First ever gig in Holland for these Norwegian furies (winners of the European Blues Challange 2016). On their way to Switzerland for the famous Sierre Blues Festival where they play the main stage with ZZ Top. How cool is that.
Category: Geen categorie
Eric “Slim” Zahl & The South West Swingers, Holland, t.b.a.
The Damned and Dirty geboekt voor internationale Bali Blues Festival.
Met trots kunnen we melden dat The Damned and Dirty als allerlaatste band zijn geboekt voor het internationale Bali Blues Festival op 26 en 27 mei op Bali in Indonesië. De band is daarmee de enige band uit Europa. Een hele eer.
Mario Goossens (Triggerfinger) produceert volgende EP van The Damned and Dirty.
We zijn al weer een maand bezig in de studio in België, maar mogen nu eindelijk bekend maken dat Mario de nieuwe EP van de band zal produceren. Er wordt naar een release in november dit jaar toegewerkt.
De sound van The Damned and Dirty zal daarmee, rouwer, vuiger en meer pop-georiënteerd worden. Kortom nieuwe wegen en weer een stap verder voor de mannen.
Dutch Roots and Blues Tour is gepubliceerd.
Via mediapartner Bluesmagazine is de Dutch Roots and Blues Tour bekend gemaakt.
Hierbij gaan 7 van de beste, Nederlandse Roots en Blues bands samenwerken in een indoor festival concept. We zijn met BAFMusic blij om hiermee samen te kunnen werken en aan de wieg te staan van veel moois uit Nederland, allemaal te zien onder 1 dak in 1 event bij jou in de buurt.
Meer info hier.
Dynamite Blues Band – Nederland
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Genre: roots/blues
Wesley, Niels and J.J., formerly part of the successful Dutch blues band Big Blind teamed up again in 2013 to create their own explosive blues cocktail. With their previous band Big Blind the young guns played all major Benelux blues festivals, but also upset festivals in the UK (Linton) and Germany (Breminale), while getting major BNL media attention. They got rave album and gig reviews, performed at national radio 3FM, for the more “hip” crowd, and “Raymann Is Laat” on national Dutch TV. Quite rare for a blues band but hey, they were exciting. So is The Dynamite Blues Band that was formed in February 2013 after they were suddenly asked to play a festival on The Azores as Big Blind. That’s when the 3 old friends teamed up again, added stompin’ bass player Renzo van Leeuwen, quickly picked a new name and the band was born.
Even before they played or recorded a single note they got invited for shows throughout Europe as people know it’s like fireworks when these guys play together. In 2014 they recorded their debut album “Shakedown & Boogie” and they got rave reviews in major magazines. The boys also performed at Holland’s popular talkshow “De Wereld Draait Door” with over a million people watching. They killed it a.o. at major festivals like the Ribs & Blues and Belgian Rhythm & Blues Festival with their greasy, dirty sound.
A new episode starts in 2016 with The Dynamite Blues Band’s second album “Kill Me With Your Love”. Even more variety (there’s horns, baby!), more mature without losing the energy and fun factor. Be sure you’ll still be needing safety glasses and ear protection but don’t forget to put on your dancing shoes!
Travellin’Brothers (Spain)
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Genre: blues/swing
These musical friends from the Basque region around Bilbao have been making music with their big band for many years. As a side project they formed their 6 piece blues band. Yes there are two brothers in the band (bass and guitar) but the whole band operates and plays like a tight family.
They grab any audience within seconds with their passion, and great music. As they say: “love, joy and happiness”. The band toured the US, UK and since they won the European Blues Challenge in 2015 they played every major blues festival and many jazz festivals in Europe. At present they are the most succesfull blues band in Europa. Outrunning everyone in gigs, record sales and bookings.
Expect the party to start when Travellin’Brothers get on stage. Working on their next album to be released this year this is a band that you have to see at least once in your life.
Dan Owen (UK)
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Genre: Americana/Pop/Blues
Dan started playing and gigging in pubs and bars in the UK with his sister when he was 13 . When he was only 17 studying to be an instrument/guitar builder he had an incident that damaged the eyesight in one of his eyes an that ended that career….but fueled his musical inspirations. He discovered he had a unique and powerfull voice and at the age of 19 he was recorded on video at a festival in the UK with “The ballad of Hollis Brown”, A Bob Dylan song. Within a few weeks that video was viewed over 500.000 times and things really got into gear for him. At this point, although young, he was fully into the blues. One of the people that discovered him was Mick Fleetwood. They met and Mick became a mentor in the beginning of Dan’s career.
Now, at the age of only 24 he is signed to Atlantic Records worldwide, he has toured with Birdie on her European tour, he supported Kaleo on their European Tour, He played Paradiso in Amsterdam 5 times already, he played the Zwarte Cross Festival in Holland twice and toured the UK and Ireland throughout 2016. He has also played Glastonbury and many festivals in Europe the last few years.
In 2017 his new EP and single will be coming out and he will tour Europe on his own, starting in March.
Two Shakes of a Lambs Tale (Holland)
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Genre: Modern Blues/Jazz/Rock with a vintage Woodstock sound.
Two Shakes of a Lamb’s Tail
Drie heren van begin twintig die al sinds jaar en dag muziek met elkaar maken, besloten in 2011 dat het tijd was. Tijd voor Muziek. Juist ja, Muziek met een hoofdletter. Oftewel: Muziek gemaakt met hart en ziel gekoppeld aan het gevoel en de sfeer van het moment. Dat is wat er gebeurt bij een optreden van Two Shakes. De heren mengen de energie van het publiek met de uiteenlopende emoties van henzelf. De klanken die daarop volgen zijn elke keer verschillend en elke keer opnieuw de moeite waard. De muziek die dan ontstaat omschrijft men als sixties psych rock, maar zelf noemen ze het liever Next level blues. Ze halen hun inspiratie onder andere uit acts als: Cream, The Doors, Led Zeppelin en Pink Floyd.
Begin 2012 was met het uitkomen van hun eerste EP Work In Progress de eerste stap gezet. De EP staat vol strakke, rauwe blues-rock, geschreven en gespeeld vanuit het hart. Opgenomen in een gemproviseerde studio op een afgelegen industrieterrein in Hoorn. De titel Work In Progress betekent veel voor de jongemannen van Two Shakes, omdat hun nummers nooit volledig af zijn. Two Shakes gelooft in muzikale afspraken, maar vooral ook in muzikale vrijheden. Hierdoor blijven de nummers voortdurend ontwikkelen. Niets staat honderd procent vast!
Begin 2015 werd de tweede mijlpaal werkelijkheid: een live-album. I Wish You Were Released, kwam uit. Live opgenomen in Mupo Music in Hoorn. Dit album is iets psychedelischer dan de EP. De heren beheersen de vaardigheid om moeiteloos te kunnen switchen tussen psychedelische blues, klassieke blues en progressieve rock. Ondanks de stijlwisselingen blijft de Two Shakes sound duidelijk te herkennen. Dit live album geeft de charme van Two Shakes goed weer.
In de lente van 2016 hebben de heren van Two Shakes The Living Room Sessions online gepubliceerd. Een intiem live-in-the-studio extraatje voor de trouwe fans. Voor deze sessie zijn er nummers toegevoegd en gefunkied. The Living Room Sessions representeert de intieme, bluesy en funky zijde van Two Shakes. Precies hoe ze hun intieme live shows willen brengen. Voor het nieuwste album ‘Next Level Blues’ hebben de heren het net even anders aangepakt. Het volledige album is sinds 19 juni 2017 gratis te downloaden via de website in wav-formaat. Hier is voor gekozen om de muziek toegankelijk te houden, opdat iedereen het album in vol ornaat kan beluisteren!
Inmiddels heeft Two Shakes al heel wat kilometers gemaakt. Ze hebben in Paradiso gestaan, waren de support act van zowel The Pretty Things als de Billy Walton Band. Ze hebben vele podia en zalen bespeeld en dit is nog maar het begin. Ze spelen het liefst zo veel mogelijk. Two Shakes is meer dan alleen een band. Het is een belevenis.
Gevoel, kracht, echtheid en liefde. Two Shakes neemt je mee.
Finalists of the 2017 Dutch Blues Challenge.
When Detonics play…they move the place. Standing still is no option for their 50’s West Coast blues. The bands name refers to the compact 1911-style hand gun that a lot of women carried to protect themselves in the dark gambling joints. Tucked in their garter belts. A combination of creativity, guts and comon sense. That is exactly what this band stands for. Creative, gutsy and explosive music with an original 50’s West Coast sound. A shot full of West Coast Blues.
As soon as Detonics start playing it calls out an atmosphere of illegal casinos, moonshine whiskey, prostitution and a hint of old style gangsters. The raw and unpolished voice of lead singer/harmonica player Kars van Nus combines smoothly with the rocky and jazzy guitar sound Jeremy Aussems has and the howling Hammond by Raimond de Nijs. Drummer Mathijs Roks and Rene Leijtens on stand up bass form the thumping rithm sections.
In 2017 the band competes in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and the European Blues Challenge in Denmark.
Eric “Slim” Zahl & The South West Swingers (Norway)
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Genre: boogie/blues
2016 European Blues Challenge Winners
2016 International Blues Challenge Semi-finalist
Nominated Norwegian Grammy for debut album “Daddy’O” (2MZ/Stavanger Media)
Nominated Best Blues Album for debut album “Daddy’O” in Norwegian blues magazine Blues News
2016 European Blues Challenge winners Eric Slim Zahl & the South West Swingers are a swingin’ experience with authentic jump blues, rock’n roll and rockabilly played with full force! The band’s ambition is to continue the fine traditions and perform music influenced by the sounds from the 50’s – in their own rockin’ style.
Dressed up with a tie, suspenders and shiny shoes, Eric Slim Zahl & The Southwest Swingers performs the band’s music with humor, musical skill and impact. Since the band started in 2006, the band has logged an impressive amount of club gigs and festival appearances in Norway and Europe, and are known to be a formidable live band. Eric Slim Zahl & the South West Swingers write their own music, and released their debut album “Daddy’O” in 2011. The album was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy in the Best Blues Album Category. In 2013 the sequel “Chances Are Slim” was released, and also this album received very good reviews in the press. A third album is now in the making. In 2016 the band is already booked for a number of the bgger festivals like Blues Peer in Belgium.
Live the band has an enormous live energy that matches no other. Nobody can stop moving.
I wanted to play with these guys!
– Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
Gugun Blues Shelter (Indonesia)
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Genre: funky blues/rock
Previously called the Bluesbug, Gugun Blues Shelter is an Indonesian blues power trio that is a breath of fresh air in the seemingly dying Asian blues scene these days. Influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bettie Davies, and Led Zeppelin among others, the band forced many music fans to take notice of its powerful, flawless genre-crossing blend of blues that incorporate influences from rock, funk, and soul.
Led by guitarist/vocalist Gugun, Gugun & Blues Shelter has released two albums under the Bluesbug moniker “Get The Bug” (2004) and “Turn it On” (2007) that has been gaining praises from music critics and fans alike. ”Turn It On” was voted as one of the best Indonesian album in 2007 by Rolling Stone Indonesia Magazine and Gugun was noted as one of the most promising local guitar player by the same maga-zine. In the same year, Indonesia’s Trax Magazine also voted Gugun as the best guitar player in South East Asia. Gugun Blues Shelter is not only drew the attentions of local music lover only. The band also received attentions from European fans, thanks for years of playing for expatriate fans during its pub-playing days. As the result, Gugun Blues Shelter was participated in Belfast Big River Blues and Jazz Festival 2008 and played several dates in a four-weeks UK tour at cities like Burnley, Scarborough, and Crewe.
Due to the good receptions, the tour was extended to other cities like Leeds, Oxford, York, Rotherham, and culminated in another festival,”Colne Great British R n’ B Festival” at the Manchester outskirt. In Asia, recently Gugun Blues Shelter played several dates in Malaysia in 2008, participated in Singapore Art Festival at the same year, as well as in Indonesia’s big festivals such as Java Jazz Festival and JakJazz Festival.
With the success of their debut album “Get the Bug” (2004), and their second album “Turn it On” (2006), Gugun (Guitar / Vox) and Bowie (Drums) returned to Indonesia after a highly successful tour of the UK in 2009 leaving Jono (Bass) to clear up loose ends before the team became re-united once again in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Band released their third album “Self titled” in March 2010. With the hit single “When I See You Again” the 9 track album went on to win numerous awards including ‘Favourite Blues Song’ in the Indonesian Cutting Edge Music Awards 2010 (ICEMA 2010), TRAX Magazines “Best Local Album 2010” and also featured in “Rolling Stone Magazine” top 20 albums of 2010.
The group has made 3 highly successful tours of the UK and Northern Ireland between 2007 and 2010 featuring at both the “Belfast Jazz & Blues Festival”, The Annual “Colne Blues Festival” and also the “Skegness Rock & Blues Festival”. In March 2010 the band were invited to play alongside Buddy Guy, Jools Holland and the Buena Vista Social Club at the Timbre Rock & Roots Festival in Singapore.
Touring both Nationally and Internationally during 2010, the band were flown out to represent Indonesian modern music at the Indonesian Pavilion of the World Expo in Shanghai China both in August and once again in October. It didn’t stop there either as passers-by from the Romanian pavilion were so impressed with what they heard that they invited the band to take part in a special concert held at their pavilion.
October was a busy month for the band, aside from being re-invited to play in Shanghai, the band also took part in 2 of Indonesia’s largest music festivals; The “Java Rockin’ Land” festival and also the “Jakarta International Blues Festival” where the band performed with Aussy blues legend “Kevin Borich” and European Blues Queen “Anna Popovich”…. Oh and also rock legends “Smashing Pumpkins” and “Wolfmother”.
On the 10th December the band put on a special performance for the grand opening of Rolling Stone Cafe (Located at the HQ of Rolling Stone Magazine Indonesia) collaborating with legendary Indonesian frontman “Once” the band performed a half hour set including a rendition of Led Zeppelins “Rock & Roll”.
The successes continued into the new year of 2011 as the band scored a record deal with the prestigious independent “Guitar Driven” record label “Grooveyard Records” from New York, USA. The Compilation album “Far East Blues Experience” consists of hand-picked tracks from the previous 3 albums, re-mastered and re-packaged under the Grooveyard Label. The album was released in early January 2011 and is already receiving rave reviews from the blues rock community both in the USA and worldwide as the album is available to order via amazon.com and amazon.co.uk
Into the future, the band is due to release their 2nd album with Grooveyard Records in April 2011 titled ‘Solid Ground’ featuring 10 all new songs and taking the bands vibe into a new “progressive / funky” direction. It doesn’t stop there either… Aware that many of their local fans will not be able to acquire the ‘Solid Ground’ album, the band will also release a local album “Satu Untuk Berbagi” which consists of 80% of the songs in Indonesian Language.
The band did a tour in Europe in july 2016 and plans to come back july 2017 for festivals and a few clubs.