Here's a slightly closer look at the Arcari/Roots story from this month's Blues in Britain, with pics by Margaret McDonald, Leif Laaksonen, and Siret Roots.
Below are some cool pics from last month's Howth Roots & Blues Festival in Ireland, by Peter Mirolo.
The March UK tour kicked off on March 1st with Andres Roots' first-ever show in Wales: a double header with the fabulous Dave Arcari at the Mid Wales Rhythm & Blues Club at The Muse in Brecon - with local harmonica ace Dilwyn Roberts joining the duo for an encore jam.
Of Roots' solo set, Jim Kerslake writes on the club's website: "Andres delivered a masterclass in acoustic guitar finger-picking. His playing is delicate and dexterous, and his overall sound mellow and warm. The interplay between his expressive use of slide on the top strings and rhythmic thumb-picked bass line on the lower strings was particularly impressive. He clearly has complete mastery over his guitar, and plays with great charm and taste… often exhibiting just the right degree of restraint to create a subtle tension.
"The diversity of Andres’ repertoire was most remarkable, as he ranged between powerful self-composed acoustic blues, through Eastern European-influenced mandolin-like strumming, to expert renditions of standards by Hendrix and Alvin Lee… with even a bit of tango rhythm along the way."
Below are a few photos by Barry Hill, the last one with the Mid Wales Rhythm & Blues Club chief Angus Kings front and centre:
The Scottish shows in Glasgow, Stirling, Irvine, Kirkcaldy and Banchory with the inimitable Dave Arcari were a blast - here's the first batch of photos, with more to come. These pics by Margaret McDonald, Dave Arcari and Andres Roots.
Dave Arcari and Andres Roots will be appearing in Glasgow, Stirling, Irvine, Kirkcaldy and Banchory (near Aberdeen) as follows:
Meanwhile, next week's Scottish tour with Dave Arcari will proceed as follows:
Photo by Alistair Mulhearn, from a 2019 concert at the Milton of Buchanan Memorial Hall.
The year 2020 started out great with a cover story in Finland's Blues News magazine - and then, six months of the year were swiftly cancelled on account of the pandemic, with more gigs called off or postponed than in the previous 20-odd years put together.
Nevertheless, a few concerts and workshops took place before it all started and several more over the summer and early autumn, including appearances at festivals such as Tartu Bluusikuu and Linnujämm in Tartu, The Blue Icicle and Pärnu Bluusipäevad in Pärnu, Urissaare Kantri in Univere and Moosekants in Kadrina - even two shows in Finland with Ismo Haavisto and Matias Partanen: one at Ismo's Roots Thursday club in Lahti and the other at the Bluemood Saimaa festival in Ristiina.
There was also the livestream from Tartu's Genklubi and a guest slot on Dave Arcari's Blues'n'2s online series, and of course Tartu2024's "Spring 2020" project that captured Tartu's cultural figures in isolation.
On the recording front, 2020 proved most fruitful: there were two critically acclaimed CD albums ("Mississippi to Loch Lomond" and "Tartu Lockdown") and three digital EP's (the "House Arrest" recordings that would make up the "Tartu Lockdown" album), plus two long overdue cuts with Eric "Red Mouth" Gebhardt to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first studio collaboration (more on these soon!). You can check the music out on the Bandcamp page HERE.
In addition, there was the recording of musical accompaniment for Johannes Pääsuke's 1914 silent film "The Bear Hunt in Pärnu County" for the Estonian Embassy in London's #time4estonia project that is now available as a free e-book HERE.
There were radio appearances and a TV interview, airplay and reviews from around the globe, and while we're pretty much back in lockdown, there are even a few gigs confirmed for 2021 - fingers crossed. Thank you, and a Much Happier New Year to you all!
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| Photo by Leif Laaksonen. |
