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Blues Music Blog & Promotion

Ringing In My Ears: Wise Woman rises from the deep on Fen Woman

Posted on 28 February 2023

Taken from the recent 4-track EP called Thread, Wise Woman moves mountains and changes the oceans back to a captivating crystal blue on the rather wonderfully sweet new single Fen Woman.

Wise Woman is an East Anglian/ Welsh power-folk foursome who brings back that 90s girl vibrancy which will ignite the spirits within our deepest souls.

With a blend of folk, jazz and blues mixed with that creative musical theatre, Wise Woman takes us to the light and shows us what is possible if strong hearts can join together as one. This is a cinematic-like experience which might calm all fears away in just an instant, just like the truly world-class outfits do.

Fen Woman from East Anglian/ Welsh power-folk foursome Wise Woman is a special song which deserves all the love possible. Projected with so much love and fearlessness, we find a scintillating soundtrack to rise up from all depths. Layered rather expertly and features dynamic energy which will inspire us all to keep on flying upwards, no matter what obstacles are present.

Listen up on Spotify. View more on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Ariel Skye is a silver-screen sonic dream in her latest bluesy single, Bang Bang

Posted on 26 February 2023

With a prelude of Tarantino-Esque Gretsch-y guitar tones to bring in Ariel Skye’s gravelly demure timbre, the intro to her latest nostalgia-entrenched single, Bang Bang, is nothing short of beguiling.

Finding the middle ground between Angel Olsen and April March, Bang Bang is a sultry feat of bluesy mesmerism from the up-and-coming artist, who has made light work out of carving out a niche in the industry with her evocatively sharp distinction.

Ariel Skye may have only started her music writing venture in 2019, but the Blockbuster-worthy cinematic storytelling never alludes to how recently she has started to perfect her craft. Since making her debut, she has collaborated with some impressive names in the industry, including Jim Stephens and Shaun Martin. She has also toured across Philadelphia, New York and LA with her vulnerably enticing lyricality. We’re sure the best is yet to come for Skye.

Bang Bang is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mike Blue gazed into the twilight of the soul in his jazzy feat of soulful folk, Saphire

Posted on 24 February 2023
Mike Blue

The soulful rhythmicality of the folk singer-songwriter, Mike Blue’s latest single, Saphire, will tattoo itself to your memory from the first euphonically melodic meeting. As a departure from his previous sound, along with his band, Blue melded elements of blues, jazz, prog and rock to construct a track visceral in authenticity and sticky sweet in emotionally balanced sentimentality.

The first single taken from his forthcoming album, The Unbearable Weight of All Things Considered, stands as a soul-stirring testament to his ability to envelop you in the stories he eloquently weaves atop his acoustic guitar strings. The sax solos, which soar as high in the mix as the electric guitar riffs, amplify the intimacy of the lyrical expression while never compromising the resonant impact.

If the singer-songwriter was born decades ago when folk raconteurs were celebrated in modern culture, there would be few names as revered as Mike Blue. After the release of Saphire, the luminary artist will take his full band on tour across the UK, which also featured on the accordantly-bodied release that has the capacity to captivate a stadium.

Saphire will officially release on February 24th. Hear it via Mike Blue’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jason Graham grunged up blues in his viscerally heightened melodic alt-rock hit, Trust

Posted on 9 February 2023

Tucson, AZ born, New Orleans-based singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer Jason Graham added a refreshingly melodic vernacular to grunge with the bluesy standout single, Trust, taken from his LP, Soul for Sale.

With touches of Nine Inch Nails in the sporadically distorted vocals and Godsmack in the viscerally heightened outcries, which hammer home the intensity of the frustration stemming from dishonesty and deception, Trust amplifies the evocative immersivity with every high-gain progression.

The seamlessness of the tonal and vocal transitions stand as a monumental testament to Graham’s songwriting ability, which has already seen him go far in his career. The classic rock outro solo is yet another affirmation of his virtuosic flair that is nestled within his songwriting chops that are discernibly at the core of who he is as an artist.

Stream Trust, with the rest of Jason Graham’s LP, Soul for Sale, on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shake, Rattle and Roll Away the Blues with Mark Nunis’ Riotously Euphoric Jazz Infusion, I Don’t Mind It

Posted on 20 January 2023
Alrighty Then! by Mark Nunis

Melbourne songwriter Mark Nunis eked soul out of the ivories in his jazzy instrumental amalgam of blues, gospel, and New Orleans RnB in the standout single, I Don’t Mind It, taken from his solo album Alrighty Then!

With glitzy glissandos by the smorgasbord, smoky horn stabs, the percussive shake rattles and rolls, all topped off by the shimmering organ timbre, few will be immune to the vibrantly cultured euphoria in I Don’t Mind It.

The accoladed and accomplished multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer has toured the world with his superlatively sophisticated pianist skills and smooth vocals, which sadly you won’t get to hear on his new 9-track album. But when the instrumentals are as riotously enlivening as the ones barely sonically caged on his LP, words can go unspoken at no detriment to the multi-sensory experience that unfolds under the duress of his unparalleled artistic reverence.

I Don’t Mind It is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp. If you want to treat your sonic tastebuds to the LP, it will be available to stream in full from January 20th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Californian solo artist, Beau James Wilding, put the grit in folk with his reverently fervid single, SET MYSELF ON FIRE

Posted on 13 January 2023

With the choppy discord in the acoustic guitar strings against his gravelly punk blues vocals, the Californian solo artist, Beau James Wilding, orchestrated a roots rock masterpiece with his latest single, SET MYSELF ON FIRE.

We didn’t need his bio to inform us of his intense emotional relationship with sound and music. But learning that the relationship was strengthened after he was left legally blinded by a disease at eighteen made the fierily ardent passion in SET MYSELF ON FIRE burn with even more reverence.

Any fans of Dogs D’Amour and The Quireboys won’t want this fervidly impactful single to pass them by. The dark poetic imagery in the lyrics paired with the frenetic pace of the guitar rhythms that consume the instrumental arrangement with their ragged timbre is a sobering multisensory experience that reaches the pinnacle of gritty folk.

SET MYSELF ON FIRE will officially release on January 13th. Stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Terry Blade warns even unconditional love has its limits in his Country-Blues single, ‘Won’t Be Around’

Posted on 6 January 2023

Two-time recipient of the Global Music Awards, Terry Blade, lined himself up for more prestigious accolades by recording his latest single, Won’t Be Around. The stripped-back simmering melting pot of Gospel-Esque Soul, Blues and Country commands your adoration from the first gravelled in feisty-fervour vocal note.

From there on out, the lyrics compel you to take stock of the protagonists in your life as you’re reminded that unconditional love always has its limits. With his voice commanding the soundscape, which paid homage to the roots of Americana with the minimalistic trickle of bluesy keys and strummed acoustic guitar notes, you’re left with no option but to be arrested.

During his career, which sheds light on his experience as a black gay artist, Terry Blade has picked up over 40 awards, And something tells us his glory days are far from behind him.

Won’t Be Around will officially release on January 6th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Derek Vaden – Eating My Words: Blisteringly Hot Indie Blues Rock

Posted on 31 December 2022

The sex appeal isn’t the only thing that’s visceral in the swaggering alt-rock single, Eating My Words, from Derek Vaden’s 2022 EP, The Recreational Experiment. The Chicago-based musician and songwriter salaciously straddles the line between blues rock and indie to deliver a hard and heavy rhythmic revival; if Velvet Revolver and Muse had an aural lovechild, it would undoubtedly go under the moniker, Derek Vaden.

The winding blues rock increments are overdriven to the nth degree to give the riotous release anthemic appeal, but none of the vintage blues rock tones lost their bluesy bite. If anything, teeth have been sharpened in this confrontationally volatile release, which was written, performed, and recorded by Derek Vaden’s reverently rock n roll hands in his own studio.

Check out Eating My Words on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Square Pyramid sang the post-punk blues in their grungy hit, Run Down Dirty Soul

Posted on 26 December 2022

Taken from the eponymous debut album from Square Pyramid, the standout single, Run Down Dirty Soul, is a progressively exhilarating mash of era-spanning alternative culture. From post-punk to blues to grunge, it’s all on the table in this enlivening intrinsically originated hit that has what it takes to unite music scenes once and for all.

With atmospheric hints to Echo and the Bunnymen in the chorally cold rings of the guitars in the intro along with bluesy harmonica blasts before the track slams into a grungy revival of off-kilter alt-90s and college radio rock tones, clearly, each of the three members of Square Pyramid came to the outfit with their own influences and inclinations. And therein lies the blisteringly experimental alchemy within Run Down Dirty Soul. It is a sonic amalgamation that no other outfit has brought to the table.

There’s nothing quite like allowing multiple parts of your personality to meet each other in the space of one song, and that’s exactly what Run Down Dirty Soul achieved for me.

Check out Run Down Dirty Soul on Apple Music and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

What it means to be lost: Jamos Blood – Flesh and Back to Bone

Posted on 25 December 2022

Jamos Blood sludged up blues-rock in the standout single, Flesh and Back to Bone, from his debut EP, Blood Brothers, which delivers swampy riffs, train track rhythms and a sense of ennui that cries out to the disenfranchised by uncertain futures masses.

“Gonna walk my dog til he don’t walk no more” beautifully and sentimentally encompasses the notion that everything is fleeting in a cruel world which pulls away every anchor, eventually.

The EP was recorded with Blood’s late brother, Clayton, which puts even more context behind the titular disposition and the themes of love and loss that will wash with any Waits and Petty fans.

As someone who is no stranger to grief, it was all too easy to connect with Jamos Blood’s psyche in Flesh and Back to Bone. The sense of lost listlessness with splinters of optimism that can often feel naïve was captured with such finesse in the roots-driven rock hit it is easy to view Jamos Blood as one of the most important voices of our era.

Flesh and Back to Bone is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast