Blues Rock

When it comes to one-man bands, guitarist and singer extraordinaire Steve Hill has no limits. Anything goes. He is the true exponent of a one-man band. Steve performs standing up while singing and playing guitar, his feet playing bass drum, snare drum, hi-hats and with a drum stick fused to the head of his trusty guitar, any other percussion within reach.

After the international success of their first album the second one named „Diesel Rock“ shows even more spice and refinement. The lyrics continue the narrative threat and life is really pulsating within. Some songs to heat up, and when there’s enough tension, the concert ignites itself. Simply Diesel Rock or if you want blues-rock with a touch of funk. Their first album had a great response in the English speaking regions, with lots of Airplay in the USA, position 3 in the countdown of Radio Caroline and praise by the journal Blues Matters from the UK. Their concerts are the finest, be it in a club or on the stage of a festival. Willy Matt possesses the charm of a man, who hasn’t forgotten how to laugh despite all the blues lived. Shrewd he lights his cigar, and smokes it while playing guitar and singing at the same time.

Awesome fourth studio disc by killer blues/rock axeslinger Xavier Vargas and his outstanding Vargas Blues Band, features 15 songs (79 minutes) of phenomenal, top-shelf, world-class, dynamic, powerful blues/rock riffage of the highest order. Texas Tango is a classic modern day bluesy heavy guitar masterpiece. Re-Mastered Re-issue disc with two unreleased Bonus Tracks. Xavier Vargas is an amazing gifted blues/rock axemaster and is Spain's #1 guitar hero and answer to S.R.V. (that is meant as no disrespect to the late, great man). Believe it or not, he is legitimately that good. Xavier's playing is rite up there with the best of them. When you hear the Texas Tango disc you'll wonder why you've never heard of him until now.

Outstanding 5th studio disc by this awesome blues/rock guitar axeslinger from Indiana. Featuring 12 tracks of top-shelf, world-class, powerful, dynamic, ass-kickin', blues-based guitar rock excellence that lands down hard between a rock and a blues place. Combining strong songs and amazing musicianship, complete with an excellent sonic production, it all adds up to create an incredible, sophisticated, memorable blues/rock guitar experience. Jay Jesse Johnson is a true modern day guitar hero whose bad-ass six string playing skills are through the jam:house roof. Combining amazing technique with feel, killer tones to die for and drawing from excellent vintage musical influences/inspirations, Triple J has created his own stand-out voice on the instrument.

Rendezvous With the Blues marks another step in the normalization of Melvin Taylor. With Lucky Peterson on keyboards, Taylor is much more the featured lead guitarist in a straight-band context that too often finds him fighting for room to move in the full arrangements. He takes a jazzy lead on the opening "Coming Home Baby," but that runs counter to the measured, mid-tempo groove that dominates the first three tracks and seems like a move to court the contemporary rock-blues audience. So does some of the material – no originals, with ZZ Top, Stephen Stills, and Carlos Santana's tribute to John Lee Hooker in the songwriter credits on one side and Charles Singleton and Prince for contemporary black funk/rock relevance on the other. Horns kick in to punctuate the slinky, clavinet-anchored funk on "I'm the Man Down There," but Taylor's solo gets cluttered up by a duel with Peterson (on guitar here). Taylor is better-served when he escapes the rock beat straitjacket on "Tribute to John Lee Hooker" – the Latin-tinged rhythms give his guitar more freedom to float and sting.

Rick Derringer tried a variety of different things in the 1980s, '90s, and 2000s. The singer/guitarist recorded his share of middle of the road pop/rock and adult contemporary albums, and he even recorded an instrumental jazz-pop/smooth jazz album that had George Benson-ish leanings (2002's Free Ride). But Derringer, who turned 61 in 2008, has a way of going back to blues-rock and hard rock – which is exactly what he does on Knighted by the Blues. Granted, this 2009 release wasn't recorded with blues purists in mind; not everything on Knighted by the Blues adheres to the traditional 12-bar format. But the feeling of the blues is quite strong throughout this 51-minute CD; that feeling is as strong on Derringer's own songs as it is on enjoyable performances of Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 Was Nine" and Ray Charles' "Funny, I Still Love You."

This Dutch blues band was formed in the Hague around 1967, becoming a regular outfit from 1969. The early line-up included Bjorn Toll (vocals), John Lagrand (harmonica), Ted Oberg (guitar), Ruud Fransen (bass) and Niek Dijkhuys (drums) but although the name remained wholesale changes soon took place, bringing in a new singer, Nicko Christiansen, and new bass and drums, Peter Kleinjan and Beer Klaasse, the latter pair being swiftly replaced by Gerard Strutbaum and Cesar Zuiderwijk, while keyboard player Henk Smitskamp was added…

It's hard to believe that's such an artist as Javier Vargas, who's recorded & performed with some of the world's heavy weights such as Santana, Double Trouble, Jack Bruce, Devon Allman, Larry Graham, Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert, Junior Wells, Glen Hughes and Chris Rea to name a few, is still expanding his Blues n Swamp rock spectrum with outstanding results. The Jams and the collaborations will never end as far as Javier is concerned & Heavy City Blues, which featured Carmine Appice, Paul Shortino and Bobby Alexander, is just another stepping stone forward for this Blues Rock phenomenon - namely the Vargas Blues Band.