy is on stage.
http://www.lightninguy.com
België is dit jaar goed vertegenwoordigd in Ospel. Naast Tiny Legs Tim zal Lightnin' Guy zijn opwachting maken en de tent ongetwijfeld in vuur en vlam zetten met zijn eerbetoon aan Hound Dog Taylor!
Lightnin’ Guy is the hardest working performer in the Belgian blues & roots scene. After Blue Blot & the Electric Kings, Belgium has a new top act that not only conquers the hearts of the blues-and-rootslovers in Belgium, but also is on the brink of a breakthrough onto the European stages.
Since his first show in May 2008 he is on a crazy rollercoaster ride. During the first half-year on the road Lightnin’ Guy played more than 40 shows, toured through the Netherlands & Austria and recorded his debut album „Live from the Heart“. In 2009 he did over 70 shows, played on the legendary Peer Blues, Kwadendamme Blues & Gouvy Jazz-Blues Festival. He also signed a record deal with Parsifal Records to record a new studio album & released his debut album on their Blue Sting label.
Today Lightnin’ Guy is considered a real hot live sensation and continues to conquer the hearts of the blues & roots lovers in Belgium & Holland. Nowadays he plays the biggest festivals and already shared the same bill as John Fogerty, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, John Mayall , Joe Bonanmasa, Derek Trucks, ... Lightnin’ Guy also opened concerts for The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Joe Louis Walker, Canned Heat, Eddie C. Campbell, Sherman Robertson, Dr. Feelgood, The Nighthawks, Ian Siegal …
Lightnin' Guy was born on the 22nd of March 1976 as Guy Verlinde in a small village near Bruges. As a child he was always obsessed with music: making his own toy guitars, being a bedroom dj, singing in the church choir, being a local playback star, playing in the local harmony …
But it all started to fall into place once he bought his first guitar and harp at the age of 16. After moving to Bruges, he discovered the blues through the massive record collection of a friend’s father. Soon after he founded his first band Smokin’ Chillums at the age of 17. They played intensively the Belgian & Dutch blues scene for 6 years. Because of his energetic performances his fans gave him the nickname “Lightnin’ Guy”.
Every talent needs a master, a guide and a bullshit detector. After moving to the city of Ghent, he met slide guitar player Marino Noppe of the legendary bluesband Maxwell Street. He spent countless hours in his house, listening to old vinyl & blues stories, playing his old vintage guitars, … With Marino he learned everything about being a blues musician. As the backing guitar player of Maxwell Street he toured through the States and Europe playing with Hash Brown, Johnny Moeller and Louisiana Blues legend Roscoe Chenier.
Together with Marino Noppe he started the band Mo’ Rice where Lightnin’ Guy for the first time really focussed on the blues harp. During that time he developed himself as an energetic harp player influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, James Cotton and Lester Butler, who had a big impact on his playing.
Since he started playing the guitar, Lightnin’ Guy felt attracted to the slide guitar. First influenced by Chris Whitley and later blown away by Hound Dog Taylor it became clear that this was his path to walk. Even though he incorporated the soul of the traditional slide guitar players as Fred McDowell, Bukka White, Elmore James … he also got inspired by contemporary artists like John Mooney, Anders Osborne, Sonny Landreth, Ben Harper and John Butler.
As his slide & harpstyle are very emotional, unique & authentic, a Lightnin’ Guy show is always very energetic. As he says:“ In a world of plastic & virtuality, people want real things“. A Lightnin’ Guy show is all about energy and total surrender to the audience. This makes him a real crowd pleaser. By playing in the ‘Louisiana swamp & Chicago slide & harp’-tradition, he always succeeds in making everybody dance and sing along to his tight, groovy, honest riffs & licks. Lightnin' Guy is not only an excellent musician & singer, but also an all-round entertainer. It does not matter for whom he plays nor where, people always start shaking their asses and having a mighty good time, when Lightnin’ Guy is on stage.
http://www.lightninguy.com
Tiny Legs Tim !
Dat er uit Gent ook uitstekende Delta Blues kan komen dat bewijst Tiny Legs Tim. De Gentenaar staat in het eerste weekend van mei in het Moulin Blues Café tijdens Moulin Blues 2012!
http://www.myspace.com/tinylegstim
Dat er uit Gent ook uitstekende Delta Blues kan komen dat bewijst Tiny Legs Tim. De Gentenaar staat in het eerste weekend van mei in het Moulin Blues Café tijdens Moulin Blues 2012!
http://www.myspace.com/tinylegstim
Trampled Under Foot !
We zijn erg blij dat we deze band kunnen toevoegen aan de line-up van Moulin Blues 2012.
In april van dit jaar brachten ze het zeer goed ontvangen album "Wrong side of the Blues" uit.
Onlangs werd bekend dat ze maar liefst drie Blues Music Awards nominaties in de wacht hebben gesleept, waaronder die voor "Band of the Year".
Met Trampled Under Foot haalt Moulin Blues dus weer een absolute topper naar Ospel!
Siblings Danielle, Kris and Nick Schnebelen grew up with the Blues. Their parents, Bob and Lisa, were active in the thriving Kansas City Blues scene, playing in local bands and competing in the Kansas City Blues Challenge. Bob and Lisa’s band didn’t make it to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis — but their kids did. When TUF arrived in Memphis for the 2008 IBC they were followed by huge, wildly enthusiastic throngs of hometown supporters, eager to cheer for their favorite musical family. And when TUF took First Place in the competition and Nick won the Albert King award for best guitarist, it was a sweet victory for the Schnebelen family and for Kansas City itself. TUF has been on a roll ever since, becoming popular repeat headliners at clubs, festivals and cruises around the world and releasing CDs and a DVD on their own label. Trampled Under Foot’s brand new CD, Wrong Side of the Blues was produced by Tony Braunagel, and features guest appearances by Mike Finnigan, Kim Wilson, and engineer/guitarist Johnny Lee Schell. It also features one of their dad’s songs, and backup vocals by their mom. In the future, when people speak of the great Blues dynasties, musical families who breathed the same musical air and produced the highest form of the art, chances are they’ll refer to the Allmans, the Dickinsons, the Burnsides, the Brookses, the Neals… and the Schnebelens.
http://www.tufkc.com/
We zijn erg blij dat we deze band kunnen toevoegen aan de line-up van Moulin Blues 2012.
In april van dit jaar brachten ze het zeer goed ontvangen album "Wrong side of the Blues" uit.
Onlangs werd bekend dat ze maar liefst drie Blues Music Awards nominaties in de wacht hebben gesleept, waaronder die voor "Band of the Year".
Met Trampled Under Foot haalt Moulin Blues dus weer een absolute topper naar Ospel!
Siblings Danielle, Kris and Nick Schnebelen grew up with the Blues. Their parents, Bob and Lisa, were active in the thriving Kansas City Blues scene, playing in local bands and competing in the Kansas City Blues Challenge. Bob and Lisa’s band didn’t make it to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis — but their kids did. When TUF arrived in Memphis for the 2008 IBC they were followed by huge, wildly enthusiastic throngs of hometown supporters, eager to cheer for their favorite musical family. And when TUF took First Place in the competition and Nick won the Albert King award for best guitarist, it was a sweet victory for the Schnebelen family and for Kansas City itself. TUF has been on a roll ever since, becoming popular repeat headliners at clubs, festivals and cruises around the world and releasing CDs and a DVD on their own label. Trampled Under Foot’s brand new CD, Wrong Side of the Blues was produced by Tony Braunagel, and features guest appearances by Mike Finnigan, Kim Wilson, and engineer/guitarist Johnny Lee Schell. It also features one of their dad’s songs, and backup vocals by their mom. In the future, when people speak of the great Blues dynasties, musical families who breathed the same musical air and produced the highest form of the art, chances are they’ll refer to the Allmans, the Dickinsons, the Burnsides, the Brookses, the Neals… and the Schnebelens.
http://www.tufkc.com/
John F. Klaver Band (NL)
Every show we play with much intensity and expressiveness," "Hit people in the heart not the head" - John
John F. Klaver is a guitarist and a singer, who has played the guitar since the age of eleven. When he was seventeen, he decided to go to the Unites States. John attended lessons as a "senior" at Stagg High School and took guitar and music theory classes as a private student at The University of the Pacific. After that, he was excepted to the conservatory of Amsterdam where he continued his education as a guitarist. His teachers included Dutch jazz and blues guitar players Jesse van Ruller and Eef Albers. After graduating he started his own band.
John is assisted by Iris Sigtermans (bass), Martijn Klaver (drums) and Bob Fridzema (hammond), the latest addition to the band, which was formerly a trio. John plays blues, funk and soul in a very grooving style, making it contemporary without losing an authentic feel. Material by Ray Charles, Cream, as well as new classics from Derek Trucks, Robben Ford and Matt Schofield complement John’s own songs. The first CD, "Jetpepper", was launched in 2008. The second album "Coming Back For More" was published in April 2011 and included guest appearances of Bennie Veldman (bluesharp) and Rob Mostert (Hammond B3). Shortly before the release, music magazines Guitarist and Music Maker already discovered John, who also builds his own pedals and amps, and dedicated an article to him.
John F. Klaver, who also has a lot of experience leading jam sessions, doing session work and has played in many different formations, has performed at many festivals with the John F. Klaver Band, such as Meer Jazz Festival, Oosterhout Blues Festival, Blues By The Sea, Culemborg Bluesfestival, Big Rivers Festival etc. After the overwhelming success of "Coming Back For More", the future looks even brighter for the John F. Klaver Band.
‘John F. Klaver, a Dutch little secret that’s now survacing as a jewel’ (Arrow Classic Rock Radio)
‘The tracks are divers…John can do it all, this album is enjoyment’ (Dutch Bluesmagazine.nl)
‘I am convinced that the qualities of John F. Klaver won’t be unnoticed by the bigger audience and that we will see him at the bigger festivals’ (Bluesbreeker)
‘Excellent guitarwork’ (Harry Muskee, Blues radio)
‘An album that graps you from the first notes’ (Bealestreet.be)
‘You can say John delivered a great album. It swings, grooves and sounds fresh and playful’ (Musicfrom.nl)
‘One of the best new bluesproducts from The Netherlands (Bluesforum.nl)
http://www.johnklaver.nl
Every show we play with much intensity and expressiveness," "Hit people in the heart not the head" - John
John F. Klaver is a guitarist and a singer, who has played the guitar since the age of eleven. When he was seventeen, he decided to go to the Unites States. John attended lessons as a "senior" at Stagg High School and took guitar and music theory classes as a private student at The University of the Pacific. After that, he was excepted to the conservatory of Amsterdam where he continued his education as a guitarist. His teachers included Dutch jazz and blues guitar players Jesse van Ruller and Eef Albers. After graduating he started his own band.
John is assisted by Iris Sigtermans (bass), Martijn Klaver (drums) and Bob Fridzema (hammond), the latest addition to the band, which was formerly a trio. John plays blues, funk and soul in a very grooving style, making it contemporary without losing an authentic feel. Material by Ray Charles, Cream, as well as new classics from Derek Trucks, Robben Ford and Matt Schofield complement John’s own songs. The first CD, "Jetpepper", was launched in 2008. The second album "Coming Back For More" was published in April 2011 and included guest appearances of Bennie Veldman (bluesharp) and Rob Mostert (Hammond B3). Shortly before the release, music magazines Guitarist and Music Maker already discovered John, who also builds his own pedals and amps, and dedicated an article to him.
John F. Klaver, who also has a lot of experience leading jam sessions, doing session work and has played in many different formations, has performed at many festivals with the John F. Klaver Band, such as Meer Jazz Festival, Oosterhout Blues Festival, Blues By The Sea, Culemborg Bluesfestival, Big Rivers Festival etc. After the overwhelming success of "Coming Back For More", the future looks even brighter for the John F. Klaver Band.
‘John F. Klaver, a Dutch little secret that’s now survacing as a jewel’ (Arrow Classic Rock Radio)
‘The tracks are divers…John can do it all, this album is enjoyment’ (Dutch Bluesmagazine.nl)
‘I am convinced that the qualities of John F. Klaver won’t be unnoticed by the bigger audience and that we will see him at the bigger festivals’ (Bluesbreeker)
‘Excellent guitarwork’ (Harry Muskee, Blues radio)
‘An album that graps you from the first notes’ (Bealestreet.be)
‘You can say John delivered a great album. It swings, grooves and sounds fresh and playful’ (Musicfrom.nl)
‘One of the best new bluesproducts from The Netherlands (Bluesforum.nl)
http://www.johnklaver.nl
Ben Prestage (USA)
Ben Prestage’s musical background began before he was born... even before his parents were born. Ben’s great-grandmother was a Vaudeville musican who toured with Al Jolson and also participated in medicine shows. Her daughter was a Boogie-Woogie pianist and painter who used to play for Ben when he was coming up. On the other side of the family tree, his grandfather, who was a Mississippi sharecropper turned Ben onto the sounds and culture of Mississippi and Blues in general.
“When my father was growing up in Mississippi,” states Ben, “ they never had running water and the only electricity was one light bulb that hung from the ceiling, but they had it better than some of their neighbors, because they didn’t have dirt floors. I grew up in rural Florida, on a 14-mile-long dirt road, near the headwaters of the Everglades. It was 7 miles either direction to the nearest paved road, and when you got to pavement, you still weren't near a town. It was panther, gator, and cottonmouth country. Out there, there was only one kind of music in the house. Whether it was being played on an instrument, or on a recording, it was Blues.
“One day though, in my early teens, I went to help a neighbor build a chicken-coop on his property. When we went inside to eat lunch, I asked him about a banjo I saw in the corner. He picked it up and I heard Bluegrass music for the first time. He was from a musical family and learned old-time banjo from his father from the South Ohio/North Kentucky hills. He lived half a mile away, but it was so quiet out there, you could hear that banjo all the way to my house, if he was on his porch and I was on mine.. He made homemede wine with my dad and when he’d come over, he’d bring his banjo and show me how to pick with my fingers instead of a plectrum.”
Later while living in Memphis, Prestage became a busker (street performer) on historic Beale Street. This is where he perfected his drum-kit. "I played out there a few times with nothing but a guitar and my voice. Once people heard me they liked it, but it was hard to get them on my side of the street with all the other music going on down there. There were some other guys out there who played drums with their feet, and they always got people's attention. I started playing drums with my feet as an attention grabber but soon found out that the drums played with foot pedals actually enhaced my music dramatically. Not only were people listening and buyin' discs, they were now dancing and hollerin' to boot. Now I am to the point where, if you close your eyes, you would think there was a professional drummer with a full-size drumkit behind me. I learned alot from the guys I shared the street with, including John Lowe, (inventor of the Lowebow, a type of diddley-bow that I play), Robert Belfour, and Richard Johnston."
Ben returned to Memphis over the next few years for the International Blues Challenge (the world's largest gathering of Blues musicians) and within three consecutive years took he 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place. He is also the only two-time recipient of the Lyon/Pitchford Award for "Best Diddley-Bow Player." Ben's interesting approach to instrumentation, (fingerstyle guitar, harmonica, banjo, lap-steel, fiddle, resonator guitar, foot-drums, vocals, and his award-winning original songwriting (recipient of "The Most Unique Performer" at "The Song- writers' Showcase of America") has earned him invitations to perform across North America, Europe, and as far as North Africa. All awards aside, he has proven himself, through his live performances, to be the future of American Blues, Roots Music, Americana and is one of today’s most talented outsider.
http://www.benprestagemusic.com
Ben Prestage’s musical background began before he was born... even before his parents were born. Ben’s great-grandmother was a Vaudeville musican who toured with Al Jolson and also participated in medicine shows. Her daughter was a Boogie-Woogie pianist and painter who used to play for Ben when he was coming up. On the other side of the family tree, his grandfather, who was a Mississippi sharecropper turned Ben onto the sounds and culture of Mississippi and Blues in general.
“When my father was growing up in Mississippi,” states Ben, “ they never had running water and the only electricity was one light bulb that hung from the ceiling, but they had it better than some of their neighbors, because they didn’t have dirt floors. I grew up in rural Florida, on a 14-mile-long dirt road, near the headwaters of the Everglades. It was 7 miles either direction to the nearest paved road, and when you got to pavement, you still weren't near a town. It was panther, gator, and cottonmouth country. Out there, there was only one kind of music in the house. Whether it was being played on an instrument, or on a recording, it was Blues.
“One day though, in my early teens, I went to help a neighbor build a chicken-coop on his property. When we went inside to eat lunch, I asked him about a banjo I saw in the corner. He picked it up and I heard Bluegrass music for the first time. He was from a musical family and learned old-time banjo from his father from the South Ohio/North Kentucky hills. He lived half a mile away, but it was so quiet out there, you could hear that banjo all the way to my house, if he was on his porch and I was on mine.. He made homemede wine with my dad and when he’d come over, he’d bring his banjo and show me how to pick with my fingers instead of a plectrum.”
Later while living in Memphis, Prestage became a busker (street performer) on historic Beale Street. This is where he perfected his drum-kit. "I played out there a few times with nothing but a guitar and my voice. Once people heard me they liked it, but it was hard to get them on my side of the street with all the other music going on down there. There were some other guys out there who played drums with their feet, and they always got people's attention. I started playing drums with my feet as an attention grabber but soon found out that the drums played with foot pedals actually enhaced my music dramatically. Not only were people listening and buyin' discs, they were now dancing and hollerin' to boot. Now I am to the point where, if you close your eyes, you would think there was a professional drummer with a full-size drumkit behind me. I learned alot from the guys I shared the street with, including John Lowe, (inventor of the Lowebow, a type of diddley-bow that I play), Robert Belfour, and Richard Johnston."
Ben returned to Memphis over the next few years for the International Blues Challenge (the world's largest gathering of Blues musicians) and within three consecutive years took he 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place. He is also the only two-time recipient of the Lyon/Pitchford Award for "Best Diddley-Bow Player." Ben's interesting approach to instrumentation, (fingerstyle guitar, harmonica, banjo, lap-steel, fiddle, resonator guitar, foot-drums, vocals, and his award-winning original songwriting (recipient of "The Most Unique Performer" at "The Song- writers' Showcase of America") has earned him invitations to perform across North America, Europe, and as far as North Africa. All awards aside, he has proven himself, through his live performances, to be the future of American Blues, Roots Music, Americana and is one of today’s most talented outsider.
http://www.benprestagemusic.com
Israel Nash Gripka (USA)
From the Ozark Mountains of the Missouri countryside to the concrete jungles of New York City, Israel Nash Gripka presents a musical tradition that reveals both the American fabric and all that rests beneath those weathered and faded blankets of stars and stripes.
In an almost conflicted manner, Gripka uses his upbringing as the son of a southern Baptist minister to contrasts the realities of his life. From drinking to praying, from churches to county jails, and from sorrow to revival, his songs are stories and reflections that serve to kick like classic Rock N’ Roll all while pining with the heart of Americana roots, complete with undertones of soul trampled country, and gospel choirs.
His debut release, New York Town (2009) helped to garner fans in both the U.S. and throughout Europe. With world wide accolades, multiple tours in both regions of the world and growing recognition as a songwriter’s songwriter, Gripka set out to write new songs, with new sounds, new ideas, and new people.
In an attempt to escape those fore mentioned jungles of New York City, Israel sought the taciturn fields of the once familiar countryside. In the heart of an old and dusty hay barn, nestled deep in the Catskill Mountains, Gripka, along with co-producer/drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and a group of friends, created his anticipated follow up, Barn Doors and Concrete Floors (2011). The vision was to have a studio that wasn’t a studio at all. To capture sounds that no other place could create. To throw away clocks and avoid set hours. To eat around a big table for dinner and sit around a warm fire pit at night. In short, the idea was to create an environment where nothing else really mattered except the gathering of friends making music in the simplest of settings.
The 11 track record plays like a vinyl relic stored in the belly of your father’s basement. You put it on, you flip it, flip it again, and then once more the first time you pry it from the onion sleeve. When artists make records that are unencumbered by regimented schedules, turn off contact from the outside world, and isolate themselves in the arms of the country, you hear it and you hear it loud and clear on Barn Doors & Concrete Floors.
http://www.israelgripka.com
From the Ozark Mountains of the Missouri countryside to the concrete jungles of New York City, Israel Nash Gripka presents a musical tradition that reveals both the American fabric and all that rests beneath those weathered and faded blankets of stars and stripes.
In an almost conflicted manner, Gripka uses his upbringing as the son of a southern Baptist minister to contrasts the realities of his life. From drinking to praying, from churches to county jails, and from sorrow to revival, his songs are stories and reflections that serve to kick like classic Rock N’ Roll all while pining with the heart of Americana roots, complete with undertones of soul trampled country, and gospel choirs.
His debut release, New York Town (2009) helped to garner fans in both the U.S. and throughout Europe. With world wide accolades, multiple tours in both regions of the world and growing recognition as a songwriter’s songwriter, Gripka set out to write new songs, with new sounds, new ideas, and new people.
In an attempt to escape those fore mentioned jungles of New York City, Israel sought the taciturn fields of the once familiar countryside. In the heart of an old and dusty hay barn, nestled deep in the Catskill Mountains, Gripka, along with co-producer/drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and a group of friends, created his anticipated follow up, Barn Doors and Concrete Floors (2011). The vision was to have a studio that wasn’t a studio at all. To capture sounds that no other place could create. To throw away clocks and avoid set hours. To eat around a big table for dinner and sit around a warm fire pit at night. In short, the idea was to create an environment where nothing else really mattered except the gathering of friends making music in the simplest of settings.
The 11 track record plays like a vinyl relic stored in the belly of your father’s basement. You put it on, you flip it, flip it again, and then once more the first time you pry it from the onion sleeve. When artists make records that are unencumbered by regimented schedules, turn off contact from the outside world, and isolate themselves in the arms of the country, you hear it and you hear it loud and clear on Barn Doors & Concrete Floors.
http://www.israelgripka.com
Mark Hummel Harmonica Blowout feat. Little Charlie and Lazy Lester (USA)
Mark Hummel is a road warrior - a true Blues Survivor. Along the way, he has crafted his own trademark harmonica sound - a subtle combination of tone, phrasing and attack, combined with a strong sense of swing. Hummel has achieved wide recognition through nearly constant touring and appearances at the major blues festivals which have firmly established his solid reputation around the US, Canada and Europe.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Los Angeles, California, Mark absorbed the music of such Chicago based harp blowers as Little Walter, James Cotton, and Sonny Boy Williamson, before settling in Berkeley, California in 1972. There he played with local bluesmen such as Cool Papa, Boogie Jake, Mississippi Johnny Waters and Sonny Lane. In 1980, he took the helm to lead the popular Blues Survivors Band.
In 1985, Mark Hummel & The Blues Survivors released Playing in Your Town, on Rockinitus Records, and immediately went out on the road. Earning their name, they toured virtually non-stop throughout the United States, Canada and Europe often playing alongside such blues greats as Charlie Musselwhite, Brownie McGhee, Lowell Fulson and Eddie Taylor. Mark's most current CD, Golden State Blues on the Electro Fi label, was recorded with his touring band, The Blues Survivors, plus special guests such as Rusty Zinn, Anson Funderburgh, Steve Lucky, and is receiving extended radio play.
In 1988, Mark was introduced to Canadian guitarist and vocalist Sue Foley. After several tours that year, Mark and Sue released Up & Jumpin', which also features piano legend Charles Brown. Mark hit the road again in 1990, before releasing Hard Lovin' in 1992 on Double Trouble Records. He has been on the road constantly since then, stopping only to record Feel Like Rockin' in 1994 and Married to the Blues in 1995 on Flying Fish Records.
Since 1991 Mark has been both producing and performing at his Blues Harmonica Blowout series. These shows have grown to be a much-heralded event and continue to draw sellout crowds wherever they appear. The list of participants is a Who's Who of Blues harp history: John Mayall, John Hammond, Norton Buffalo, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, Huey Lewis, Curtis Salgado, Kim Wilson, Watermelon Slim, Sugar Ray Norcia, Kenny Neal, James Harman, Fingers Taylor, Snooky Pryor, Dave Earl, Rod Piazza, Magic Dick, William Clarke, Rick Estrin, Paul DeLay, Billy Branch, Lazy Lester, Carey Bell, Little Sonny, Paul Osher, Lee Oskar, Cephas and Wiggins, Gary Primich, Paul Rischell and Annie Raines, Carlos Del Junco, Sam Myers and many more!
http://www.markhummel.com
Mark Hummel is a road warrior - a true Blues Survivor. Along the way, he has crafted his own trademark harmonica sound - a subtle combination of tone, phrasing and attack, combined with a strong sense of swing. Hummel has achieved wide recognition through nearly constant touring and appearances at the major blues festivals which have firmly established his solid reputation around the US, Canada and Europe.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Los Angeles, California, Mark absorbed the music of such Chicago based harp blowers as Little Walter, James Cotton, and Sonny Boy Williamson, before settling in Berkeley, California in 1972. There he played with local bluesmen such as Cool Papa, Boogie Jake, Mississippi Johnny Waters and Sonny Lane. In 1980, he took the helm to lead the popular Blues Survivors Band.
In 1985, Mark Hummel & The Blues Survivors released Playing in Your Town, on Rockinitus Records, and immediately went out on the road. Earning their name, they toured virtually non-stop throughout the United States, Canada and Europe often playing alongside such blues greats as Charlie Musselwhite, Brownie McGhee, Lowell Fulson and Eddie Taylor. Mark's most current CD, Golden State Blues on the Electro Fi label, was recorded with his touring band, The Blues Survivors, plus special guests such as Rusty Zinn, Anson Funderburgh, Steve Lucky, and is receiving extended radio play.
In 1988, Mark was introduced to Canadian guitarist and vocalist Sue Foley. After several tours that year, Mark and Sue released Up & Jumpin', which also features piano legend Charles Brown. Mark hit the road again in 1990, before releasing Hard Lovin' in 1992 on Double Trouble Records. He has been on the road constantly since then, stopping only to record Feel Like Rockin' in 1994 and Married to the Blues in 1995 on Flying Fish Records.
Since 1991 Mark has been both producing and performing at his Blues Harmonica Blowout series. These shows have grown to be a much-heralded event and continue to draw sellout crowds wherever they appear. The list of participants is a Who's Who of Blues harp history: John Mayall, John Hammond, Norton Buffalo, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, Huey Lewis, Curtis Salgado, Kim Wilson, Watermelon Slim, Sugar Ray Norcia, Kenny Neal, James Harman, Fingers Taylor, Snooky Pryor, Dave Earl, Rod Piazza, Magic Dick, William Clarke, Rick Estrin, Paul DeLay, Billy Branch, Lazy Lester, Carey Bell, Little Sonny, Paul Osher, Lee Oskar, Cephas and Wiggins, Gary Primich, Paul Rischell and Annie Raines, Carlos Del Junco, Sam Myers and many more!
http://www.markhummel.com
Moreland & Arbuckle (USA)
Since their beginnings in the Kansas heartland a decade ago, guitarist Aaron Moreland and vocalist/harpist Dustin Arbuckle have captured the visceral spirit of the early 20th century Delta blues and the raw energy of post-World War II urban blues and distilled it all into a hard-driving and powerful garage-rock configuration of guitar, vocals, harp and drums.
Moreland & Arbuckle build on that solid foundation with the August 23, 2011, release of Just A Dream, their second album on Telarc International, a division of Concord Music Group. The 12-song set showcases Moreland’s dynamic and compelling guitar work – two tracks were recorded on his cigar-box guitar consisting of three guitar strings and one bass string – Arbuckle’s emotionally charged vocals and edgy harp, and drummer Brad Horner’s rock-solid backbeat. Just A Dream adds a few layers of sophistication to the rootsy sensibility previously captured in the band’s acclaimed 2010 Telarc debut, Flood.
“The clear objective was to retain the gritty, raw feel that we created on our prior release, but push everything up about four notches as far as sound quality, the selection of songs, the production and every other aspect of the record,” says Moreland. “Everything we’ve done in the past was set up in one big room and recorded in a couple days. On this record, we spent far more time, and our quality control was far more stringent than it’s ever been. And it shows. When this record was finished, I thought, ‘Yeah, this is what I wanted to achieve.’ This record is fourteen steps beyond anything we’ve ever done before.”
This heightened polish is partly the result of an ambitious tour schedule over the past 15 months. Since the release of Flood, Moreland & Arbuckle have crossed paths on the road with the likes of ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Los Lonely Boys and other veterans who have mined the rich vein where the blues and rock intersect. Along the way, they picked up a few pointers about showmanship and how best to deliver the message, meanwhile, logging 82,000 road miles in just nine months in their Chevy Suburban.
“We’ve definitely taken a lot of cues on how to put on a good show,” says Arbuckle. “We’ve developed a better understanding of how to work bigger crowds. You connect with a crowd in a certain way in a smaller club, but when you start getting into bigger venues, it’s an entirely different dynamic.”
But the real substance is in the music itself, which consists primarily of tunes penned by Moreland & Arbuckle but also borrows from outside sources in a couple instances. “White Lightnin’” is a contribution from legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, whose work with Booker T. and the MGs on the Stax label during the ‘60s and early ‘70s literally defined American soul music. In addition to contributing the song, Cropper also lays down a searing guitar solo to go with it. The result is an example of the band’s mission to push the parameters established by their previous work.
“The version Steve sent us on a demo was kind of a slow blues tune,” says Moreland. “Our version is about 45 miles an hour faster than the original. But it’s a good tune regardless of how it’s played. It has a nice hook to it, and it was great to work with someone like Steve, who is about as prominent a figure as you can get when it comes to this kind of music.”
Everything that comes before “White Lightnin’” is equally satisfying, beginning with “The Brown Bomber” and “Just A Dream,” the throbbing opening tracks. “Purgatory” is a riff-driven declaration of primal need, either for something or someone. “Whether that thing or that person is good for you or not, you just need it and you just want it,” says Arbuckle. “And you know it’s probably not going to be good once you get it, or it might be good only for a minute but not for the long term. But the not having is the worst part.”
The slow and churning “Travel Every Mile” spotlights Moreland’s dirty guitar and Arbuckle’s combination of earnest vocals and wailing harp, and laments the distance one must cross to return to a lover. The result is a haunting experience.
The swaggering “Heartattack and Vine,” a song borrowed from the catalog of Tom Waits, has been a favorite of the Moreland & Arbuckle live show for a number of years. It’s enhanced here with vocal effects that are atypical of the band’s live version.
The slow and melodic “Shadow Never Changes” is reminiscent of vintage Pink Floyd, thanks to the atmospheric guitar-keyboard combination beneath Arbuckle’s esoteric lyrics. Equally mysterious is “So Low,” an understated but insistent track that gives Moreland more room to slip in guitar lines that conjure the spirits of classic blues and vintage rock.
Just A Dream opens a new chapter for Moreland & Arbuckle, but there’s still a great deal of story that has yet to unfold. “The possibilities are completely open,” says Arbuckle. “Our music could go in so many interesting directions from here, and yet still maintain a significant piece of what it was at the very beginning. That’s an exciting place to be.”
If the band has any plan at all, it’s “to just keep evolving and making great music without getting stuck in a rut,” says Moreland. “This is the best record of our careers, and a jump-off point to rope in a lot of new fans that have never heard us before. I think we’re lucky in that we have a unique sound and a unique style that I don’t really hear anywhere else.”
http://www.morelandarbuckle.com/
Since their beginnings in the Kansas heartland a decade ago, guitarist Aaron Moreland and vocalist/harpist Dustin Arbuckle have captured the visceral spirit of the early 20th century Delta blues and the raw energy of post-World War II urban blues and distilled it all into a hard-driving and powerful garage-rock configuration of guitar, vocals, harp and drums.
Moreland & Arbuckle build on that solid foundation with the August 23, 2011, release of Just A Dream, their second album on Telarc International, a division of Concord Music Group. The 12-song set showcases Moreland’s dynamic and compelling guitar work – two tracks were recorded on his cigar-box guitar consisting of three guitar strings and one bass string – Arbuckle’s emotionally charged vocals and edgy harp, and drummer Brad Horner’s rock-solid backbeat. Just A Dream adds a few layers of sophistication to the rootsy sensibility previously captured in the band’s acclaimed 2010 Telarc debut, Flood.
“The clear objective was to retain the gritty, raw feel that we created on our prior release, but push everything up about four notches as far as sound quality, the selection of songs, the production and every other aspect of the record,” says Moreland. “Everything we’ve done in the past was set up in one big room and recorded in a couple days. On this record, we spent far more time, and our quality control was far more stringent than it’s ever been. And it shows. When this record was finished, I thought, ‘Yeah, this is what I wanted to achieve.’ This record is fourteen steps beyond anything we’ve ever done before.”
This heightened polish is partly the result of an ambitious tour schedule over the past 15 months. Since the release of Flood, Moreland & Arbuckle have crossed paths on the road with the likes of ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Los Lonely Boys and other veterans who have mined the rich vein where the blues and rock intersect. Along the way, they picked up a few pointers about showmanship and how best to deliver the message, meanwhile, logging 82,000 road miles in just nine months in their Chevy Suburban.
“We’ve definitely taken a lot of cues on how to put on a good show,” says Arbuckle. “We’ve developed a better understanding of how to work bigger crowds. You connect with a crowd in a certain way in a smaller club, but when you start getting into bigger venues, it’s an entirely different dynamic.”
But the real substance is in the music itself, which consists primarily of tunes penned by Moreland & Arbuckle but also borrows from outside sources in a couple instances. “White Lightnin’” is a contribution from legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, whose work with Booker T. and the MGs on the Stax label during the ‘60s and early ‘70s literally defined American soul music. In addition to contributing the song, Cropper also lays down a searing guitar solo to go with it. The result is an example of the band’s mission to push the parameters established by their previous work.
“The version Steve sent us on a demo was kind of a slow blues tune,” says Moreland. “Our version is about 45 miles an hour faster than the original. But it’s a good tune regardless of how it’s played. It has a nice hook to it, and it was great to work with someone like Steve, who is about as prominent a figure as you can get when it comes to this kind of music.”
Everything that comes before “White Lightnin’” is equally satisfying, beginning with “The Brown Bomber” and “Just A Dream,” the throbbing opening tracks. “Purgatory” is a riff-driven declaration of primal need, either for something or someone. “Whether that thing or that person is good for you or not, you just need it and you just want it,” says Arbuckle. “And you know it’s probably not going to be good once you get it, or it might be good only for a minute but not for the long term. But the not having is the worst part.”
The slow and churning “Travel Every Mile” spotlights Moreland’s dirty guitar and Arbuckle’s combination of earnest vocals and wailing harp, and laments the distance one must cross to return to a lover. The result is a haunting experience.
The swaggering “Heartattack and Vine,” a song borrowed from the catalog of Tom Waits, has been a favorite of the Moreland & Arbuckle live show for a number of years. It’s enhanced here with vocal effects that are atypical of the band’s live version.
The slow and melodic “Shadow Never Changes” is reminiscent of vintage Pink Floyd, thanks to the atmospheric guitar-keyboard combination beneath Arbuckle’s esoteric lyrics. Equally mysterious is “So Low,” an understated but insistent track that gives Moreland more room to slip in guitar lines that conjure the spirits of classic blues and vintage rock.
Just A Dream opens a new chapter for Moreland & Arbuckle, but there’s still a great deal of story that has yet to unfold. “The possibilities are completely open,” says Arbuckle. “Our music could go in so many interesting directions from here, and yet still maintain a significant piece of what it was at the very beginning. That’s an exciting place to be.”
If the band has any plan at all, it’s “to just keep evolving and making great music without getting stuck in a rut,” says Moreland. “This is the best record of our careers, and a jump-off point to rope in a lot of new fans that have never heard us before. I think we’re lucky in that we have a unique sound and a unique style that I don’t really hear anywhere else.”
http://www.morelandarbuckle.com/
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