Blues Blast Review

John Mitchell reviews "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" and "Tartu Lockdown" in the American Blues Blast Magazine: "There is plenty of opportunity to appreciate Andres’ skillful playing on an all-original program in Clarksdale... Andres varies the pace well, moving from the uptempo “In The Dark” to the reflective “Build Me A Statue” which sounds like a classic Delta blues slowed down to quarter speed." Read the whole thing HERE!

Blues News Review: "Best A Class"

In the current issue of Finland's Blues News magazine, TT Tarkiainen reviews "Mississippi to Loch Lomond": "Tunes familiar from previous releases work even better in front of a live audience... As we know, he can conquer his audience without any pointless maneuvers. As a slide guitarist, Roots is the best A class."

Check out the CD HERE and the magazine HERE!

Number 9 in the French Airplay Chart

"Mississippi to Loch Lomond" has reached #9 in the Collectif des Radios Blues Francophones most-played blues albums chart for France, Belgium, Quebec and Africa, moving up from the 12th place it held in April. Merci beaucoup!

Reviews & More in Muusika Magazine

The June issue of Muusika magazine includes Andres Roots' piece on the music he experienced in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee last October, as well as Meelis Hainsoo's review of the "House Arrest" EP and the "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" album, of which he writes: "You hear virtuosic musicianship pickled with warm humour and the emotional response of the audience: everything a concert needs to have."

Powerblues: Top Releases for May

"Mississippi to Loch Lomond" is included in this month's Powerblues - the monthly list of recommended blues releases compiled by Le Collectif des Radios Blues francophones which unites blues radio presenters in France, Belgium, Quebec and Africa. See the complete list HERE!

French Airplay Chart!

Le Collectif des Radios Blues that unites blues radio presenters in France, Belgium, Quebec and Africa have just published their monthly airplay chart and "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" is at #12 - see the TOP 20 for April HERE!

Back in March, "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" was #16 in the UK's Independent Blues Broadcasters Association's airplay chart.

Blues in Britain review

"Andres plays some fine solo blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi, with excellent slide, bass string snapping and fine finger-picking on a bunch of traditional sounding but actually original instrumental compositions," writes Norman Darwen in the current issue of Blues in Britain of the "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" album, noting that Jeff Eaton's "sleeve notes are excellent too."

You can hear and download the album on Bandcamp HERE or order the disc direct HERE.
    

IBBA Chart & Blues Again Review

Released March 6, "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" is #16 in Independent Blues Broadcasters Association's most played albums chart for March in the UK - and reviewed in the current issue of the Blues Again! webzine in France!

New Album

The new live CD "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" will arrive in stores this Friday, March 6th and you can already order it from the CD Market and Lasering online stores. The first review is in - by Theo Volk, from the Netherlands and in Dutch, but with a little help from Google Translate, you can read it HERE!

The radio premiere was on Jeff Eaton's Blues Friday show on WXPR in Wisconsin on February 28 - click HERE for the programme and HERE for the playlist. In the UK, Richard Dunning's Blues on the Radio was the first to air a track from the album - click HERE to listen.

The album tour kicks off next week - Friday the 13th at Kultuuriklubi Salong in Tartu, Estonia, with very special guest Ismo Haavisto!

Album Teaser

Here's a first look at the "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" CD:

BLUES NEWS!

This year's first issue of Finland's Blues News is out next week, with an Andres Roots cover feature - cover photo by Peter Lee, interview by Leif Laaksonen. Check out the magazine on Facebook here or place your order via their website here. Andres' next gig is at The Blue Icicle festival in Pärnu on February 27 - showtime 7 p.m.!

 

"Bullfrog Medley" from Clarksdale

Here's another tune from the upcoming "Mississippi to Loch Lomond" live album - recorded at the Deep Blues Festival, Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Photo by Peter Lee from outside the Xanadu Music & Books in Memphis, Tennessee.

Snake Girl Blues - Deep Blues Festival

Here's another live recording from the Deep Blues Festival - recorded at the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi on Oct. 18, 2019, mastered by Asko-Romé Altsoo, photo by Peter Lee. Live album coming in March!!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everybody!!!

Here's some news to kick it off: there's a new live album coming in March - recorded in 2019 at the Deep Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi, at the Endla Jazz Club in Pärnu, Estonia and at Memorial Hall in Milton of Buchanan, Scotland. Cover photo by Jeff Eaton, design by Siret Roots, full tracklist below.

1. In the Dark (Cat Head, Clarksdale, MS, USA, 19.10.19)
2. Build Me a Statue (Ground Zero, Clarksdale, MS, USA, 18.10.19)
3. Bullfrog Medley (Ground Zero, Clarksdale, MS, USA, 18.10.19)
4. Snake Girl Blues (Ground Zero, Clarksdale, MS, USA, 18.10.19)
5. Meow Meow (Ground Zero, Clarksdale, MS, USA, 18.10.19)
6. Legacy Blues (Ground Zero, Clarksdale, MS, USA, 18.10.19)
7. Right Across the Hill (Endla Jazzklubi, Pärnu, Estonia, 4.10.19)
8. Waltzin' Blue (Endla Jazzklubi, Pärnu, Estonia, 4.10.19)
9. Birdsong Thing (Endla Jazzklubi, Pärnu, Estonia, 4.10.19)
10. 4 AM Hot Dog (Buchanan Memorial Hall, Scotland, 2.3.19)
11. Jook Jones (Buchanan Memorial Hall, Scotland, 2.3.19)
12. Spanish Run (Buchanan Memorial Hall, Scotland, 2.3.19)
13. Station Blues Medley (Buchanan Memorial Hall, Scotland, 2.3.19)
14. The Sheik of Hawaii (Buchanan Memorial Hall, Scotland, 2.3.19)
15. Wagon Swing (Buchanan Memorial Hall, Scotland, 2.3.19)

Looking Back on 2019

Blues in Britain. Photo by Leif Laaksonen.

In 2019, Andres Roots played 60 concerts in four countries: in Estonia (Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Haapsalu, Viljandi, Võru, Põlva, Toila, Kadrina, Palivere, Kohila, Muuga), in Finland (Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Rauma, Pieksämäki, Loimaa), in Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Milton of Buchanan) and in the USA (Clarksdale, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Helena, Arkansas). 50 out of the 60 shows were solo performances, but Roots also appeared with Ismo Haavisto (vocals, guitar, harmonica) & Matias Partanen (drums), with Peeter Piik (bass) & Les Wilson (percussion), with Anneli Kadakas (drums), with Robert Floyd Stevens (drums) and with James Dalton (vocals, guitar, harmonica) & Les Wilson (percussion). There were mini-tours with Dave Arcari and Black River Bluesman, a 3-month residency at Von Krahl in Tallinn, a set for the international jury that would go on to declare Tartu, Estonia as the European Capital of Culture for 2024, a live-on-the-air set on Uuge Kojola's radio show on Finland's Roll FM, etc. etc.

With Dave Arcari in Milton of Buchanan. Photo by Alistair Mulhearn.

Altogether, the year included appearances at 18 festivals: Deep Blues Festival (Clarksdale, Mississippi), King Biscuit Blues Festival (Helena, Arkansas), Rauma Blues (Rauma, Finland), Savonsolmu Winter Blues Party (Pieksämäki, Finland), Sügisjazz (Tartu, Estonia), tARTuFF Film Festival (Tartu, Estonia), Pärnu Bluusipäevad (Pärnu, Estonia), 7 Linna Muusika (Toila, Estonia), Prima Vista Literature Festival (Tartu, Estonia), Vanalinna Päevad (Tallinn, Estonia), Munarock (Põlva, Estonia), The Blue Icicle (Pärnu, Estonia), Underground Blues (Põlva, Estonia), Metsiku Lääne Päev (Palivere, Estonia), Viljandi Õllefestival (Viljandi, Estonia), Pandivere Muusikafestival (Muuga, Lääne-Virumaa, Estonia), 20/20 Film Festival (Tartu, Estonia), and Tartu Bluusikuu (Tartu, Estonia), which included an exhibition on the first 15 years of Tartu Blues – the first Estonian blues society founded by Roots, Alar Kriisa and Üllar Kärt in 2003.

With Black River Bluesman in Clarksdale. Photo by Jeff Eaton.

There were two Andres Roots EP's released on Roots Art Records in 2019: the limited edition live CD "Loch Lomond Blues" and the 7" vinyl "Waiting Around" – the first 45 ever pressed on location in Estonia. Roots also appeared on several recordings by James Dalton (USA), adding guitar to "When It’s Midnight Somewhere in the World" which appears on Dalton's spoken word release "Words" and is also included on the CD version of his "Troubadours" EP, and playing on all tracks on the live "Tartu Jämm", recorded at the Sügisjazz festival in Tartu with Les Wilson on percussion. In addition to an abundance of live footage from 2019, Asko-Romé Altsoo directed a music video for "Waiting Around", filmed at Genklubi in Tartu and featuring dancers from the Tartu Swing club.



Roots' 2018 album "Breakfast in September" reached #10 in the IBBA airplay charts for December 2018 and made it to #8 in the French-speaking blues radio association's airplay chart in January 2019. The press continued to be kind throughout the year – in addition to favourable album reviews, there was the Blues in Britain cover story by Jeff Eaton and longer pieces in Blues Matters! (UK), Blues Again! (France), Turun Sanomat (Finland), Blues-Finland.com (Finland), Jazzrytmit (Finland), KesKus (Estonia), Sakala (Estonia), Tartu Postimees (Estonia), etc. Incidentally, the current issue of Blues in Britain also features an in-depth review of the "Loch Lomond Blues" EP by Norman Darwen, and while the limited edition EP itself is sold out, there's a live album coming in 2020 that features those six acoustic tracks from Scotland PLUS recordings from the Deep Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi and from the Endla Jazz Club in Pärnu, Estonia. Thank you all very much and see you in 2020!

Turun Sanomat. Photo by Asko-Romé Altsoo.

Ground Zero Pics

Here's a few photos by the Deep Blues Festival's official photographer Peter Lee from the concert at the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi on October 18, 2019.

"In the Dark" from Cat Head

Here's another live recording (audio only!) from the Deep Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi - this time from the Cat Head stage in Delta Avenue.

Barlova!

It's been a long and busy year for Andres Roots, with a lot of gigging in Estonia and Finland, mini-tours of Scotland and the US, two EP's released, etc. etc. The last public concert of 2019 will take place at Barlova in Tartu, Estonia on December 4th - click HERE for details! Photo: live on Roll FM with Uuge Kojola on Nov. 16th; photo by Risto Vuorimies. Poster photo by Jeff Eaton.

Last Public Shows Announced For 2019!

On November 21, Andres Roots will provide live accompaniment to two earliest Estonian Silent Films, "Laenatud Naene" and "Karujaht Pärnumaal" at the 20/20 film festival at the Tartu Writers' House.

On December 4th, Andres will play a full-length "back from Misssissippi" solo concert at Barlova.

Live in Clarksdale!

Here's an audio recording made on Oct. 18th, 2019 at the Deep Blues Festival: "Legacy Blues" from Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi!