Austria (AT): Hermann Posch Duo
Hermann Posch vocals, guitar. Versatility, that is what Hermann Posch’s middle name should be! Since the beginning of this century, without any hype, the singer, composer, and guitarist -befitting his personality- has left un-erasable musical traces. Hermann Posch does not subscribe to posturing, but relies on emotional depth and intuition. Christian Sandera vocals, harp. Austrian harmonica player No.1 Christian Sandera’s style is country/blues and his musical talent has enhanced the works of many other artists, especially the sound of Hermann Posch´s music. Not only is Christian a top rate harp player, influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Magic Dick and Charlie McCoy, he’s also a very soulful singer.Together, they mix country acoustic and city blues styles to great effect
- Hermann Posch, vocals & guitar
- Christan Sandra, harp & vocals
Belgium (BE): Doghouse Sam & his Magnatones
An upright bass, drums and a hollow-body guitar, are this band’s weapons of choice. Instruments with which they scrape the music back to the bare essentials, playing their Blues pure and raw; hardly leaving meat on the bone. Sam; a devotee of vintage (but cheap and cheerful) electric guitars (many of them discards he finds on the Internet) was originally influenced by players such as Rick Holmstrom, Junior Watson, Anders Lewén (the guy that wrote “Memphis Guitar Soul” for the very successful video game “Shooter Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam”), Alex Schultz, Jonas Göransson (who played with Chip Taylor and Mike Sanchez), and Danny Kordelius, not exactly your typical household-guitarist names, but hey, by now you’ve caught on that Sam is a different kind of cat…huh…dog! Over time Sam has developed a playing-style very much his own now, and his wailing harmonica and distinctive voice furthermore confirm him as a talented multi–instrumentalist and Bluesman “pur-sang.” And by the way – he writes all the band material: music and lyrics! Before hooking up with his Magnatones, Wouter Celis, a.k.a. Doghouse Sam, had already established himself on the scene as a member of the acclaimed Blues outfit “The Rhythm Bombs”, with whom he played over 500 gigs around Europe in just a few short years. Today Sam’s doghouse companions, the Magnatones, consist of Jack ‘Fire’ o’Roonie on bass, who ranks among the greats of double bass, having garnered this well-deserved reputation while a member of The Wild Ones before backing the likes of Ike Turner, Ronnie Dawson and a stint with The Seatsniffers. On the drum-stool Sam recruited Frankie Gomez (previously with TEE and TB4Q). Mucho mojo is part of the natural fibre of Doghouse Sam and his Magnatones, and they extract it from the depths of their soul; high-octane fuel powering their energetic performances each and every time they get on stage.
- Doghouse Sam, lead vocals, guitars, blues harp
- Jack O’Roonie, upright & bowed bass, backing vocals
- Franky Gomez, drums, percussion, backing vocals
Croatia (CR): Delta Blues Gang
Winners of the 4th Croatian Blues Challenge and semi-finalists of the 29th International Blues Challenge held in Memphis, USA in Feb, 2013. Delta Blues Gang, band from Pula, Croatia plays its own unique version of blues based from Delta roots sound to electric and Texas blues. In their own compositions, “gang” improvise an energetic performance style with powerful slide resonator guitar, an explosive bluesy vocalist and a dynamic rhythm section. For his first album “It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues” (live recorded) and second album “Electric Driving Blues” (own issue) received very good reviews. Delta Blues Gang is one of the best Croatian blues bands dedicated to the mission to promote his own unique blues style and ready to jump on stage or play in the street at any time. In March 2014, Croatian music label SPONA released a new album of the bend, called “American Mile”. The bend is currently on a regional “American Mile 2014 Tour” that includes a four-state region (Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia).
- Elizabeta Petric, vocals
- Aleksandar Kajtez, resonator guitar
- Kristijan Kajtez, bass guitar
- Livio Benčić, drums & percussion
Denmark (DK): Bound By Law
Bound by Law is an upcoming Danish band with roots in the heritage of traditional American country, blues and bluegrass. The sound is rough, dusty and honest and is as the name suggests tied to the history and traditions of American roots music. Bound by Law has released two self-published albums and tours a wide range of the Danish live venues and festivals always receiving good reviews of their live act. Past live gigs includes Tønder Musikfestival, Jelling Festival and supporting the American blues singer Beth Hart.
- Mads Wilhjelm, vocals, guitar
- Jess Rahbek, lead Guitar, backing Vocals
- Jon Rahbek, harmonica
- Ulrik Guldin, drums
- Jasper Jagd, bass, standup bass
Finland (FI): Micke Bjorklof & Blue Strip
Micke Bjorklof & Blue Strip is a well-established name in their native Finland, where they have been Ambassadors of Blues music for over 20 years. The sound of this exciting five piece band consist of the powerful vocals and harmonica of Micke Bjorklof and resourceful guitar playing of Lefty Leppänen, who is regarded as one of the top slide guitarists in Europe as well as percussion and mallet virtuoso Timo Roiko-Jokela who builds up the striking percussion elements with the dynamic drummer Teemu Vuorela and bass player Seppo Nuolikoski. Their energetic live shows have stirred up audiences from smoky Blues clubs to large Festival arenas around Europe. Throughout their career they’ve had the privilege of performing on stages in the presence of B.B King, Solomon Burke, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Little Feat, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings and Robert Plant. Latest and their fifth album “After The flood” were recorded in New Orleans with producer Mark Bingham (Dr John, John Mooney etc.). Critically acclaimed album did even hit the Finnish charts. Album won the category of the best Finnish blues album of the year 2013 in annual voting at Bluesminister show, YLE Radio Suomi. Compared to the band’s earlier work the album features more percussive, more rhythmic, guitar-oriented material. Band performs unique original material, a contagious mix of groovy rockin’ blues with some “fonky” New Orleans rhythm and soul thrown in to add spice to the recipe with respecting blues traditions. Bjorklof and Leppänen participated at EBC 2011 with their acoustic trio Micke&Lefty feat. Chef. They also represented Finland at IBC 2012 in Memphis being semifinalist. Band is currently working on their sixth album, expected to be released during spring 2015
- Micke Bjorklof, vocals, harmonica, guitar
- Lefty Leppänen, electric and slide guitar
- Seppo Nuolikoski, bass
- Teemu Vuorela, drums
- Timo Roiko-Jokela, percussion, malletKAT
France (FR): Pillac
Born in Niort (France) in 1976, Xavier Pillac first picked up a guitar at the age of 16. As he got older, he moved forward by investigating the past, falling in love with the blues guitar work of B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert Collins… In 2000, after his first studio album, Xavier started working with the bass player Antoine Escalier. During the next decade, they have made two more albums, a studio cd (2004) and a live cd (2010). In 2013 after joining the French blues label Dixiefrog Records, the band’s name changed for “PILLAC“, their music has become more funky with a flavour of soul. The last album “Nervous Breakdown“ he is backed by a tight horn section. Pillac is working now on his next cd.
- Xavier Pillac, guitar, lead vocals
- Cédric Le Goff, keyboards, backing vocals
- Guillaume Sené, saxophone
- Franck Bougier, trumpet
- Antoine Escalier, bass, backing vocals
- Gilles Delagrange, drums
Germany (DE): Jessy Martens Band
When Jessy Martens & Band steps on stage everybody knows that something special is coming up. What follows is an exciting and overwhelming show with an incredible voice and excellent instrumentalists. Their music: Blues between perfect grooving boogie and rock up to impressive, emotional ballads. In the front Jessy: she´s flirting with musicians and audience, dancing like a wizard and also still standing and just singing. Over all: the unbelievable dynamic voice! It seems that there are no borders when she´s loud and rough rocking, soft and sexy swinging or just singing an emotional ballad. A real Blues highlight made in Germany!
Awards:
- German Blues Award, best voice, 2012+2014
- German Blues Award, best band, 2012+2014
- German Blues Challenge, best live act, 2014
- Jessy Martens, vocals
- Dirk Czuya, vocals, guitar
- Kai “Keile“ Stuffel, gitar
- Markus Schröder, keyboards
- Malte Zill, bass
- Christian Kolf, drums
Hungary (HU): Éles Gábor Trio
The group was formed in 2010 by guitarist and singer Éles Gábor. The trio plays a unique blend of soul, jazz and blues music characterized by alternations of thoughtful and energetic performances. The band primarily performs the compositions of Éles Gábor, but also covers songs which have a special meaning to them. Live performances are what fit best the trio where a wide range of its facets can be witnessed ranging from traditional blues song to experimental free music making. In the past four years the trio has played shows at several international music festivals (Gastroblues Festival in Paks, Lamantin Jazz Festival in Szombathely) and in clubs around Hungary.
Discography:
- Éles Gábor Trió I. 2011.
- Éles Gábor Trion featuring Tóth Vera: Let Yourself in Groove. 2014.
- Gábor Éles, guitars & vocals
- András Szkladányi, bass
- Attila Móré, drums
Italy (IT): Dave Moretti Blues Revue
On stage since 2007, Dave Moretti Blues Revue is nowadays considered one of the most interesting blues combo in the Italian blues scene. The band honed its sound on the road night after night, releasing the debut album “Bluesjob” in 2010, warmly received by public and critics. In June 2010 the DMBR received the “Lorenzo Vecchiato Award” as the best debuting blues band in Italy and won the readers’ poll of the prestigious American magazine Blues Revue. One year later, the German label Stormy-Monday-Records decided to reissue the debut cd and in 2014 the DMBR finally released its new album “That’s Swing!”, that represents the turning point of the band: a vintage but contemporary sound, mixing West Coast blues with swing, jump, R’n’B and soul. The band recordings have been reviewed by the most popular blues magazines (Blues Revue, Il Blues, Soul Bag, Blues Matters, etc.) and received extensive airplay all over Europe. The leader Dave Moretti earned a reputation as an interesting young harmonica player -his sound is compared by the critics to that of William Clarke and James Cotton- playing at important festivals and clubs in Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany.
- Dave Moretti, vocals and harmonica
- Damir Nefat, guitar
- Emanuele Pavone, bass
- Fabio Brunetti, drums
Latvia (LV): Elastic
Elastic plays Blues and New Orleans style R&B. Originally called Bite’s Blues band, they started performing in 2011. When old friends became united with ‘new blood’, a band was born, a band that no listener can ignore. Mixing years of experience, interest in music and passion, this band is able to transfer you thousands of miles away – across the ocean…
- Janis Pastars, guitar
- Oskars Stolse-Semerovs, harmonica & vocals
- Rihards ”Richie” Libietis, guitar & backing vocals
- Roberts Romanovs, bass, backing vocals
- Raitis Kalninsh, drums, percussions & backing vocals
Luxembourg (LU): Remo Cavallini Band
Remo Cavallini is one of Luxembourg’s most productive and gifted blues guitarists and songwriters. Since January 2009 he is the General Manager of the Blues School in Differdange. Later that year he founded the Remo Cavallini Band and released his first album “Authentic South”. Since their beginning, the band has played throughout Europe. In April 2014 Remo released his second album “Self Control”. His style of music is most definitely rooted in blues, but he often blends in elements of other genres such as rock, jazz and funk.
- Remo Cavallini, guitars, lead vocals
- Fernand Neumann, alto saxophone
- Pit Kuffer, trumpet
- René Macri, bass, backing vocals
- Joël Heyard, drums
- Nelly Pereira, vocals
Netherlands (NL): The Leif de Leeuw Band
The Leif de Leeuw Band is an up-and-coming blues-rock band from the Netherlands. With all band members coming from completely different musical backgrounds, the sound is all but traditional, and makes for instant recognizability. Leif de Leeuw, the guitar player, won the Dutch SENA Guitar Award twice, in two different categories. In June 2014, they have released their first EP, titled “EP Deluxe”, which was critically acclaimed by several music magazines. The band strives for growth, and continues writing new material and working on his own sound.
- Britt Jansen, vocals and guitar
- Leif de Leeuw, guitar
- Eibe Gerhartl, bass
- Tim Koning, drums
Norway (NO): JT Lauritsen & The Buckshot Hunters
JT Lauritsen & The Buckshot Hunters is a Norwegian Blue Eyed Soul blues rock band with a taste of tex-mex and zydeco blues. The band is located around Capitol city Oslo which is south east of Norway. With the big Viking JT Lauritsen in front as the band leader and vocalist but also playing accordion, harmonica and Hammond B3, JT writes the original songs together with Arnfinn Torrisen who is the band lead guitar player and has been working with JT since 1994. They mix up the music they describe as powerful dirty blues, soul, rock and twist it up with some zydeco and tex-mex. The band has self-released 7 album since 1995 where the last album “Play By The Rules” 2013 getting radio play all over the world cause of corporation with Frank Roszak radio promotion (USA) and also received enormous amount of reviews from all over the world and Radio airplays. They have been touring and playing shows all over the world from Australia, to USA, Germany Switzerland and of course all over Scandinavia and regularly in their base in Norway.
- J.T.Lauritsen, vocals, accordion, harmonica and Hammond B3
- Arnfinn Torrisen, guitars
- Ian Fredrick Johannessen, guitars
- Atle Rakvaag, bass and vocals
- Jon Grimsby, drums and vocals
Poland: Drunk Lamb
Drunk Lamb is a young blues quartet from Gdansk. The band was formed very recently, in 2014. Quickly winning a competition at the Suwalki Blues Festival in July of the same year, they were chosen to represent Poland at the 2015 European Blues Challenge. The band members are not only musicians but also very good friends. Their main inspirations are Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Allman Brothers.
- Filip Kamerath, lead vocals
- Michal Zienkowski, guitar
- Piotr Gierszewski, bass
- Lukasz Lapinski, drums
Romania (RO): Marius Dobra Band
The Marius Dobra band from Romania creates a wonderful combination of the powerful Blues ,RB and Rock. Outstanding bandleader and songwriter Marius Dobra, 40 years on the road with the guitar. He was a professional musician since 1985 -1996. was a band member of the RIFF group from Sibiu. After 10 years of musical break, 2007 Marius suffered from the burn out disease and collapsed because of a lot of stress at work, as businessman . After this health accident Marius started music again. With the very experienced musicians Peter Kovacs (keyboards, vocals), Oliver Zisko (drums), Jòsef Scheer (Pepi) (bass, vocals) and sound engineer Valentin Reuman, Marius Dobra is on the road to play the Blues, his love for Jesus Christ and sing to tell: “The meaning of our texts is to pass on the Christian message. A line of text is : “hearts and hands to Jesus, shining like the of Sunbeam, doing good for all!”. “This is our message”, so the band leader too.
Founded again in 2013 by Marius Dobra, Marius Dobra Band, the Marius his first CD, produced by Marius Dobra and Valentin Reumann was placed on the market. With few exceptions, music and texts are by Marius Dobra. You could feel his love for Jesus, to blues and musical role models such as the big Gary Moore, whose guitar style is an audible influence on him. And that is quite a compliment.Thank God for my family and musical gift.
- Marius Dobra, guitar & vocals
- Pepi Scheer, bass
- Peter Kovacs, Hammond
- Oliver Zisko, drums
Slovakia (SK): Jergus Oravec Trio
Slovakian blues singer and guitar player Jergus is currently heavily playing clubs and festivals in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland with his musical project Jergus Oravec Trio. His album “Just Above The Surface” was recently selected among the top 20 best self-produced blues albums from around the world at the International Blues Challenge 2013. Jergus Oravec Trio also opened the central European most famous Blues festival Blues Alive 2013 in Sumperk. His new album “Aries” tends to move more towards his folk and songwriting heritage.
- Jegus Oravec, vocal, guitar
- Denis Pagac, bass
- Matej Ruman, drums
Spain (ES): Travellin’ Brothers
Magnolia Route was the first road ever to be paved which would link Chicago and Gulfport, on the Mississippi coast, two cities that had only been connected by railway. This happened in 1927. In 2014, Travellin’ Brothers will celebrate their 10th anniversary in music and using the Magnolia Route metaphor, they will set off on a new musical journey that will take them from Chicago to New Orleans, stopping by in Nashville, Memphis and so many other cities and sounds. A journey throughout the Afro-American music, a journey in time amongst decades. 10 years, 6 albums and more than 600 concerts support this band’s career. In these 10 years of non-stopping touring always on the road, they have taken part in the best Blues and Jazz festivals in the country (Cazorla Blues Festival, Hondarribia Blues Festival, Bejar Blues Festival, Cáceres, Barcelona, Yeclajazz in Murcia, Festival Internacional de Jazz de San Javier, Heineken Donostia Jazzaldia, Blues Sur Seine in Paris or Cahors Blues Festival, JazzMinde Festival in Portugal, Summerblues in Basel, Switzerland…) It’s a neverending list. In addition to all the clubs and smaller venues that one can think of, they have also been on tour in France, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany and the United States. From now onwards, the band means to transfer the magic in the album to live shows in every possible format. The whole band will turn up in big venues, with the choir, the Big Band and collaborators, a great show with more than 30 people on stage. However, they are not going to stop performing in clubs and smaller venues, and they will go ahead with their international tours as a sextet and octet.
- Jon Careaga, lead vocals
- Aitor Cañibano, guitar & vocals
- Eneko Cañibano, bass & double bass
- Ander Unzaga, piano & electric Piano
- Isi Redondo, drums
- Alain Sancho, alto sax & vocals
Sweden (SE): Lisa Lystam Family Band
Lisa Lystam is a new artist on the Swedish blues and roots scene but she has already made a name for herself all around Sweden. The world’s oldest blues magazine Jefferson calls her the new Swedish sensation and she has received several scholarships and great reviews. Lisa Lystam and her family band have surprised the Swedish and Nordic blues and roots scene in a very short time. Not just for the sensation itself that young Swedish musicians express themselves through the blues, but simply because they do it so damn good. With a warm, confident voice Lisa takes the listener on a journey into the blue heart of the music. Lisa has now also won Janne Rosenkvists memory scholarship -14. Swedish most famous blues price. During the last year, Lisa Lystam and her Family Band has become a tight, genuine and popular band. They have already managed to play on a lot of famous events and during 2014 you could see them at several large Swedish blues festivals and even abroad. In the summer of 2013 Lisa Lystam Trio released their first EP, which quickly became popular and in 2014 Lisa Lystam Family Band released their debut album “When Money´s Runnin´ Out”. “It’s not every time I jump out of my shoes, but when I saw Lisa for the first time, it was close” – Jefferson Blues Magazine
- Lisa Lystam, vocals
- Fredrik Karlsson, guitar
- Mattias Gustafsson, guitar
- Mikael Fall, harmonica
- Bruno Lindström, bass
- Patrik Thelin, drums
Switzerland (CH): The Two
The Two is a blues band composed of Thierry Jaccard and Yannick Nanette. The first one is from Switzerland, the other from Mauritius Island, but both share the same love for the Blues. In 2014 The Two won the Swiss Blues Challenge, the Verbier Classic off festival contest and released their first album, Sweet Dirty Blues in autumn. Profound, and charismatic, their music is sincere and touching. Their groove invites on a trip which will take one from the Mississippi delta to the less known Creole blues music of the Indian ocean. In 2015, The Two will represent Switzerland at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and at the European Blues Challenge, in Bruxelles.
- Yannick Nanette, lead vocals, guitar & mouth organ
- Thierry Jaccard, lead guitar, back vocals
United Kingdom (UK): Laurence Jones
Laurence was handed the award for “Young Artist of the Year,” at the 2014 British Blues Awards ceremony held at the Great British R ‘n’ B Festival in Colne, Lancashire. Walter Trout invited the band to support them on his 2013 UK tour “Laurence is a cross between Eric Clapton & Buddy Guy he is a genius” – “Walter Trout” “Classic Rock – Blues Magazine” – Call him the “Future of the blues” and the “next big thing”. The young gunslinger of the blues Laurence Jones has sensationally signed a deal with “Ruf Records”. His Debut album for the label and 2nd album for Laurence was recorded at the Legendary Dockside Studio in Louisiana where artists such as B.B King and Derek Trucks have recorded. A catalogue of big names appear on the album, including Walter Trout, Aynsley Lister, Yonrico Scott, Charlie Wooton and producer Mike Zito.
- Laurence Jones, vocals and guitar
- Roger Innis, bass
- Miri miettinen, drums