} All Rights Reserved, Top 20 Blues, Rock And Roots Albums of 2020. But Copeland has recently turned forty and her voice shows all of the gravity and none of the rust of a blues elder statesman. A comprehensive rundown of the best guitarists of all time, featuring the trailblazers, the early innovators, the best jazz, rock, indie, blues, metal and acoustic players - and the top guitarists around today. It proves that, even when steeped in a century of tradition, the blues is as fresh as this mornings snow fall. Ruthie Foster website, Blues/rock ruler Tinsley Ellis continues his run as one of the most memorable guitarists and vocalists in the game on his new album Ice Cream In Hell on Alligator Records. I depend on you for my Blues recommendations and will go through all these albums. Indeed he sounds like he means everything. In terms of song quality, We Fly Free is uneven. My favorite on the list was Bless Your Heart. She'll be putting that back into action with live dates in her homeland next year . Review of Live At The Paramount Samantha Fish / Cassie Taylor / Dani Wilde. British blues artists list, with photos, ranked best to worst by votes. One of the few successful bands also headlined by a famous actor, i.e. And weve deliberately chosen not to suffix that with for his age. He's appeared and recorded with major artists including B.B. As a young kid, he starred in Andrew Lloyd Webbers West End production of School of Rock, and went viral after bringing the house down at BB Kings Beale Street Blues club aged just 10. Vote for the best artists to see them graduate to the top of the list. The list includes all new british blues bands, and if there are any missing on the list, you can always add them yourself. This isnt something for a listener seeking a lightweight piece of pop fluff. This list is in no particular order. In October, Erja also took part in our Virtual Guitar Show, breaking down some of the songs from her back catalogue and showing us her rig . Meanwhile the stunning ballad Crying guitar features as gentle and warm a touch as its descriptive title would imply. The albums closer, Rock and Roll for the soul is just that. Containment Blues features Gomes whiskey soaked vocals, rock swagger, and growling guitar with more of a blues/roots flavor than previous releases. Standouts include the plaintive Cant Start Over Again (with Jeff Beck) and What if I Told You (with Samantha Fish). When Rivers Meet website, Expanding on Marcus Kings Southern soul, rock and blues sound, El Dorado is Kings first solo album, produced by Black Keyes guitarist Dan Auerbach, out on Fantasy Records. Don't miss the latest deals, news, reviews, features and tutorials. Landreth is perhaps the most identifiable guitarist in American music and routinely melds blues, rock, swamp, and singer-songwriter DNA into one of the few truly original styles in the roots music world. Eric Clapton. A portrait of Peter Green, guitarist and co-founder of rock band Fleetwood Mac, c. 1968. This is double-strength blues/rock that will cure what ails you. If you're not a fan of John Mayall or Ten Years After, then vote those down so that the list takes your preferences into account. Marcus King and his band have a gritty quality that many younger players seem to lack when they enter the world of the blues. Lets just hope some younger fans can give My Blues Pathway a listen and learn the same lesson from him. We also learn that the wounds of his upbringing, far from killing his spirit, has fueled it. The players who transcended 2020's lockdown blues. Marcus King website, Mike Zito and his smoking band tracked Quarantine Blues while actually in quarantine at the beginning of the pandemic. Struggle for Grace offers the best showcase of the bluesmans pipes, demonstrating his range, his power and his warmth. Bryant is a rhythm and blues singer who doesnt leave the blues behind. Through All My Dues are Paid we learn of Beys humble and hurtful beginnings as a poor and black young man raised in the Jim Crow south. Will Johns is one of those artists that can take all the known elements of blues and rock, understand them, respect them, and then apply his own creativity to uplift them. Put simply, Johns has bags of personality, and thats a weighty currency. You can only vote once on this list. Anyone searching for the singers best work should remain in the realm of mainstream pop. For now, add every one of these albums to your listening rotation. We dont expect youll need a full-blown introduction to the guitarist and songwriter who gifted the world Bridge of Sighs over 40 years ago, but you might not be quite as familiar with his more recent material. Son of Dave, or Benjamin Darvill as his mother named him, in fact hails from Winnipeg, Canada. These are truly the greatest british blues bands of all time, since the most famous british blues artists ever are listed, and the order is decided by actual fans of the best british blues music. With an underpinning of traditional blues and classic rock, their album We Fly Free boasts a genuine, gritty sound with a vintage vibe. Until rudely interrupted by the global pandemic, Shaw Taylors touring schedule was one of the most tireless in the business, and her gutsy guitar playing and husky vocals are best appreciated live on stage. callback: cb The Album sizzles most when it charges at full-speed, keeping up with rock and soul, but never leaving the blues behind. At just 17 years old, Toby Lee has already packed tonnes into his musical career. All the top british blues bands named on the list also have discographies on their pages if you click on the british blues band names themselves. Great list! Review of Blues With Friends Their two core members are the Leto brothers Jared and Shannon, though they've had many personnel changes. The sound of hot valves and Strat single coils that characterised his sound early on is still very much his calling card, and its a reminder to all those starting out on the well-trodden path that cultivating your sound is far more valuable in the long run than reproducing the tones and licks of those who have come before no matter how accurately you might be able to do so. Review of Ice Cream In Hell Robert Cray is a name and a sound well known to any true lover of the blues. 4,259 votes. All rights reserved. Big riffs and anthemic choruses are very much the order of the day here. Having taken cues from the likes of John Lee Hooker and Little Feats Lowell George, his guitar playing also resonates with an untamed intensity. In times like these, its vital to get the occasional reminder of how fun the blues can be. The set comes across as a tribute to and a step forward from some of the most important rock music to ever hit a microphone and proves that new, meaningful guitar music is still being made. Kingfish is a player who inspires while simultaneously makes us want to give up the Clarksdale-born sensation is just on that higher blues plain that few can ever ascend to. ABOUT THE AWARDS READ THE RULES THE 2023 FINALISTS NOW LIVE This is the sound that inspired him as a young man and has informed his musical journey from then until now. MusicRadar is the number 1 website for music makers of all kinds, be they guitarists, drummers, keyboard players, djs or producers MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The harmonies on this album are part of the bands signature sound, along with well-crafted songs and outstanding musicianship. 1967 - by Colin Cooper, Pete Haycock, Derek Holt, Richard Jones, George Newsome and Arthur Wood. Theres so much energy and life to Bernard Allison and his crew of A-list band of musicians on this album that highlights some of his best cuts from several of his albums. Born in Michigan in 1946, Lavettes vocal stylings owe as much to mainstream R&B that the blues, but her sweet, silky voice belongs as much in this genre as her harder-edged sisters. If not, you may want to stay away. British husband and wife duo When Rivers Meet have been riding high since they cleaned up at the 2021 UKBlues Awards, taking home four trophies in one night. But the title track isnt one of them. There's the jazz end of the blues; folk blues; blues rock; straight forward, honest to goodness, down home blues; Chicago blues; British blues; country blues; as well as white men. Savoy Brown. When Rivers Meet Great guitar blues with exemplary craft. Their notable 2010s albums have been This is War, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, and America. Songs like Battleground and what seems to be a Hendrix tribute Kissing the Sky bustle with speaker-rattling vigor, but others simply dont. Songs from the Road will make a believer of you. And he's there at only 21 years of age. Romance in the Dark is as erotic and romantic as its title suggests while also containing a slice of bitterness. Review of The New World Blues Since then, his YouTube channel has amassed millions of views, hes shared The Royal Albert Halls stage with Joe Bonamassa and been invited to join the Gibson Alliance a select group of musicians chosen to help shape the future of Gibson Guitars. 41. In 2020, Robert Cray sounds as much like Robert Cray as he did in 1990. Inspired by the current pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, its actually, an upbeat plea for us all to calm the hell down and have a little faith/ in the human race.. If you are a WordPress user with administrative privileges on this site, please enter your email address in the box below and click "Send". Joe Bonamassa website, Grammy nominated roots/rock duo Larkin Poe released Self Made Man on their Tricki Woo Records and it rocks with powerful vocals, guitar and lap steel riffs, and a roaring rhythm section. Page 2 of 11: The best blues guitarists of all time Intro + best rock guitarists The best blues guitarists of all time Early innovators Keri Leigh - Vocals and Percussion. Altogether, Stand Up compares with the best work of the late Amy Winehouse. The legendary Dan Erlewine, luthier Gene Imbody and Berklees Tomo Fujita have shot a 6-point lesson video to help. Armed with a loop station, a briefcase full of harps and a bag of slightly homemade looking percussion instruments, Son of Dave is a one-man blues explosion. window.mc4wp.listeners.push( I purposely left off widely celebrated names such as Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, John Mayall, and more. The clever Phone Zombies is as brilliant and funny as the blues can get, while also commenting on the contemporary world in a way that few blues song do. Another touching example is Black Lives Matter.. If theres a finer blues harpist around these days, he or she must be well-hidden. listeners: [], callback: cb (1) Black Cat Bones was a British heavy blues rock group from London. Young sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell seem to be on a mission to revive lagging mainstream popularity of the acoustic blues by performing mostly recent pop and rock hits. Hope these guys continue their stellar start to their career. British husband and wife duo When Rivers Meet have been riding high since they cleaned up at the 2021 UKBlues Awards, taking home four trophies in one night. He spent many years backing up classic rock legend Alan Parsons but Greenes time to shine on his own has most definitely arrived. If youve got a younger blues fan with birthday coming soon, Stand Up would make a lovely gift. While the cities and shires of the British Isles might not hold quite the same mythological status as iconic blues breeding grounds like Mississippi, Chicago or Memphis, theres no denying that theres a lot of talent in the UK right now. And a damn tasty one at that. Thats a great thing, something we are all grateful for. After all, what could be more heartbreaking than a man facing the demise of his car. Walter Trout website, Guitar Superman Joe Bonamassa pays tribute to his British blues/rock heroes Jeff Beck, John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, and Cream on his epically cool record Royal Tea. Song Starter Kit: Roll With the Punches from Roll With the Punches, Mojo Fix from Mojo Fix, Blues At My Window from Money Dont Matter. Info-video Albert Castiglia website, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame guitarist Elvin Bishop and Grammy-winning harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite conspire as an awesome blues duo on their new album 100 Years of Blues on Alligator Records. Absorb every note and become part of the movement. Kyla Brox Hats off to a all that made a well put together list of Artists Congrats to Anthony Gomes once again Blues Rock at its best !!!! A strong opening track has a way of steamrolling the listener into submission. A contemporary exploration of Southern R&B, Country-soul, blues/rock and blues, El Dorado established King as one of the most soulful voices of his generation. The hard-hitting Lookout man best demonstrates how heavily the guitar hero can rock while still remaining true to the blues world. All the while Fish retains the blues' storytelling power, rooting her sound in the blues tradition while imagining it anew. on: function(evt, cb) { Blues With Friends boasts 12 tracks of strong songwriting, musical depth and mastery, along with Dions smooth vocals and skillful craft of blues. Joe shares some of his finest blues licks (opens in new tab). Along the way there was another Epiphone signature model, producing Eric Gales' forthcoming studio album, a film about his own remarkable career and Joe has even reversed roles to great effect interviewing his peers in the Live From Nerdville series (check it out here (opens in new tab) it's great). Picking standout tracks is tricky. With a killer voice, Grace rocks the 12 tracks, along with Aarons rich vocals and monster guitar riffs. One of the very finest slide guitar players the UK has to offer, Martin Harley has been releasing music for 20 years and is a virtuoso in both laid back acoustic Weissenborn and fiery electric styles. This list answers the questions "who are the best british blues bands of all time?" Adept at acoustic and electric styles, he imparts a natural, unlaboured charm to his guitar playing, and hes been blessed with an innate gift for storytelling that allows him to side-step lyrical cliches at every turn. event : evt, And its hard to think of a more powerful opener than Bobby Rushs Shake it for Me. Nearing his 90th birthday, the Louisiana-natives voice and guitar have never sounded bolder and more vibrant. A vintage party that evokes the kind of old-school shindig where you could picture James Dean cutting the rug with Marilyn Monroe. Recorded in Memphis by the Idaho born and bred Nemeth, Stronger than Strong engages the listener for all the reasons any great blues album engage the fans. Platypus Dipster may be the albums best track and the strangest. A toe-tapper that puts Johnsons guitar skills on vivid display with raucous rock and roll that doesnt leave the blues behind. Hometown: Seattle, Washington. A great slice of blues rock that also has a touch of gospel here and a touch of soul there. } But then again, strange is a word the listener would likely use a lot when describing Fantasic Negrito. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. All Rights Reserved, Best of British: 15 UK Blues Artists to Check Out Today. Chris Smither may have a better album in him yet, but thats hard to imagine. Mike Zito website, Nine-time Blues Music Award winner and three-time Grammy nominee Ruthie Foster puts her big-league vocals into a brass-heavy big band setting on Live At The Paramount. Robert Jon & The Wreck website, Slide guitar magic man Sonny Landreth lays it all on us on his 2020 record Black Top Run, a wonderful set of music released by Provogue/Mascot Label Group. Plan to check out We Fly Free and One Shot also. The event will be hosted by Paul Jones and will feature music from no less than 4 of the finalists in various categories of the Awards. 40 years in the blues business have only made Ellis better and more eloquent, which rocks because he obviously still has a lot to say. The Blues Band was credited with kicking off a second blues boom in Britain, which by the 90s led to festivals all around the country, including The Swanage Blues Festival, The Burnley National Blues Festival, The Gloucester Blues and Heritage Festival and The Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival at Colne. BA1 1UA. You introduced me to Larkin Poe and Marcus King off your list, this year, which were two great adds. Lincolnshires Jack Broadbent honed his craft by playing at open mic nights and busking on city streets. Did we forget to mention that hes Eric Claptons nephew? Perhaps you didnt review John Nemeths new Stronger Than Strong album. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); (function() { An antidote to the overly-polished, overly-produced blues pop that sometimes drifts into the charts but never sticks around for too long, Broadbents vocals are full of natural, gritty charm. While comparisons to Irelands wild man of the blues, Rory Gallagher, are somewhat inevitable, Martins sound is far from derivative. Fronted by the American radio and TV personality Robert "Sully" Sullivan and consisting of a host of seasoned musicians including bassist James East who has worked with some of the best including Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson and Elton John. He is the only three-time inductee. Their fifth studio album, the songs are intense and moody with hints of the Delta. A truly memorable effort. Born in the unlikely city of Paris, France at a time (1965) when the blues seemed to be in commercial decline, Bernard Allison may not have been the blues hero we were expecting, but if his latest album is any indication, hes on a mission to prove himself capable of the job. Broadbents party trick is playing slide with a beat up hip flask, and it doesnt take too much imagination to figure out which creative stimulant likely played a big part in perfecting that skill. [38] The same could be said of Watch Your Back, a darker form of satire than Zombies, but also clever and salient enough to the album the color it needs. Review of Self Made Man Foster soars above her own lofty standards with the big band behind her and showcases the finest female voice in todays roots music scene. Its refreshing to see these instruments sprung from the confines of folk music and given some rock n roll treatment. With the world of contemporary blues so dominated by guitar heroes (and to a lesser extend harmonica stars) its good to be reminded how expressive a blues instrument the piano can be with the right pianist at the helm. If you like to wash your rock n roll down with just a swig of blues, then youre probably going to dig these guys. If available, you can also see information about where all british blues bands on this list got started. The best rock guitarists in the world right now, as voted by you. Congratulations to all of these fine rocking blues musicians! Forced to cancel or postpone extensive touring plans before she could return with socially distanced shows, the inspirational Samatha Fish adapted, playing weekly Facebook live performances from home for fans. Larkin Poe have developed a slide blues sound that takes classic values forward without falling down intro the retro traps so many others have. Their cover of the Phil Colins 80s hit In the Air Tonight will bring a rattle to your bone, but so will almost everything here. It finds her making John Mayer (opens in new tab)'s Slow Dancing In A Burning Room and Rag N' Bone Man's Human her own, alongside the new song Here Comes The Flood that's sure to transfer well when she returns to the stage. Whether hes playing solo with nothing but his lungs and a road worn Resophonic guitar for amplification or backed by the slightly unusual arrangement of a double bassist and a duo of percussionists, the King Size Slim sound is all about rhythm and groove. Among the albums best tracks are the Howling Wolf cover Smokestack Lightening and the surprisingly sensitive Honey Bee, Sail on. For the Bobby Rush fan Rawer than Raw is essential. Half I knew, and half I didntyet! Le Live de Royal Tea est superieur au cd d Abbey Road . })(); 2023. Rock and Blues Muse, LLC. Lady Day and John Coltrane pays homage to a pair of jazz greats in the most stylish way imaginable, combing jazz and the blues with a maturity you may have forgotten was possible in the blues. If you buy it, enjoy at its best, but prepare for a release that doesnt always stay there. Song Starter Kit: Bluesdaddy from Bluesdaddy, Never Rains from Hooks & Lines, Last Page from Something Old, Something New. Comparable to the bouncy energy of the John Butler Trio or Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals, Wille and the Bandits draw upon a whole world of influences. These artists/bands are in no particular order. . If you enjoy our site, you can help with a small donation. Boy Sit Down is very much a stand-out track with Change with the Time coming in a close second. JOHN PRIMER & BOB CORRITORE -THE GYPSY WOMAN TOLD ME, VICTOR WAINRIGHT AND THE TRAIN - MEMPHIS LOUD, ELVIN BISHOP & CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE 100 YEARS OF THE BLUES, JOHNSON JEREMIAH - UNEMPLOYED HIGHLY ANNOYED. We do not believe there is a best or least best. Martin Harley Dont miss the passages where Grace plays slide mandolin. 2021 saw Lee release his first full-length album and his vocal capabilities, although perhaps not as developed as his playing, stand him in good stead for a long career ahead as a killer frontman. If ever there was a bluesman suited for a bare bones recording style, it is Rush. Kindred Spirits may be a mixed bag for the fan of traditional blues, but for the fan ready to welcome a new approach, this album is an early Christmas present. You make it easier to keep track of all the new music by established and new artists. Ordinary Madness may well be five-decade blues/rock survivor Walter Trouts finest recorded hour. This is the voice that couldnt give witness to a lie if Smither wanted it to. Here are the blues players you choose as 2020's standouts. Blacktop Run is a much better album than it might have been years earlier. Review of Last Light On The Highway These guys are the real thing. Led by the illustrious Kim Simmonds on vocals, guitar and harmonica, Savoy Brown began in London 55 years ago and now based in New York. Rhode Island isnt typically thought of a hotbed of the blues, but the strong presence of Roomful of Blues, a revival jazz/blues band plants a giant feather in the cap of Americas tiniest state. That brings us to his latest offering Thats What I Heard. Review of El Dorado Even at his advanced age, he needs little to no enhancement to his sound to shine. Think of her as a softer, more intimate Etta James. More surprisingly, the rest of the album sways just as sweetly and gallops just as hard. All important, significant and iconic names in british blues music history deserve your votes, so make sure to choose wisely. It features a good man feeling bad and sharing his anguish through both vocals and his harmonica. Uncivil War would not have been possible by a less time-tested voice. Nice List, but I think you are missing the latest from This set of 10 originals penned by Simmonds, is energetic blues with spirit and vitality plus serious guitar chops. English blues band, Savoy Brown has been proving this belief wrong since the mid-sixties. Theres gusto and redemption on One Shot, with Jackaman channeling anguish and grit into bold, swinging tunes. Why release one album in 2020 when you can put out two? Standout tracks include the soulful B.B. Having gained a sturdy online following during lockdown, the dedication of When Rivers Meets fans has recently been proven in the real world as theyve played a string of jam-packed venues on their first ever UK headline tour. The Finnish blues supremo didn't let lockdown keep her down; she even released a Lockdown Live album from her rooftop show in Kuopio in June. Joined by long-time band mates, Pat DeSalvo and Garnet Grimm, Aint Done Yet features well-crafted tracks with catchy hooks, Simmonds smooth vocals, and a band thats as tight as it can be. Charlie Musselwhite website, Alastair Greenes 2020 effort The New World Blues on Tab Benoits Whiskey Bayou Records is a stripped-down blast of live-in-the-studio blues/rock built on grit, soul, and first takes. It looks like Gibson is going to start selling vintage guitars including a '59 Les Paul Burst, Damon Albarn reveals that the beat from one of Gorillaz best-loved songs was an Omnichord loop preset, "We are changing vintage guitar collecting forever": Gibson officially launches Certified Vintage program, Deadmau5 delivers his verdict on AI music production: Its scary in the sense of how stupid music already is anyway, Antares unveils an Auto-Tune Vocal Compressor plugin that uses machine learning to choose optimum settings, Confused about setting up your guitar? Although Wilsons voice is the albums centerpiece the finest track Strollin satisfies most when it allows his harmonica to do the singing. List includes The Yardbirds, Eric Burdon & the Animals, more. Pushing boundaries, Self Made Man sees sister Rebecca and Megan Lovell sourcing their American Southern heritage, with their own modern day depiction of blues-based roots/rock in the 11 tracks.
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