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. Despite the pandemic, 2020 brought so many outstanding blues, rock and roots albums. Kirk Fletcher website, Powerhouse, soulful vocalist and songwriter Shemekia Copeland released Uncivil War on Alligator Records, a defining entry in her discography. 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. Ordinary Madness is a strong showing from one of the best guitarists, singer-songwriters of the modern era. Bernard Allison website, Toronto native and #1 Billboard artist, Anthony Gomes is a blues/rock guitarist, singer-songwriter who propels blues/rock into the contemporary music culture. Verbally and lyrically, he bears a resemblance to Johnny Guitar Watson and musically, he pays loving homage to a wide range of innovators. There are those who believe the blues is a musical idiom that can only be mastered by Americans. One of the few successful bands also headlined by a famous actor, i.e. An emerging talent on the UK circuit, Kyla Broxs blues is tinged with jazz, soul, funk and pop elements. And the albums other highlight is the soft, slow Rambling Blues. Much more than a platform of musical skills, this album reminds us how dark, dangerous and reckless the genre can become when done right. Fans voted in record numbers. Will Johns He is the only three-time inductee. Contemporary rhythm and blues, rock and roll and funky rhythms weave their way through most songs on One Shot, brought to life by superb musicians and an electrifying vocalist. All of them deserve to be heard. We tried very hard to narrow our list down to Top 20 but we could not bring ourselves to cut one more album. Kings previous albums and EPs include Carolina Confessions, Due North, The Marcus King Band and Soul Insight. But any listener seeking guitar wizardry would do no better than the wounded Heart so Heavy. Clearly, Fletcher wants us to feel every note and with the aid of his stunning technique, we do. In terms of song quality, We Fly Free is uneven. Allison is the son of blues great, Luther Allison, and is regarded as a slide guitar master. A British blues/rock duo and husband and wife, When Rivers Meet have the kind of frenetic sound that the blues needs. While comparisons to Irelands wild man of the blues, Rory Gallagher, are somewhat inevitable, Martins sound is far from derivative. This is the blues. Combining hip-hop with the blues is something a fair number of artists have dabbled in over the years, but G Love and his band Special Sauce, have made it a career for over two decades. Not that sheer technical mastery is the only tool in his shed. Review of We Fly Free Overall, its pretty clear that Savoy Brown aint done yet. When life gives you lemons, as they say, Song Starter Kit: Cheats and Liars from Shining in the Half Light, Medicine Man Acoustic from Medicine Man Acoustic, Whats the Matter With You from Road I Call Home. She'll be putting that back into action with live dates in her homeland next year . Even at his advanced age, he needs little to no enhancement to his sound to shine. Troy Redfern Call it the most unpredictable and challenging year yet and our number of albums fits right in. For now, add every one of these albums to your listening rotation. 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. FANTASTIC NEGRITO - HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND YET. The name says it all. Theres attitude by the fistful in everything the band has released to date, which is perhaps unsurprising when you consider that the heavily tattooed, Telecaster-wielding Barras is an ex-MMA cage fighter. Extraordinary, soulful singer, songwriter and virtuoso guitarist, Marcus Kings voice is front and center on this album of well-crafted tunes with plenty of soulful grooves. Review of 100 years of Blues It proves that, even when steeped in a century of tradition, the blues is as fresh as this mornings snow fall. BA1 1UA. 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. Dont miss the passages where Grace plays slide mandolin. All important, significant and iconic names in british blues music history deserve your votes, so make sure to choose wisely. 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. After all, what could be more heartbreaking than a man facing the demise of his car. What more could you want from a blues album? If available, you can also see information about where all british blues bands on this list got started. All and all, Unemployed Highly Annoyed will do more than please you. That brings us to his latest offering Thats What I Heard. The blues here can get a little gimmicky and cute from time to time, and Wainrights voice could use a greater sense of heft. Indeed he sounds like he means everything. Black Top Run combines vocal and instrumental cuts to great effect and paints a clear picture of Landreths monumental talent and keen instincts. More surprisingly, the rest of the album sways just as sweetly and gallops just as hard. British-Jamaican singer/songwriter Celeste won this year's prestigious BBC Sound of 2020 prize for her satiny soul pipes and refined instrumentals perfect for a rainy Sunday. Blues Artist of the Year - sponsored by Blues in the South Blues Instrumentalist of the Year - sponsored by Digital Blues Hometown: Seattle, Washington. Keri Leigh & The Blue Devils. } Until then, this effort will serve as a solid building block for what may someday become a brilliant career. Sonny Landreth website, The Allman Betts Band keeps the family flame burning brightly on 2020s Bless Your Heart on BMG Records. This is as lowdown and real as it gets and is a functional cure for the plastic-hearted music we all hear far too much of. Blues With Friends boasts 12 tracks of strong songwriting, musical depth and mastery, along with Dions smooth vocals and skillful craft of blues. British Blues Bands | List of Best British Blues Artists/Groups - Ranker Dions latest venture, Blues with Friends, features yet another change in direction. Chris Smither may have a better album in him yet, but thats hard to imagine. 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. Song Starter Kit: Dead Horses from Death Valley Paradise, Hail Mary from The Divine and The Dirty, Ignite (Light It Up) from Light it Up. These Poetic Geniuses Wrote Your Favorite Songs of All Time. 2020 Blues Albums Spotify Playlist If 2020 will be forever remembered as the year of a deadly pandemic, it can also be thought of as a year that demonstrated the undying spirit of the blues. Everybody knows the name . Top modern blues artists | Last.fm British blues groups and artists are shown below along with any additional genres in which their music belongs. We know that the fans have been and are keeping the music we love alive and that theyll be there ready to jam when the pandemic has been contained and we can gather safely again. King King website. The (Male) Singer You Most Wish You Could Sound Like. Daughter of cult Mancunian blues figure, Victor Brox, her musical career began when she was a teenager performing in his band. } Thank you. Gary Clark Jr. Gary Clark Jr. is another player who incorporates ostensibly alien elements into the mix and yet it's still the blues. English blues band, Savoy Brown has been proving this belief wrong since the mid-sixties. All rights reserved. Review of Containment Blues A mix of blues originals and covers, and two co-writes with Robert Crays bass player, Richard Cousins, My Blues Pathway features 10 tracks of sumptuous, soulful guitar, smooth vocals and catchy melodies with groove. Here are the blues players you choose as 2020's standouts. early 1960s the British had developed a viable national music industry and began to produce adapted forms of American music in Beat music and British blues . Backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, the result is not just superb musicianship but a fresh sound with an emphasis on groove. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Rock and Blues Muse, LLC. With armfuls of Blues Music Awards, Living Blues Awards and three Grammy nominations, Copeland has been praised by luminaries such as Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana. If they're near the top of the best british blues artist list, though, then they should have at least some information available. Greene has all the guitar, vocal, and songwriting power anybody could ask for and will no doubt reach the heights of stardom we all dream of. She managed to play some of her March UK run in support of 2019's Reckless Heart before the pandemic intervened, but JST managed to follow-up the record with companion EP Reckless Blues in 2020. Cameos from time-tested veterans of the blues make the album shimmer most and the relentlessly upbeat Birmingham (featuring Robert Randolph and Keb Mo) may be the best example. 25 new blues artists you need to hear! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); (function() { 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. Top female blues artists artists | Last.fm The next time you lament the death of the blues due to the neglect from younger generations, just give a quick listen to Memphis Loud by Victor Wainright and the Train and rejoice. But somehow Zitos blues make us feel better. The players who transcended 2020's lockdown blues. Since 2016, there's been plenty of chart success and an overabundance of recognition from The BRITs and annual BBC Sound poll, for the likes of NAO, Mabel, Izzy Bizu, Jorja Smith, RAYE, IAMDDB and . In 2020, Robert Cray sounds as much like Robert Cray as he did in 1990. 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. Anthony Gomes website, Britains own blues/rock hurricane King King dropped the bands most evolved record yet this year with Maverick, which was released on Channel 9 Records. My Blues Pathway is a celebration of the blues and blues masters. 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. listeners: [], Their new album, Electric Soul Machine, is a must listen. window.mc4wp.listeners.push( 10 Modern Rock Bands You Need To Know About In 2020 - ROCK AND BLUES MUSE The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site. 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. . Samantha Fish / Cassie Taylor / Dani Wilde. Platypus Dipster may be the albums best track and the strangest. List of British blues musicians - Wikipedia They are raw, unpolished and ragged. { 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. This is an uplifting and inspirational record that will put your heart back where it needs to be. Led by vocalist/guitarist Robert Jon Burrison, whose voice is one of the most ear-pleasing today, the band includes Andrew Espantman, Steve Maggoria, Henry James and Warren Murrel. But he took up residence in London over 20 years ago and has since become far more than an honorary member of the British scene having played everything from the most iconic clubs, to muddiest festival fields, and even hosted his Soho Radio show. But the title track isnt one of them. The sheer energy between Primer and Corrimore are enough to create magic. } And he went above and beyond to help other musicians too. A stunning solo debut. Larkin Poe website, Southern rock and roll band Robert Jon & The Wreck have been releasing albums since the bands inception in 2011, collecting multiple awards along the way. 4,259 votes. English blues band, . Great guitar blues with exemplary craft. 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. 8. 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. Elvin Bishop website Trying to categorize it would be a waste of time. 2020 FORM UKBlues Awards - Blues Matters Magazine Its often said that every blues song is basically about a good man feeling bad. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. The result is a searing collection of tunes that each carve their way into the listeners soul in a dazzlingly different way. Ranking the best artists, groups, and songs of the musical form first hummed, hollered, and chanted by African Americans in the Deep South and the many subgenres that have sprouted from its roots into juke joints and playlists around the world. Theyd been in Europe on tour but COVID-19 cancelled their gigs. 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. You can click on the british blues band names to see more information about that particular notable british blues group. Sugaray Rayford Great list! We'll put money on next year being an even bigger one. 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. Standouts include the plaintive Cant Start Over Again (with Jeff Beck) and What if I Told You (with Samantha Fish). Also vital is Diggin Roots with Ron Artis the 2nd. Best New UK Musicians Of 2020: 10 Artists Leading This Year's British Castiglia is a dominant guitarist, a strong singer, and a compelling entertainer who is creating his own legend now, in real time. In other words they know exactly where the blues lives. ); Please Help Keep Rock & Blues Muse Alive, Marc Broussards New Single Features Joe Bonamassa Thats What Love Will Make You Do, Review: Feed the Wolf by Miss Velvet and The Blue Wolf. He began as a doo-op singer, peppering the pop charts with such hits as The Wanderer and Runaround Sue, then moved in the direction of folk with the 1968 smash Abraham, Martin and John.. We Fly Free, released by One Road Records, is their follow up to EP, Innocence of Youth, also released in 2020, When Rivers Meet possess a clear talent for songwriting as well. The man sounds every year his age and his latest effort works precisely for this reason. This is an incomplete list of British blues bands and musicians . 20 Great New British Artists to Watch - Rolling Stone Music 20 Great New British Artists to Watch Wolf Alice, Lpsley, Stormzy and more By Rolling Stone July 6, 2016 Lady Leshurr & Let's Eat. Pearl Jam. This is double-strength blues/rock that will cure what ails you. Dont let the title of Jeremiah Johnsons latest album fool you. If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band's music instead of just voting for the most popular british blues bands that you might've heard of, but not really listened to closely enough to cast an informed vote. Put it this way, its not easy to listen to King Size Slim without breaking into an unconscious head bob or foot tap at the very least. Tinsley Ellis website, Released on KTBA Records (Joe Bonamassas record label) Blues with Friends by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dion, features blues/roots contemporary artists Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, Samantha Fish John Hammond Jr., Sonny Landreth Jerry and Jimmy Vivino, Joe Louis Walker, Brian Setzer, Stevie Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, and more. 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. Marcus King and his band have a gritty quality that many younger players seem to lack when they enter the world of the blues. Info-video UK BLUES AWARDS 2020 FINALISTS - Blues Matters Magazine Far from being put on or a stylised affectation, her husky tones can be attributed in part, at least to when she contracted a serious bout of pneumonia in her childhood, resulting in her having to breathe through a tube for 17 days. From blue-eyed soul stars ( Amy Winehouse, Sam Smith, Adele) to boy bands (One Direction, Westlife), boyish-faced balladeers (Ed Sheeran, Hozier), garage rockers (Shame, The Struts, Idles) and. A multiple award-winner, Gomes delivers heartfelt, compelling songs inspired by the pandemic on Containment Blues. Page 2 of 11: The best blues guitarists of all time Intro + best rock guitarists The best blues guitarists of all time Early innovators Huge mistake to spell his name wrong..Shepherd. Rise up features other demonstrations of this bands ability to revive the past, recognize the present and brace for an uncertain future. Having said all that, Dions friends do a more than capable job of compensating for the weaknesses of the the albums star. So awesome to see When Rivers Meet made the list!! This is the voice that couldnt give witness to a lie if Smither wanted it to. Review of Bless Your Heart Top female blues artists | Last.fm To anyone concerned with the current state of the blues, Whitney Shays latest release Stand Up could have been delivered with you in mind. 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. Awesome, Fantastic , Fabulous!!! His lyrical themes are invariably down to earth, while his guitar playing is absolutely otherworldly. Mark Lyon - Electric, Acoustic, Slide, Steel guitar and vocals. Review of Wild and Free King tribute Thank you Lucille and the hilarious album closer Money.. If the title track doesnt send shivers up your spine, its time to have your spine examined. We do not believe there is a best or least best. Its recent Grammy nomination will hopefully see more people catching on. 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. All Rights Reserved, Best of British: 15 UK Blues Artists to Check Out Today. Its seems like only yesterday that Shemekia Copeland was hailed as a prodigy of the blues, an incipient star in a genre often neglected by those of her generation. Review of Ice Cream In Hell But What the Hell a challenge to current political/social polarization may be the albums standout track. listeners: [], Songs from the Road will make a believer of you. Epitomising the spirit of DIY, Darvills music has found its way into the eardrums of millions without the backing of a big label, and his tunes have appeared on hit shows like Breaking Bad, Preacher, and Bloodline. Brox possesses and commands a vast vocal range and is also a highly accomplished flautist which works surprisingly well in a bluesy context. 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. Philip Sayce, Song Starter Kit: The Search for Happiness from Aquarius, Take The Wheel from Aquarius EP, Lie To Me from Lie To Me (Single). 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. She also used her platforms to pay it forwards with weekly showcase livestreams blues artists she's signed to her own Wild Heart Label, but we can't wait to see her back to hopefully touring properly again in 2021. No point in listening to them if they aren't actually good or even half-way decent british blues bands. Tracked at Abbey Road Studios and released by J&R Adventures, the set features new material co-written by Bonamassa and important British musicians including former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden, ex-Cream lyricist Pete Brown, and piano man Jools Holland. Songs From The Road is all about killer contemporary blues. Known as The King of Slydeco, Mississippi-born, Louisiana-reared guitar legend Sonny Landreth is the rare blues musician who truly sounds like no one else. The 50 Best Rock Bands Right Now - SPIN 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. Released by Blue Corn Music, the record was captured live January 26th, 2019 at the 105-year-old Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas and is an overwhelming mix of Ruthies blues and gospel skills and fully-orchestrated big band arrangements. Meanwhile the stunning ballad Crying guitar features as gentle and warm a touch as its descriptive title would imply. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. His performances are passionate and intense, and while his style certainly references its delta blues roots, his delivery pulls it into the 21st century through a swamp of distortion and contemporary rock n roll aesthetics.