Andres Roots Roundabout (ESTONIA)
Leigh's Spider Jam
RAR1102
© Roots Art Records 2011
Andres Roots (EST) - acoustic, resophonic & electric guitars
Martin Eessalu (EST) - electric guitar, 6-string banjo
Raul Terep (EST) - drums
Indrek Tiisel (EST) - harmonica
L.R.Phoenix (UK/FIN) - vocals
Ahti Bachblum (EST) - piano, organ
Bert Deivert (USA/SWE) - mandolin
Hanno Maadra (EST) - orchestration
Asko-Romé Altsoo (EST) - orchestration
Leigh's Spider Jam" by Andres Roots Roundabout includes four songs, four jams and one instrumental composition. Slide guitarists Andres Roots and Martin Eessalu are joined here by the best-known Estonian blues harpist Indrek Tiisel and long-time Bullfrog Brown drummer Raul Terep to create 35 minutes of 21st century blues - with L.R.Phoenix on vocals, Ahti Bachblum on keys, Bert Deivert on mandolin and Hanno Maadra and Asko-Romé Altsoo adding strings and orchestration to a remake of an early Bullfrog ballad.
"Roots Blues of the highest order." - Nathan Nörgel, Wasser-Prawda, Germany
"Completely authentic." - Raimu Hanson, Tartu Postimees, Estonia
"Movie music, singalongs, dark swampy blues? No problem for the man." Luc Meert, Review The Blues, Belgium
"Roots does a quality job as always." - Tõnis Erilaid, Õhtuleht, Estonia
Rated "one of the best six stringers in European blues" by Colombia's Historias del Blues and "a stylish and versatile writer" by Finland's Blues News magazine, the Estonian guitarist and songwriter Andres Roots was born in the U.S.S.R. in 1976 and played his first show in Denmark in 1995.
After stints in several award-winning college bands in Tartu, Estonia around the turn of the century, he co-founded Bullfrog Brown in 2003. Quickly earning cult status in their native country and securing airplay across five continents, the alt.blues trio went on to play hundreds of shows from the Baltics to the UK, sharing stages with the likes of Honeyboy Edwards, Deltahead and Gurf Morlix.
Roots' solo debut "Roundabout" was released in November 2010 and featured collaborations with Eric "Red Mouth" Gebhardt (USA), Bottleneck John (SWE), Dave Arcari (UK), Black River Bluesman (FIN) and World Harmonica Festival bronze '09 Jantso Jokelin (FIN). It produced three Top 3 hits for Estonian national TV’s "Eesti Top7" programme, including a #1 in "Redecoration Day", with two further tracks used for the soundtrack of a popular TV series.
Internationally, the album popped up in the top 10 of the monthly Powerblues chart, compiled by the French-speaking Blues Radio Society in France, and was declared "Best European Blues Album of the Year" by the Blues Underground Network in Canada. In Britain, Andres Roots was voted the 5th best international solo artist in Blues Matters magazine's Writers Poll 2011 in a tie with Mississippi legend Jimmy "Duck" Holmes and Finland's leading blues lady Erja Lyytinen.
For the album’s release night, Roots called upon two friends, his former guitar student Martin Eessalu and Tallinn harp legend Indrek Tiisel, to join him for a jam. Live footage of that performance ended up as Episode 1 of the "Folgikelder" music series on Tallinna TV and the band soon became known as Andres Roots Roundabout, with line-ups ranging from the core trio to multinational quintets.
New band album "Leigh's Spider Jam" was launched in August 2011 with 16 shows in 16 days, performed by five different line-ups in six different towns. The CD includes two live cuts from that first televised jam and seven studio tracks with Raul Terep on drums, Ahti Bachblum on keys, Leighton "L.R." Phoenix (UK/FIN) on vocals and a special guest appearance by Bert Deivert (USA/SWE) on mandolin.
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