No Border Blues

Konstantin Kovalev emigrated from Russia to Helsinki a decade ago and made himself an indispensible figure in the stylish retro blues scene there with his first band The Firebugs. His latest project is a long-term labor of love: eight neo-soul tunes meticulously crafted over years, recorded all-analog at the well-known Finnish guitarist Tomi Leino's studio. As they wrote on their Bandcamp site: "We began our musical journey in 2012 and after playing different types of venues for 9 years, several years of exploring the world of 40's-50's blues and r/n/b and finally settled for 60's soul/blues sound influenced by the likes of Bobby Bland, James Carr, Isaac Hayes and The Miracles." Follow this young soul band on Bandcamp, Youtube and hear for yourself.

Take a blues journey with No Border Blues, the only blues podcast focused on international blues artists and hidden blues scenes around the world. Delmark recording artist Johnny Burgin and producer Stephanie Tice shine a spotlight on notable international blues performers, discuss the blues scenes in their home countries, and present intimate and exclusive musical performances. Stef couldn't make this interview, sorry!-- but she will be back in the next episode. Sponsored by Chicago Blues Network, bringing Chicago Blues to the world. noborderblues.com - chicagobluesnetwork.com - johnnyburgin.com

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LITTLE HAT is not a person, it's a band from The Netherlands that plays a their own furious and raw version of blues and early rock 'n' roll. Like kindred spirits Jesus on a Tortilla from Milan (see No Border Blues #3), they are inspired by the deep cuts of obscure blues pioneers such as Joe Hill Louis and Sunnyland Slim, but play with a heaping dose of frantic energy. Little Hat employs the rare trio instrumentation of harmonica /vocals (Machiel Meijers), guitar (Willem van Dullemen) and drums (Paolo de Stitger). Little Hat is also intergenerational: Paolo's in his 20s, Machiel's not yet 40, and Willem recently turned 70! Machiel and Willem were in the long-running and popular Dutch blues band Stackhouse, but they are finding a new freedom with the "three-man-one-man-band" approach of Little Hat. Sometimes it sounds to me like Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers with harmonica! Little Victor, who we've interviewed in Episode 14, produced Little Hat's latest CD "Wine, Whiskey and Wimmen" for the German label Rhythm Bomb Records. The purity of their vintage tones together with the forceful sonic attack of the recording proves this to be a fruitful pairing. You can find out more, and purchase their CD, at www.littlehatband.com.

Take a blues journey with No Border Blues, the only blues podcast focused on international blues artists and hidden blues scenes around the world. Delmark recording artist Johnny Burgin and producer Stephanie Tice shine a spotlight on notable international blues performers, discuss the blues scenes in their home countries, and present intimate and exclusive musical performances. Stef couldn't make this interview, sorry!-- but she will be back in the next episode. Sponsored by Chicago Blues Network, bringing Chicago Blues to the world. noborderblues.com - chicagobluesnetwork.com - johnnyburgin.com

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German blues guitarist and singer Kai Strauss sits down with No Border Blues hosts Johnny Burgin and Stephanie Tice to discuss his new CD, "In My Prime", the German blues scenes, and some highlights from his career. He's won many German blues awards and in between tours has hosted the longest-running blues jam in Germany, over thirty years!

Take a blues journey with No Border Blues, the only blues podcast focused on international blues artists and hidden blues scenes around the world. Delmark recording artist Johnny Burgin and producer Stephanie Tice shine a spotlight on notable international blues performers, discuss the blues scenes in their home countries, and present intimate and exclusive musical performances. Sponsored by Chicago Blues Network, bringing Chicago Blues to the world. noborderblues.com - chicagobluesnetwork.com - johnnyburgin.com

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Arinjoy Sarkar is a up-and-coming guitarist and singer from Kolkata, India. The Arinjoy Trio features Sounak Roy on drums and Aakash Ganguly on bass; they self-released "The Arinjoy Trio" in 2019, won an all-India band hunt contest in 2018, and on the strength of that they were invited to perform at the Mahindra Blues Festival in 2018 and 2019. In 2020 Arinjoy performed at Mahindra in a pan-Indian all-star group-- "The Homegrown Blues Collective". Arinjoy is endorsed by Fender India and was recently featured in Rolling Stone India. Currently the trio is working on a second release and their goal is to tour in Europe and the US. Arinjoy and his trio approach the blues seriously-- with very few local peers or mentors, and in a country with very few blues performances and venues, they have managed to both educate themselves about the blues and to perform the blues with soul.

Take a blues journey with No Border Blues, the only blues podcast focused on international blues artists and hidden blues scenes around the world. Delmark recording artist Johnny Burgin and producer Stephanie Tice shine a spotlight on notable international blues performers, discuss the blues scenes in their home countries, and present intimate and exclusive musical performances. Stef couldn't make this interview, sorry!-- but she will be back in the next episdoe. Sponsored by Chicago Blues Network, bringing Chicago Blues to the world. noborderblues.com - chicagobluesnetwork.com - johnnyburgin.com

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For the last 18 years, Netto Rockefeller's been working with his own band, running the Blue Crawfish record label, and touring with US and European musicians in Brasil such as Willie Buck, Tail Dragger, Lazy Lester, Johnny Nicholas, Quique Gomez, Wallace Coleman, and Steve Guyger, just to name a few. He was inspired as a teenager by Brazil's most successful blues band, Blues Estilicos. Netto describes the communal spirit of Brazil's blues scene, being mentored by Flávio Guimarães and other older Brazilian blues musicians. His ninth CD, The Latin American Mojo Style of Netto Rockfeller, was his first one to be recorded in the US (at Kid Andersen's famed studio Greaseland in San Jose CA), and features John Blues Boyd, Whitney Shay, Kid Andersen, Jim Pugh and June Core. As the title indicates, it's an upbeat CD with both Latin American and straight ahead American blues sensibilities, featuring songs sung in Portuguese and a cover of a Los Pakines hit (Peru's answer to The Shadows). Netto talked to us from his studio at Blue Crawfish records in São Carlos Do Pinhal, Brazil.

Take a blues journey with No Border Blues, the only blues podcast focused on international blues artists and hidden blues scenes around the world. Delmark recording artist Johnny Burgin and producer Stephanie Tice shine a spotlight on notable international blues performers, discuss the blues scenes in their home countries, and present intimate and exclusive musical performances. Stef couldn't make this interview, sorry!-- but she will be back in the next episdoe. Sponsored by Chicago Blues Network, bringing Chicago Blues to the world. chicagobluesnetwork.com - johnnyburgin.com

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Little Victor was raised in Italy and Memphis and was dubbed "The Beale Street Blues Bopper" by his cousin-- the avant garde-blues filmmaker, producer and performer Tav Falco. While in Memphis, his uncle, noted blues writer David Evans and family friend Alex Chilton also encouraged the young Victor, who was already playing harp and singing, to pick up the guitar. He was soon performing weekly on Beale Street with Uncle Ben Perry. With influences such as these it's no wonder Little Victor is deeply rooted in traditional blues sounds, but also has a fiercely independent artistic sense of purpose. He's made several of his own records for Wild Records, El Toro records, and Germany's Rhythm Bomb records, and his most recent effort, "Deluxe Lo-Fi" features Kim Wilson, Carl Sonny Leyland, Big John Atkinson, Willie Buck, and Tomi Leino and Jo Buddy from Finland. Victor is probably best known for his long and successful association with Louisiana Red and the significant crossover success of their "Back to the Black Bayou", on Ruf Records. They worked closely together until Red's passing in 2012-- check out Victor's emotional performance in this video of his original "The Death of Louisiana Red". In the last several years, Victor has used his strong musical vision to produce artists such as The Jelly Roll Men (see NBB Episode 7), Shakedown Tim (see NBB episode 11), Sophie Kay of Paris, Harpdog Brown of Canada, Mo Al Jazz of France, Little Hat of the Netherlands and many others.

Take a blues journey with No Border Blues, the only blues podcast focused on international blues artists and hidden blues scenes around the world. Delmark recording artist Johnny Burgin and producer Stephanie Tice shine a spotlight on notable international blues performers, discuss the blues scenes in their home countries, and present intimate and exclusive musical performances. Stef couldn't make this interview, sorry!-- but she will be back in the next episdoe. Sponsored by Chicago Blues Network, bringing Chicago Blues to the world. noborderblues.com - chicagobluesnetwork.com - johnnyburgin.com

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Vocalist and guitarist Leo Parra Castillo and guitarist Luis Alejandro Silva delved into American music abroad: Leo in Buenos Aires and Luis in New York City. Now they are slowly but surely starting a traditional blues scene in Bogotá, Columbia, from scratch.

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No Border Blues Episode 7 features The Jelly Roll Men from Norway, a band that's a labor of love for the greatest era of Chicago blues-- the late 40s and early 50s. Singer and harp player Kent Erik Thorvaldsen and guitarist and brother Tomas Thorvaldsen tell the story of their trip to Memphis in 2019. They made it to the semi-finals of the IBCs representing the Oslo Blues Society, but their trip to the IBCs was less about their career and more about an emotional pilgrimage to the American South. They immersed themselves in Southern blues culture during their trip, and even spent two days trying to find (and finally finding) the secluded grave of Delta bluesman Willie Brown. Their debut CD, Jelly Roll Shuffle, was produced by purist fellow-traveler Little Victor and was released on the German rockabilly/roots label Rhythm Bomb Records. Catch up with the Jelly Roll Men here: http://www.rhythmbomb.com/the-jelly-roll-men/ and follow them on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2ovstQJh073IwC83RaNh4x?si=hOLYhJv3RlOgx2qkJLa6aw

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No Border Blues Episode 6: recorded on November 24, 2020, features Ghalia Volt, whose rock-n-roll attitude and Mississippi hill country-inspired playing makes her stand out from the crowd. In just a few short years, she's progressed from busking on the streets of her native Brussels to seeing her third CD, Ruf Record's "Mississippi Blend", hit #3 on the Billboard Blues Charts. Now living in New Orleans, she had a very busy international touring schedule pre-covid. In recent months, she took a cross-country train trip and wrote the songs for her upcoming record, "One Woman Band".  Ghalia even found the time to post a charming video duo series-- "Blues N Roll"-- with artists such as Mike Welch, Lucius Spiller, Chris Cain, and even yours truly!  Ghalia's impish spirit, charisma, catchy and clever songs and lyrics, and her drive for on-stage excellence make her an artist whose time has come.

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