2025 saw 44 live performances by Andres Roots: 12 concerts in the UK, 12 in Germany, 8 in Estonia, 5 in Latvia, 5 in Finland, and 2 in Ireland. Festival appearances included the Howth Roots & Blues in Dublin, Ireland (his first Irish gigs!) and Käbliku Beer Camp & Rock'N'Roll in Põlvamaa, Estonia. Other highlights in a year that started with a sold-out night at the Endla Jazz Club in Pärnu, Estonia were sets at the Mid Wales R&B Club in Brecon, UK (his first show in Wales!) with Dave Arcari, at the original Black Sabbath manager Jim Simpson's Henry's Blueshouse in Birmingham, UK, at the East Riding Theatre in Beverley, UK (Songlines review HERE!), at the Mittendrin in Baierbrunn, Germany (where he is set to return in April!) - and at a parliamentary reception at the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany.
"Royal Spa Blues - Live from Temperance" was released in February, attracting favourable press from Holland to Brazil. It was included among the Independent Blues Broadcasters Association's 'Album Picks of the Month' and subsequently reached #2 in the IBBA monthly airplay chart in the UK, also spending 2 months in the Top 20 of the Collectif des Radios Blues airplay chart in France. Blues in Britain covered the March launch show at Temperance with Dave Arcari in their May issue and in September, ran an additional joint interview with the two gentlemen. The live track "Tango Walk/Springtime Blues" appeared on RnR Magazine's July/August covermount CD, and the Blues in the South webzine put Mr. Roots on their cover in August - ahead of his second UK tour that took him to the South Coast of England. You can read that interview HERE!
In 2026, Andres Roots will be celebrating both his 50th birthday and his 30th anniversary as a performing artist, so there will be more than a few gigs - around Estonia and Finland, naturally, but also in Germany in April and in England in July. Check out the first confirmed stops in the schedule HERE! The first shows of the year will be at Sindi Seltsimaja on January 16th and at Võru Bluusiklubi on January 24th - but be advised that tickets for Andres Roots' March 23rd appearance in Tallinn's Esmaspäeva Jazz concert series are already available HERE.
A big thank you to all of you for your continued support - Happy Holidays & a Better New Year to everyone!
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Photos by Peter Mirolo (Howth), Janine Escher (Berlin), Margaret McDonald, Leif Laaksonen and Siret Roots (the Blues in Britain story), and Paul Burgess (Beverley).
