London Show Announced + New Live Track!

A London show has been just added for August 10th, so the upcoming tour in Ireland & England will proceed as follows:

Fri 8 Aug DUBLIN Howth Roots & Blues Festival @ The Summit Inn
Sat 9 Aug DUBLIN Howth Roots & Blues Festival @ The Harbour Bar
Sun 10 Aug LONDON The Lamb Surbiton 
Tue 12 Aug BOURNEMOUTH Bournemouth Brewery
Thu 14 Aug BRIGHTON Caroline of Brunswick
Fri 15 Aug TUNBRIDGE WELLS The Green Duck Blues Club
Sat 16 Aug MALDON Madison Heights w/ Tim Aves, Richard Townend

The YouTube link above is to an audio track recorded live by Matthew Devenish/Paul Jones of Mu-Mu Audio on the Acoustic Roots Stage of the Upton Blues Festival - St Peter and St Paul's Church in Upton-upon-Severn, England on July 21st, 2024. Mixed & mastered by Asko-Romé Altsoo at White Room in Tartu, Estonia, with cover art by Siret Roots. You can download the track for FREE on Bandcamp - just click HERE!

Looking Back on 2024

2024 saw 59 live performances by Andres Roots: 20 concerts in Estonia, 18 in Finland, 9 in the UK, 9 in Germany, and 3 in Latvia. In addition to his solo sets, Roots jammed with Dave Arcari (UK), Ron Whitehead & Jinn Bug (USA), Dik Banovich (USA/France), Jantso Jokelin (Finland), Ismo Haavisto (Finland), Old Wood'n Joe (Finland), and The Rhythmbreakers (Finland), sharing stages with Pan Salmenhaara (Finland/Germany), Banjolectric (USA/France), Blues Bizarre (Finland), Kalle Tikas (Estonia), Bad Ass Horse (Finland), and many others.

Festival appearances included the 40th Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival and the award-winning Upton Blues Festival in the UK, Mosna Blues Festival and Joutsen Blues Festival in Finland, as well as Pirita Blues Festival, Prima Vista Literature Festival and the similarly poetry-based Tõge and Fööniksi Festivals in Estonia. 

The CD compilation "Solo Pieces" was released to coincide with the international summer tour, and in autumn, a reworking of Hurriganes' "In the Nude" - itself a remake of Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" - appeared on the "Estonian Tribute to Hurriganes: Roadrunner" CD/LP. Additionally, Roots' July concert at Temperance in Royal Leamington Spa in the UK was recorded by Adrian Gains and will appear in the popular "Live from Temperance" series on February 25th, 2025 as "Royal Spa Blues" - but more on that next year. 

A big thank you to all of you for your continued support - and Happy 2025, everybody!

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Concert photos by Margaret McDonald, Siret Roots, Matti Suuronen.

Live from Temperance - Video!

This summer's Temperance gig was also filmed, so here's two tracks from the upcoming "Royal Spa Blues" live album: "Tango Walk" and "Springtime Blues"!

Villa Hakasalmi Pics

Here are some shots from Villa Hakasalmi in Helsinki, Finland - on Sunday, November 17th, 2024. The first three by Risto Vuorimies, the last three by Kari Pekka Yletyinen.

Live from Temperance!

Recorded on July 22, 2024 at Temperance in Royal Leamington Spa, England, the acoustic live album "Royal Spa Blues" will arrive on CD on February 25, 2025 in time for the next UK tour! Recorded by Adrian Gains, mastered by Asko-Romé Altsoo, cover photo & design by Siret Roots - watch this space for updates!

Hyvinkää Joutsen Blues Pics

Here are some photos by Leif Laaksonen from the Joutsen Blues festival at Oluthuone Joutsen in Hyvinkää, Finland on November 16th, 2024.

Finnish Shows This Week!

Here we go - the last four Finnish shows of 2024. Photo by Leif Laaksonen.

Christmas Dinner!

Last public show in 2024: a Christmas dinner at the Åminne Gård restaurant in Finland, right outside of Karis - on November 29th! Music starts 18:00. Book HERE!

  

Tampere, Hyvinkää, Helsinki

The November mini-tour in Finland will include the following stops:

Friday, November 15th Armo in Tampere;

Saturday, November 16th Joutsen Blues Festival @ Oluthuone Joutsen in Hyvinkää, with Blues Bizarre and Dr. Goodfeel;

Sunday, November 17th Villa Hakasalmi in Helsinki - NB! showtine 14:00!!!

 

 

 

 

Järvenpää Pics

Here's a few more shots from LiveLava @ Eikan Pub in Järvenpää, Finland on Oct. 10, 2024 - both solo and with The Rhythmbreakers, all by Leif Laaksonen. 

Järvenpää, Tampere, Kotka

This week's Finnish tour is as follows:

Thursday, Oct. 10 - LiveLava @ Eikan Pub, Järvenpää

Friday, Oct. 11 - Cask Room, Tampere

Saturday, Oct. 12 - Pub Albert & Pub Eduard, Kotka

 

Finnish Tour & Gig Guide

Here's page 72 from Simply Folk Music Magazine's gig guide, published on October 1st - read the rest of it HERE!

Don't forget, the first half of these Finnish shows are next week: 10.10 Järvenpää, 11.10 Tampere, 12.10 Kotka!

"Deep Purple Re-imagined by Black Ace"

Reviewing "Solo Pieces" for the October issue of Blues in Britain magazine, Norman Darwen writes: "As good as ever... completely solo - though you might not believe me about that... reminded me of Deep Purple as re-imagined by Texas slide guitar bluesman Black Ace... if it's good enough for God, it's gotta be good enough for us mere mortals." 

Check out the magazine HERE - and hear the album HERE!

Upton Bluesfest Gallery in Blues in Britain

The latest issue of Blues in Britain magazine comes with a look back on summer festivals in the UK - and their Upton Blues Festival gallery below features a lovely image of Andres Roots from the festival's Acoustic Roots Stage in St Peter & St Paul's Church, by Chris Roberts. Cheers!

"Solo Pieces" Reviewed in Pipeline Magazine

Norman Darwen reviews July's "Solo Pieces" compilation in the autumn 2024 issue of Pipeline Instrumental Review: ""A fine introduction to the man's music... Usually very interesting, often very innovative and always very much worth a listen."

There are a few CD copies of "Solo Pieces" still available via Bandcamp - just click HERE!

And don't forget this year's remaining gigs in Finland - in October and November:

10.10 LiveLava @ Eikan Pub, Järvenpää
11.10 Cask Room, Tampere
12.10 Pub Albert & Pub Eduard, Kotka

15.11 Armo, Tampere
16.11 Joutsen Blues @ Oluthuone Joutsen, Hyvinkää
17.11 Villa Hakasalmi, Helsinki

 

 

Finland In November

In addition to the October gigs, one last trek through Finland this year has just been confirmed for November:

Nov. 15 Armo in Tampere;

Nov. 16 Joutsen Blues in Hyvinkää, with Blues Bizarre (FIN) and Dr. Goodfeel (FIN);

Nov. 17 Villa Hakasalmi in Helsinki (NB! matinee!).

Poster design by Siret Roots, photos by Leif Laaksonen and Matti Suuronen.

 

Hurriganes Tribute

October will see the release of another LP in the "Estonian Tribute To Hurriganes" series - this time a track-by-track remake of the legendary Finnish group's "Roadrunner" album. While all the songs have been re-recorded expressly for this project by contemporary Estonian artists and all photos are from 2024 as well, both the car in the cover photo and the photographer himself are "original" - it was Risto Vuorimies who took pictures of this very Cadillac for the iconic Hurriganes sleeve 50 years ago as well. 

You can place your pre-orders HERE and enjoy Andres Roots' acoustic cover of Hurriganes' "In the Nude" (a.k.a. Glenn Miller's "In the Mood") below.

Finland In October

Another trip to Finland is due in October - the concerts are as follows:

Thu Oct 10 LiveLava @ Eikan Pub in Järvenpää, with The Rhythmbreakers (FIN);

Fri Oct 11 Cask Room in Tampere;

Sat Oct 12 Pub Albert & Pub Eduard in Kotka.

Poster design by Siret Roots, photo by Matti Suuronen.

 

 

Sindi Show Announced!

Just announced: on Thursday, August 22nd, Andres Roots will play a full-length solo show in Sindi right outside of Pärnu: at Sindi Seltsimaja! Click HERE for details.

UK Airplay Chart

The "Solo Pieces" compilation is #28 in the IBBA most played album Top 40 for July 2024 in the UK - thank you very much! :)

The remaining copies of the "Solo Pieces" compilation CD are available from Bandcamp: just click HERE!