Tartu Fest & UK Tour Posters

 

RockTimes Review & Käbliku Festival This Weekend

Joachim 'Joe' Brookes reviews "Royal Spa Blues" in the German RockTimes webzine: ""Royal Spa Blues – Live From Temperance" by Andres Roots is a masterpiece of acoustic bottleneck blues. Andres Roots is a true discovery. Instrumental blues with slide guitar is so much fun." Danke schön! :)

You can read the whole thing HERE (in German)! And above, please find a list of German (and Latvian!) gigs confirmed for September.

Meanwhile, tomorrow - Friday, July 11th, 22:00 -  Andres Roots will be playing a set at the Käbliku Beer Camp & Rock'N'Roll festival near Põlva. Click HERE for the full festival line-up - two stages over two days! 

Gigs in England & Germany

The "Solo Pieces" tour continues this Saturday with two shows at the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival, the Upton Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon, and a Monday night concert at the Temperance in Leamington Spa. Then on to Berlin and Potsdam in Germany - check out the dates below and links and details HERE! 

Meanwhile, here is a live clip from Andres Roots' last UK visit - filmed live at The Tolbooth in Stirling, Scotland on May 15th, 2024 by Dave Arcari, with audio mastering by Asko-Romé Altsoo.

 

Hamina Mosna Blues Pics

Here are a few photos from the Hamina Mosna Blues Festival in Finland earlier this month - with Jantso Jokelin and Old Wood'n Joe, and by Ari-Pekka Huovila.

Live Clip from Helsinki

Last week's Finnish tour was a blast and there'll be photos coming soon, but here's a live clip from the July 16th Sunday matinée at Villa Hakasalmi in Helsinki: "So It Is, Subhuti". The footage was captured by Siret Roots, this was Andres Roots second time at the villa and a third appearance has already been scheduled for next year: Sunday, July 14th, 2024!

Meanwhile, there are two Estonian shows coming up next week: a set at Mohri Ait during the Pärnu Bluusipäevad festival on Tuesday, July 25th (4 p.m.!) and one at the Great Rooftop Concert at SEE Theatre in Haapsalu on Friday, July 28th.

Tallukka Blues & National Museum Pics

Finland's Hotelli Tallukka Blues Party festival in Vääksy has just revealed this year's line-up - Andres Roots will playing a solo set on Saturday, August 19th. 

Meanwhile, the 3-song set performed at the Estonian National Museum on March 23rd can now be viewed on YouTube HERE - the photos below are by Arp Karm.

 

Pärnu Winter Blues!

The performers for this year's Pärnu winter bluesfest The Blue Icicle have just been announced - see you at the Pärnu Yacht Club on Friday, March 3rd at 7 p.m.!

Mosna Blues Pics

Here are a few photos by Ari-Pekka Huovila from last weekend's Hamina Mosna Blues festival in Finland - full gallery HERE!

 

 

Looking Back on 2021

2021 has been the first full-length pandemic year and accordingly, the number of concerts has dropped even further: there were only 18 live appearances of any kind this year, and that's using the term liberally.

Nevertheless, those 18 included sets at summer festivals such as Kymi Kantri in Finland and Ulila Rock, Augustibluus (pictured - photo by Aigars Lapsa) and Pärnu Bluusipäevad in Estonia - plus performances in the SOOLO and Tornimuusika concert series held at Tallinn Art Hall and St. John's church in Tartu, respectively, a show at the Endla Jazz Club in Pärnu, etc. One can hope that 2022 will be busier - check out the confirmed dates HERE!

On the record front, there were three CD's released in 2021. First, a split EP with Finland's Black River Bluesman & Big Alligator appeared on the Finnish Gecko Yell label in January that featured two Roots numbers recorded the year before with the Alabama vocalist Red Mouth. The CD is sold out, but you can still find the digital tracks on Bandcamp: "Right Across the Hill" & "In the Dark". 

"Red Mouth, the man with the red beard, has an interesting dialect and draws his doomsday prophecies in a straightforward sermon, but with positive undertones," wrote Sara Selenius in Västra Nyland. "Here there's no question of whether it's the blues we're listening to or not - here the thoughts go directly to early Delta blues musicians, especially Robert Johnson. From Roots' guitar strings, groovy bass ostinatos are born and delicious, simple melodies slide on top of augmented ninth and sus chords. These songs are stripped-down and melancholy, but with extremely warm and honest interpretations from both Red Mouth and Roots. Hope the collaboration continues for at least another 10 years." 

Next, in May, the "Tribute to Elmore" live CD EP by Ismo Haavisto, Andres Roots & Matias Partanen was released on Roots Art Records and featured live recordings made by Heino Maripuu at the 25th Augustibluus festival in Haapsalu, Estonia in 2018. That CD is sold out, too, but you can find some clips from the show celebrating Elmore James' 100th birthday on YouTube. What did the reviewers say?

"Powerful cooking." - Suonna Kononen, Karjalainen

"A flaming performance." - Peter Marinus, Bluestown Music

"Hell yeah, the audience went crazy and the roof is gone!" - Philip Verhaege, Keys and Chords

And just now in December, there came the acoustic solo EP "Afternoon", recorded in October and out on Roots Art Records - digital AND hard-copy versions of this release are available on Bandcamp, just click HERE! 

The cover art of all three EP's was by Siret Roots, the photo on the Elmore one by Leif Laaksonen. Meanwhile, in October, there was also a digital single released with Red Mouth and the Finnish harpist Jantso Jokelin that you can hear and download HERE. There's more on the way, so watch this space ;)

2021 hasn't been an easy year, but it's very nearly over. As always, a big thank you to everybody who attended gigs, put on gigs, wrote about gigs, took photos or filmed gigs, bought records, played records, wrote about records, made records, broke records - and to everyone that's been kind. Thank you, and a much happier New Year to you all!     

Blues News Review & 2021 T-Shirt Design

In the October issue of Finland's Blues News magazine, Marko Aho writes about the 2021 Kymi Kantri festival, singling out Andres Roots and the Ismo Haavisto One Man Band as the two blues performers at this country & western event and calling Andres' solo set "expressive and uplifting" - cheers! :)

In other news, the 2021 Andres Roots T-shirts have arrived! Designed by Siret Roots, they'll be officially available from October 18th - but if you can't wait, drop us a line today: roots.art.oy(at)gmail.com! ;) Sizes currently in stock: M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL.   

Viru Folk Announced & More...

An acoustic solo set from Andres Roots was announced yesterday for the 2022 Viru Folk festival - it has indeed been a few years since his previous appearance in the Käsmu church, pictured here! Watch this space for more details regarding the show - and/or check out the official festival website!

Meanwhile, two solo concerts are coming up VERY SOON: Salong in Tartu on Friday, October 1st, and Mulks in Viljandi on Tuesday, October 5th. 

 

Looking Back on 2020

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!

Photo by Leif Laaksonen.

Kymi Kantri Festival 2021

An acoustic solo set has just been announced for next year's Kymi Kantri country & western festival in Myllykoski, Finland - June 5th, 2021!

20/20 Film Festival Returns

The 20/20 Film Festival is happening again in Tartu, Estonia, and Andres Roots has been asked to reprise his live accompaniment for the two earliest Estonian silent films, "Laenatud naene" (1913) and "Karujaht Pärnumaal" (1914) at Salong on December 3rd - the Facebook event is HERE. First performed during last year's festival, the soundtrack for the latter was later recorded for the Estonian Embassy in London's #time4estonia series and you can hear and watch it below.

Photos: Summer Gigs Around Estonia 2

Urissaare Kantri, Univere, August 14 - photo: Siim Neerut.

Urissaare Kantri, Univere, August 14 - photo: Siim Neerut.

Linnujämm, Loodusfestival, Botaanikaaed, Tartu - photo: Siret Roots.

Urissaare Kantri This Friday!

This Friday, August 14th, Andres Roots will open the Urissaare Kantri country & western festival in Univere, Estonia!

Nature Festival Tomorrow!

On Saturday, August 8, Andres Roots will appear at Linnujämm in the Tartu Botanical Gardens - the event is free and part of this year's nature festival Loodusfestival.

Photos: July Gigs in Finland

Roots Thursday @ Virasto, Lahti  - photo: Leif Laaksonen.

Roots Thursday @ Virasto, Lahti - photo: Leif Laaksonen.

Roots Thursday @ Virasto, Lahti - photo: Leif Laaksonen.

Bluemood Saimaa @ Kallioniemi, Ristiina - photo: Lotta Tuominen.

Bluemood Saimaa @ Kallioniemi, Ristiina - photo: Lotta Tuominen.

Bluemood Saimaa @ Kallioniemi, Ristiina - photo: Lotta Tuominen.

Photos: Summer Gigs Around Estonia

Kuur, Otepää, August 1 - photo: Kuur.

Pärnu Bluusipäevad, Pärnu Jahtklubi, July 30 - photo: Raul Reidma.

Suur Katusekontsert, SEE Teater, Haapsalu, July 25 - photo: Siret Roots.

Moosekants, Nostalgiakeskus, Kadrina, July 18 - photo: Ain Liiva.

Kultuuriklubi Salong, Tartu, July 17 - photo: Siret Roots.

Aasa Riksi Õueblues, Palivere, July 11 - photo: Malle-Liisa Raigla.

Pärnu Thursday, Otepää Saturday

Tomorrow, July 30, Andres Roots will appear at the Pärnu Bluusipäevad festival at the Pärnu Yacht Club (indoors if it rains) - click HERE to check out the schedule. On Saturday, August 1, there'll be a full-length solo set at Kuur in Otepää.