The new voice and sound of the old blues continues to leap
forward with Bullfrog Brown's newest CD "Mother River Delta".
Bullfrog Brown once again justifies why they have become my favorite blues band,
with their simple unsophisticated approach to
resurrecting the Delta Blues to not only an excited but also, a grateful modern
day audience. With "Mother River Delta", Bullfrog Brown
illustrates with continued consistency that great music doesn't require a lot of
bells and whistles to get the point across. I highly recommend Bullfrog Brown's
newest release and eagerly look forward to their next. John Vermilyea, Blues Underground Network
"The new voice and sound of the old blues." -- John Vermilyea, Blues Underground Network
"Huge stage presence and a superb band." -- Dave Raven, BFBS Radio 2
"More real than the real thing." -- René Malines, Virus de Blues
Estonia's premier blues export Bullfrog Brown will be returning to London in April 2008 to launch their new EP, "Mother River Delta". In addition to Alar Kriisa on vocals and Andres Roots on guitar, all London shows will feature special guest Steve Lury on harmonica - the same line-up will be appearing at the Augustibluus blues festival and the Baltic-Nordic Harmonica Festival in Estonia later this year.
Kriisa and Roots established their musical partnership in 2000 and have been gigging as Bullfrog Brown since 2003, appearing at some of the biggest international blues and guitar festivals in Northern and Eastern Europe, such as the Lakeside Blues Festival and the Savonsolmu Beach & Blues Party in Finland, Augustibluus and Fiesta De La Guitarra in Estonia, Blues Nights in Lithuania, and the WRA InterContinental Resophonic Guitar Festival in the Czech Republic.
In 2006, the band's "Uncooked" EP was featured as the only post-1971 and non-American recording in the History of Slide Guitar programme compiled by Radio Melibokus in Germany. In 2007, Bullfrog Brown became the highest ranking blues band in UBL.com's Ultimate Band Competition, placing 6th in a 2-year race with thousands of international pop, rock, and hip-hop artists. The band's latest release "Tundra" was launched at the Floating Cockroach Alt.Blues Festival in Helsinki, Finland last September.
Having parted ways with long-time harp player Üllar Kärt in late 2007, the "Mother River Delta" EP is the first Bullfrog Brown recording to feature only Kriisa and Roots, and signals a return to a more acoustic approach. "It's sparse and downhome - after playing with Honeyboy Edwards last summer, this was the sort of record we wanted to make," Kriisa explains.
Released on the band's own KWAQ Records label, the title of the new EP refers to the area surrounding the duo's hometown of Tartu in the Estonian South; acoustic music from those parts has been referred to as "Emajõe deltabluus" - "Mother River Delta Blues" - since the days of the USSR.
According to Roots, the band intends to remain a duo, while continuing to work with other artists of their choice. In the past, Bullfrog's co-conspirators have included Zigaboo Modeliste's keyboard man Eddie Baytos, Scotland's Dave Arcari, and Finland's Black River Bluesman, while the alliance with British harpist Steve Lury dates back to their first UK tour in 2006.
STEVE LURY
Steve has been messing around with harmonicas for more years than he cares to reflect on. While still at school he was caught up in the blues boom of the early 1960s and became captivated by the sound of the harmonica on records by – amongst others - the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.
Curiosity about who composed such powerful music led him to discover giants of the blues such as Muddy Waters (with Little Walter on harmonica) and Sonny Boy Williamson. In 1965 a performance by the great Walter Horton totally changed the way he viewed the harmonica and started an interest in the so-called "Chicago" style of playing that continues to this day.
Although fascinated by the amplified style of Chicago harp, Steve first started gigging as part of an acoustic guitar/harp duo that performed mainly in folk clubs in London and the South East of England, with an occasional amplified gig playing Rock and Roll in Working Men's Clubs. This musical partnership started in 1967 and continued until the early 70s.
Since those early days Steve has continued to develop his playing, supplementing his regular gigs with freelance work and by sitting in with different musicians wherever and whenever he can. The 1980s found him working with the jazz tinged Carruthers Brothers Band both in the UK and Europe, while by the 90s he had come full circle and was playing in a duo with the guitarist David Lofts. In between there have been gigs ranging from accompanying a boogie-woogie pianist to being part of the horn section in a big band.
These days he is delighted to be working with Bullfrog Brown who he feels are one of the most original acts on the new blues scene.
BULLFROG BROWN
"Mother River Delta"
KWAQ Records - KWAQ0801
1. Nobody The Skull
2. Special Rider
3. 30
4. Nothing But Trouble
5. The Wagon Swing
6. Talkin' Drinkin' Man
7. Rain
All songs written by Andres Roots, except "Nothing But Trouble" by Alar Kriisa.
Alar Kriisa - vocals, guitar on "Nothing But Trouble"; Andres Roots - guitar & slide guitar, percussion on "Special Rider", "Nothing But Trouble" & "Talkin' Drinkin' Man".
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Jaan Tamm.
Produced by Andres Roots.
Cover design & photos by Siret Roots.
Release date: April 4th, 2008.
A sneak preview of the upcoming EP "Mother River Delta" (rough mixes):
