I give these CD's, my highest rating, Five ***** Excellent CD's...  Thoroughly enjoyed them...  Highly Recommended...

When you have listened to the Black River Bluesman, whether incarnated with The Croaking Lizard or The Cockroach Combo, one thing will be certain, you will have listened to one of the best representations of the Old Blues played at it's most Modern. Black River Bluesman knows the Blues and how to make it simply better.

John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)

Info & Reviews

"Black River Bluesman don't play no pretty music. Their blues are raw and powerful, played straight from the heart. Black River Bluesman brought the house down with their performance at Torun Blues Meeting this November (2004) and people went crazy. This is the blues played the way I like." Przemek Draheim, "Glosem Bluesa"

About Black River Bluesman

Black River Bluesman and the Croaking Lizard play their Blues in the deep woods and swamps of the muddy Black River Delta way up North in cold Finland. Their unrefined, electric and hypnotic Blues have been compared to the rough sounds of the Mississippi Hill Country artists as well as to anything between Tom Waits and Jim Morrison or psychoblues and garage. Whatever the influences may be, they play their Blues with no compromises - just the way they feel.

“Jukka ´Black River Bluesman´ and his Cockroach Combo destroyed the woods and the mountains around their tiny hometown of Mustio Finland by carving their guitars, drums and harmonicas from whole ironwood trees with their bare hands and by using John Henry's twelve pound hammer (with four foot handle) they beat down those mountains for brass, silver and iron (and coal to fire this thing) to fashion the rest of the parts they needed. When they were finished they stomped their thirst with a bottle of RL Burnside's Bloody mthrfckr and sat down in the full moon light at that muddy crossroads between Holly Springs Mississippi, Mustio and County Kisko to play Their raw dirty beautiful Blues.” Rick Saunders, Deep Blues (USA), August 2006

The story of Black River Bluesman and the Cockroach Combo: We are all countrymen born in the 50´s and live out in the woods of Southern Finland in a tiny village called Mustio - Black River in English, except Kid, who used to live in a close-by county called Kisko.

Bluesman now has his solo career too, playing his Lowebow cigar box guitars: a mean double-necker baritone machine and a 4-string Purgatory Hill cigar Box guitar. Plugged in two amps the cigar box makes the noise of a whole band.

Black River Bluesman and the Croaking Lizard - Out In The Woods

http://www.myspace.com/blackriverbluesman