Cashbox Review & Bosnian Profile

Cashbox Magazine Canada has published a wonderful review of "Live In Lerwick" - Iain Patience writes: "Estonian guitarist Roots clearly enjoys his role with some mighty fine acoustic and electric slide fretwork shining through... This is a very good, sound album with a fine range of material, varied in texture and tempo and featuring rock-solid guitar and Harp work throughout. A recommended release."

At the same time, Dragutin Matosevic over in Bosnia & Herzegovina has compiled a detailed profile on Andres Roots Roundabout the band for Barikada.com - check it out here!

And yes, "Chicken Man" is still on the Eesti Top7 chart - dropped from #2 to #4, but still hanging in there. Should you feel so inclined, you can vote for the tune here! :)

Tours & Posters, Pt. 2

Tours & Posters

"Chicken Man" #2 On Eesti Top7!

Thanks to a lot of kind folks voting for the track, Roots & Terep are #2 with "Chicken Man" on ETV2's "Eesti Top 7"! Should you like to contribute a vote, you can do so here every day until Tuesday January 20th, 5 p.m. (GMT +2). Thank you!!!

Gigs In Sweden, CD Reviews

In March, Roots & Terep will be playing their first shows in Sweden: at Bricks in Karlstad on March 14th & at Stampen in Stockholm on March 16th. Before then, though, the duo will go on a winter tour of Finland and Estonia (with more Estonian dates still TBA!) that kicks off with shows in Lahti & Helsinki on January 30th & 31st, respectively.

The Estonian Muusika magazine has published a great review of "Live In Lerwick", and so has the UK's Bluesinthenorthwest.com: "Any new release from the talented Estonian guitarist and writer Andres Roots is always welcome, and here is a most enjoyable 10-track live offering... Highly recommended for all lovers of traditional blues with four great musicians and a nice choice of material, that is well played and recorded."

"Chicken Man" Video, "Three!" Review

Asko-Romé Altsoo has completed the video for Roots & Terep's "Chicken Man", filmed in Tartu on December 30th, 2014, and rumour has it the clip might receive its TV premiere before the week is through ;)



Meanwhile, MWE3.COM in Florida has published the following piece in their Record Label Spotlight section: "Instrumental rock guitar fans will be in for a treat with Three! from Andres Roots Roundabout. The all instrumental album features a stellar mix of blues rock and even funk and Western Swing sounds. Guitarist Andres Roots is joined by his band mates Martin Eessalu (guitar) and Raul Terep (drums). Some of these tracks are so cool and funky (check out “Moby Duck”) that you can almost picture them in a Ren & Stimpy cartoon. Roots himself is adept in various blues and rock guitar mediums including electric guitar and slide guitar. It has been noted that Three! is very much centered in the blues genre, and while it has a definite bluesy edge to it, there’s plenty here for all fans of electric guitar instrumental styles to enjoy. What’s equally amazing is just how cool the country of Estonia is becoming, especially for fans of instrumental guitar music. From heavy metal to jazz-rock fusion and now with the bluesy, funky sound of Andres Roots hitting foreign shores, the country of Estonia is quickly becoming a vital zone for major instrumental guitar talent."

Tour Poster - Finland

Happy New Year!

Photo by Siret Roots.

Yes, happy New Year y'all! :) 2015 got off to a nice start with another positive review for "Live In Lerwick" published, this time in Croatia, where Mladen Loncar writes in the Soundguardian webzine: "If traditional blues is what you want, you've come to the right place... Get the album and see for yourself!"

As you can see from the pic, Roots & Terep are currently working on a music video for "Chicken Man", with Asko-Romé Altsoo again directing; their January-February concerts in Finland and Estonia will also preview new material. But for now, let's have a closer look at the year that just ended...

In 2014, Andres Roots performed 35 live shows with six different band configurations. Festival appearances in 2014 included Blue Icicle (Pärnu, Estonia), Linna Pea Rock (Rapla, Estonia), Guitar Jamboree (Tallinn, Estonia), Kaavi Blues (Kaavi, Finland), Pärnu Bluusipäevad (Pärnu, Estonia), Ruskablues (Koli, Finland), and IDeeJazz (Tartu, Estonia).

There were two Roots Art albums released: Andres Roots & Raul Terep "Trad.alt.blues" and Steve Lury & Andres Roots "Live In Lerwick". Roots & Terep contributed a track to "Get On! Estonian Tribute To Hurriganes" with Mikk Tammepõld on vocals, and Andres Roots added guitar to a tune on Tapsa Kojo's "Vallilan Kojootti" EP and one on Erki Solna's "Ei ole must ei ole valge" album; two older tracks also appeared on the soundtrack of Peeter Simm's documentary "Eesti Tennis 100". In addition, Raul Terep can be heard on the Popsid album "Käsu peale!" and Peeter Piik on Tartu Popi Ja Roki Instituut's latest "Marienbad".

Most significantly, Roots Art Records became the first Estonian label to receive physical distribution throughout Scandinavia and the Baltics via Playground Music Estonia. Rock & roll! :)