Kadrina Pics

Two photos from Saturday's concert in Kadrina. The Blues Club event at Nostalgiakeskus Kadrina that featured Andres Roots as well as Finland's Black River Bluesman & Bad Mood Hudson was part of a big fair and all-day celebration - see the full gallery HERE.

 

New Track & Tartu, Põlva, Kadrina Concerts

Friday, Sept. 1st saw the release of the last COVID blues recording from Andres Roots, Red Mouth and Jantso Jokelin - hear "Retirement Blues" below, see the full lyrics and/or buy the download on Bandcamp, and read more about it over at the Sound Cafe!

The weekend will bring three solo concerts from Andres Roots: on Thursday, September 7th he will appear alongside Detroit's Banjolectric at Kultuuriklubi Salong in Tartu - the music starts 18:00 and tickets are available HERE. On Friday, September 8th, Roots and Banjolectric will take the show to the Põlva Cultural Centre café - the music starts 20:00 and tickets are available HERE. 

And on Saturday, September 9th, Andres Roots and Finland's Black River Bluesman & Bad Mood Hudson will be holding court at Nostalgiakeskus Kadrina in Kadrina, wrapping up a full day of concerts and all kinds of events in town - the music starts 17:00 and there's no cover charge!!

 

  

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!     

Noise.fi Review

Hot Kommunist's Mikko Nissinen has reviewed the split EP with Red Mouth and Black River Bluesman for Finland's Noise.fi webzine, calling it "a tasty snack for the corona break from the top blokes in northern blues."

Of the two duo tracks by Andres Roots & Red Mouth, he writes: "Skilfully arranged for one guitar, the sunnily splashing "Right Across the Hill" and "In the Dark" that goes from controlled riff-tickling to wild acoustic rumbling and back on the sly are first-rate in their genre. Extra points for the magnificient slide solo."

Read the whole thing HERE - and don't forget the July 27th church concert in Tartu! ;)

Blues in Britain Review!

Norman Darwen reviews the split CD EP with Black River Bluesman and Red Mouth in the current issue of Blues in Britain magazine:  "Guitarist Andres Roots is reasonably well-known in the UK thanks to his frequent tours here; he is from Estonia, and singer Eric “Red Mouth” Gebhardt is from Alabama, recording his vocal tracks in Muscle Shoals... The two tracks with Andres and Red mark the tenth anniversary of their first recording together, and Andres’ delicate fingerpicking on ‘Right Across The Hill’ and his Mississippi-styled slide playing on ‘In The Dark’, provide a real sonic contrast to the Finnish band."

There's a few copies of the CD still left - order HERE!

 

Blues News Review!

Honey Aaltonen reviews the split EP with Black River Bluesman in the current issue of Finland's Blues News magazine, mentioning Mississippi John Hurt and Charley Patton in reference to the Andres Roots & Red Mouth duo tracks on there. He talks about "our Southern neighbours' gift to the blues world" and states: "as you can deduce from Red Mouth's stage name, there's no hint of pop singing here." Cheers!

Blues Airplay Top 20 in France - Again!

The split EP with with Black River Bluesman and Red Mouth is #18 in the Collectif des Radios Blues francophones' airplay Top 20 that collates data from blues DJ's in French-speaking countries around the world. That's TWO months in the chart and a step up from February! Check out the full chart HERE!

Keys and Chords Review!

Philip Verhaege reviews the split CD EP with Black River Bluesman and Red Mouth in the Belgian webzine Keys and Chords: "Andres Roots (acoustic slide guitar) now found his soulmate vocalist Eric "Red Mouth" Gebhardt for the Delta blues singles "Right Across The Hill" and "In The Dark". Four songs, two different genres. That is exactly what makes this audio piece a pleasant introduction to that different sound." Read the whole thing HERE!

You can order the CD HERE!

 

Blues Airplay Top 20 in France

The split EP with with Black River Bluesman and Red Mouth has reached #19 in the Collectif des Radios Blues francophones' airplay Top 20 that collates data from blues DJ's in French-speaking countries around the world. Check out the full chart HERE! 

Länsi-Uusimaa Review!

The Finnish newspaper Länsi-Uusimaa has reviewed the new split EP with Black River Bluesman and Red Mouth: ""Right Across the Hill" and "In the Dark" are the real deal... An additional strength of this joint record is that the artists' approaches to the blues are very different."

The full story can be found HERE!

Västra Nyland Review!

Sara Selenius has reviewed the new split EP with Black River Bluesman and Red Mouth for the Swedish-language Finnish daily Västra Nyland: "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. /---/ 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."  

Read the whole thing HERE!

Bluestown Music Review!

Peter Marinus has reviewed the new split EP with Black River Bluesman and Red Mouth for the Netherlands' Bluestown Music: ""Right Across The Hill" is an intimate acoustic blues with smooth driving acoustic guitar work and passionate vocals. "In The Dark" is then a driving song with beautifully cutting slide guitar playing."

Read the whole thing HERE! 

Split EP with Black River Bluesman & Red Mouth

A CD EP is released on Finland’s Gecko Yell label today that features two tracks by the Finnish alt.blues legend Black River Bluesman and his new band Big Alligator – as well as two duo numbers by the Estonian guitarist Andres Roots and the Alabama vocalist Red Mouth. You can order the CD via Bandcamp or by e-mailing roots.art.oy(at)gmail.com - quantities are limited!
 
Finland’s Jukka “Black River Bluesman” Juhola plays Lowebow cigar box guitars and has toured everywhere from Nepal to Brazil, from Mississippi to Russia, occasionally sharing stages with neighbouring Estonia’s Andres Roots. In 2010, they collaborated on “Watcha Do” for Roots’ first solo album “Roundabout”; in turn, Roots provided lyrics for two tracks on the 2016 Black River Bluesman & Bad Mood Hudson LP “Moonshine Medicine”, including a song called “Big Alligator”. Juhola’s new band by the same name features former Black River Bluesman & the Croaking Lizard bassist Jussi Konttinen and new drummer Veikka Härkönen, who also recorded and mixed the new songs: “Hollow Sound” and “Back Porch Blues”. Directed by Amir Abdi, the music video for the Sonics-inspired “Hollow Sound” was filmed in Mustio – Finland’s own ‘Black River’.

Back in 2010, Eric “Red Mouth” Gebhardt added vocals to five tunes on Roots’ “Roundabout” album; cut ‘long distance’ ahead of Red Mouth’s first European tour, video single “Redecoration Day” went to #1 on Estonian national broadcasting’s “Eesti Top 7” chart, remaining in the top 3 for more than three months. “Right Across the Hill” and “In the Dark” on the new EP were recorded last fall to celebrate the 10th anniversary of that first collaboration, with vocals cut in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and guitar in Tartu, Estonia. In 2016, both “Redecoration Day” and “Watcha Do” appeared on Roots’ compilation LP “Roots Music” that earned a Golden Disc award and remains the only blues album ever to top the official albums chart in Estonia – or the Baltics. And to bring things full circle: on Red Mouth’s 2018 European tour, he was backed by Black River Bluesman & the Croaking Lizard.

CD cover art by Siret Roots.