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Narrow Line

September 28, 2020 by admin

Narrow Line

Jesper Theis
Narrow Line
Straight Shooter – SHOT 019

Narrow Line (Straight Shooter SHOT 19) offers a diverse mix of tracks inspired by pre-WWII acoustic country blues and gospel, as well as material that would be right at home in the 1960s U.S. folk boom. You will also hear jazz-tinged Caribbean rhythms, flavored with trombone, as well as rawboned bottleneck guitar work and single-string guitar lines that bridge the distance between T-Bone Walker and seminal rockabilly.

Along the way, you will realize that there is something special going on here.

Theis, 32, lives in Aalborg, a city in northern Denmark, and recently made a full-time commitment to a music career. Theis recorded Narrow Line in two sessions this spring at Tomi Leino’s studio in Finland. One session featured Theis in an acoustic setting with blues musician and producer Peter Nande on harp. The other session matched Theis with Jaska Prepula on upright bass and Mikko Peltola on drums and percussion. That session also featured, on selected tracks, second guitar from Leino and trombone from Jakob Munch Mortensen.

Among the acoustic tracks on Narrow Line is “Coco Blues” (also known as “Cocaine Blues”), a ‘60s folk standard most often associated with Rev. Gary Davis. “When I first heard ‘Coco Blues,’ it touched me deeply and changed my way of thinking about music,” Theis recalls.

Another highlight of the acoustic work on the album is the lithe Theis original, “Baby Blue,” which features lean, articulate vocal and bottleneck guitar lines working in unison.

Most blues fans will recognize “You Got To Take Sick And Die” from the Muddy Waters’ 1941-42 field recordings, which were later released as Down On Stovall’s Plantation. Theis’ version, however, was inspired by a recording by the late Boyd Rivers (1934-1993), an impassioned gospel singer from Mississippi who, like Muddy, initially was recorded by Alan Lomax.

The band tracks further reveal the range of Theis’ varied talents. The title track, a Theis original, is a melancholic, gospel-inspired march that exudes blues in every measured step, but with none of the archetypal trimmings. Theis’ cover of Tom Waits’ barfly saga, “Fumblin’ With The Blues,” complete with trombone, evokes a Depression-era tone of desperation. Again, Theis has tapped into deep American blues roots but has eschewed clichés.

The Nande-penned “The Devil’s Too Strong” is a one-chord vamp on the universal theme of human weakness. It features a gravelly, otherworldly Nande harp part (achieved with a low-pitched harp and a glass), with weighty, unison guitar/vocal lines from Theis that recall the style of Blind Willie Johnson, among others.

Narrow Line has its lighter moments as well. The band tracks include the strongly syncopated “Creepy Woman” – penned jointly by Theis and Nande and featuring a tasty Leino guitar break – and the (literally) upbeat Nande original, “Let’s Jam Up.” The latter features a carefree slide guitar solo from Leino. Each of these tracks quite simply dares you to sit still… reminders that rhythm is indeed a universal language, and that – hardships notwithstanding – one imperative of living with the blues is to keep moving, and to enjoy oneself, regardless.

Musicians

Jesper Theis – Vocals and guitar
Peter Nande – Harmonica and percussion
Jakob Munch Mortensen – Trombone
Tomi Leino – Guitar
Jaska Prepula – Upright bass
Mikko Peltola – Drums and percussion

Tracklist

00:00

Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 00:00
Creepy Woman 00:00
Depot Blues 00:00
Narrow Line 00:00
Baby Blue 00:00
Coco Blues 00:00
Let’s Jam Up 00:00
The Devil’s Too Strong 00:00
Fumblin’ With The Blues 00:00
You Got to Take Sick and Die 00:00
Lyin’ Cheatin’ Mama 00:00
Bread And Butter 00:00

Bad Luck Child

September 20, 2020 by admin

Big Creek Slim CD/Vinyl, Releases

bad luck child

Big Creek Slim
Bad Luck Child
Straight Shooter – SHOT 018

Big Creek Slim Finds His ‘True Sound’ on Good Mill Blues: Greasy Chicken Sessions Vol. 1

Mercy! You may have heard Big Creek Slim before, but you have never heard him any better than this.

Good Mill Blues: Greasy Chicken Sessions Vol. 1 captures Big Creek fully at ease and in the moment, performing live over two nights in October 2016 at “The Greasy Chicken,” a private backyard blues shack in Vaerloese, Denmark. It is a relaxed, informal setting, one that accommodates 20 or so spectators.

There is a certain sort of liberty that a musical artist finds in such environs, one in which there is no pressure to be anyone other than who you really are, and no pressure to play anything you truly do not feel.

That’s the secret to the success of Good Mill Blues. In these performances, Big Creek was determined to be true to his heart as a blues artist.

“This album is me! These are the blues I like, and this is my true sound,” Big Creek says. “After my two latest studio albums with a band, I thought it was about time to do my own solo thing. This is what I sound like when I’m solo, sitting in front of a well-known, drinking crowd, playing whatever is on my mind, and [by fulfilling audience requests] whatever is on their minds.”

On Good Mill Blues, Big Creek performs a mix of original tunes and classic country blues material from the likes of Charlie Patton, Son House, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and more. His originals are the work of an artist telling stories from his own life and experiences – a more personal glimpse than the cover tunes provide, and no less riveting.

For example, the opening track, “North Street Blues,” is a Big Creek original that recounts a pivotal time in his life, one in which the blues began to take on a special meaning.

“‘North Street Blues’ takes me back to a time in my life when I had to change my path. I was living on Noerregade in Ikast, serving in the army, voting for the liberals (read: capitalists), having a monthly income and was so unsatisfied that it forced me to reconsider myself and the world I was living in. The blues was my answer. I had to relearn everything and find my way back to being a little boy who didn’t know how to judge right from wrong, and be fascinated with life again. ‘North Street Blues’ is me sitting in the dark, knowing that a change is gonna come.”

Another original, “The Big C Moan,” shares his personal experience with cancer, with the understanding that at some point the disease probably touches everyone, one way or another.

“‘The Big C Moan’ is my counterpart to the old blues songs about disease like ‘Meningitis Blues’ and ‘There’s A Fungus Among Us.’ ‘The Big C Moan’ refers to John Wayne’s supposed last words (“You can’t fight the big C”) and tells about my personal story with cancer and the impact it has had on my family,” Big Creek says. “‘The Big C Moan’ is my personal experience, and the thoughts I had, when my mother died.”

Heavy stuff, to be sure, delivered with no weight spared, with an insistent pulse and a slow- burn intensity that dares you not to listen.

Big Creek’s choice of cover material also reveals about his perspectives as a blues artist. He explains that Charley Patton’s “Pea Vine Blues,” for example, is reportedly “about a freight train carrying cotton out of the Dockery Plantation. It may also have been the only way out of there, if you didn’t want to walk through the swamps. At least, that’s my inner picture when I sing the song. I have always loved the sound of Charley Patton. I have deep respect for him as the ‘Father of the Delta Blues.’ When I hear or sing his tunes, it carries my mind away to dusty roads and railroads. I see rowdy juke joints and a big mama standing in the door.”

Another meaningful cover tune on Good Mill Blues is “Walking Blues,” which finds Big Creek drawing on the collective legacy of Son House, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.

Musicians

Big Creek Slim – Vocal/guitar
Thomas Melau – Harmonica (15)
Peter Nande – Harmonica (16)

Tracklist

00:00

Bad Luck Child 00:00
Travelling Riverside Blues 00:00
Cherry Ball 00:00
No Good Blues 00:00
Milkcow's Calf Blues 00:00
Long Way from Home 00:00
Crawlin' King Snake 00:00
Friar's Point Blues 00:00
Hammock Blues 00:00
Rambling on My Mind 00:00
A Stranger Everywhere I Go 00:00
Maggie Campbell Blues 00:00
Woman Don't Lie 00:00
Low Down Rainy Memphis Blues 00:00
Dirty Mother for You 00:00
Keep on Rockin' 00:00

“To me, the walking blues is when you feel like being in constant movement, to shake off your trouble,” Big Creek says. “If you keep on moving, you might get rid of the blues you’re having, or at least you replace them with some new blues. I have learned that some conflicts you have to face and solve, because running away might not save you in the end, but I like the thought of leaving all the bullshit behind, living wild and free in chaos.”

Big Creek Slim is a Danish-born musician who has traveled in the United States. Good Mill Blues: Greasy Chicken Sessions Vol. 1 is his fifth CD release, and his third on Peter Nande’s Straight Shooter Records label. A companion volume, Bad Luck Child: Greasy Chicken Sessions Vol. 2, taken from the same performances, is set for release later this year.

Good Mill Blues

September 19, 2020 by admin

Big Creek Slim CD/Vinyl, Releases

good mill blues

Big Creek Slim
Good Mill Blues
Straight Shooter – SHOT 017

Big Creek Slim Finds His ‘True Sound’ on Good Mill Blues: Greasy Chicken Sessions Vol. 1

Mercy! You may have heard Big Creek Slim before, but you have never heard him any better than this.

That’s the secret to the success of Good Mill Blues. In these performances, Big Creek was determined to be true to his heart as a blues artist.

For example, the opening track, “North Street Blues,” is a Big Creek original that recounts a pivotal time in his life, one in which the blues began to take on a special meaning.

Another original, “The Big C Moan,” shares his personal experience with cancer, with the understanding that at some point the disease probably touches everyone, one way or another.

Heavy stuff, to be sure, delivered with no weight spared, with an insistent pulse and a slow- burn intensity that dares you not to listen.

Another meaningful cover tune on Good Mill Blues is “Walking Blues,” which finds Big Creek drawing on the collective legacy of Son House, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.

Musician

Big Creek Slim – Vocal/guitar

Tracklist

00:00

North Street Blues 00:00
Fixin’ To Die 00:00
Good Mill Blues 00:00
Black Rat Swing 00:00
Walking Blues 00:00
I Still Love You 00:00
Canned Heat Blues 00:00
Pea Vine Blues 00:00
Blues In The Bottle 00:00
The Big C Moan 00:00
Kokomo Blues 00:00
Baileys Blues 00:00
Louisiana Blues 00:00
If Women Were Like Dogs 00:00
Down In The Bottom 00:00
Keep on Rockin' 00:00

Blúsmaður

January 17, 2021 by Peter Nande

Releases, Uncategorized

Blusmadur

Terji Krossteig
Blúsmaður
Straight Shooter SHOT 023

Blúsmaður er Terji Krossteig Messells andet album på Peter Nandes Straight Shooter Records. Det første, Útisetablús – hvor han blot kaldte sig Terji – udkom i 2017 (læs anmeldelse her). Dén plade opnåede at blive nomineret til en Danish Music Award, så det er ikke uden et vist forventningspres, at Terji nu er tilbage.

Denne gang står Terji for det hele selv: Han spiller guitar, dobro, ukulele, elbas, vaskebræt, kazoo, træbræt, tromme og tamburin. Kun Olav Gudnason har fået lov til at blande sig med sin kontrabas på tre numre.

Udtrykket er således enkelt og fokuseret omkring Terjis guitar og vokal. Sidstnævnte er ret egenartet; stemmen er gutteral, men samtidig lys, og det giver hans sange en helt unik og ekspressiv klang.

Terji Krossteig Messell synger på færøsk, og det kan gøre det vanskeligt for en syddansk lytter at følge med (teksterne kan dog læses i dansk oversættelse på Terjis hjemmeside her). Men bortset fra, at sprogene er beslægtede og derfor ikke indbyrdes uforståelige, pakker Terji sine tekster fint ind i stemningsfulde akkompagnementer, som formidler sangenes temaer på glimrende vis.

Terji har altid optrådt med en god portion underspillet, Niels Hausgaard’sk lune, og der er da også masser af humor i hans sange. Titelnummeret er således en munter afdramatisering af livet som færøsk bluesmand, ”Klirr, klirr, klirr” handler om at hente øl hjem til weekenden, og emnet for ”Ukuleleblús” er at komme i godt humør af at spille, ja, ukuleleblues.

Men Terji Krossteig Messell tager også fat i væsentligt mere alvorlige emner på f.eks. den tungsindige ”Gev mær frið” ( = ”Giv mig fred”) og ”Hjartaleysur” ( = ”Hjerteløs”). Og endelig er der helt konventionelle bluestekster som ”13 long ár”, der lyrisk, om ikke arrangementsmæssigt, er en fætter til Eddie Boyds ”Five long years”.

Musikalsk hælder pladen mod blid, akustisk folk blues. Indimellem er der dog mere Mississippi-stemning over den, især når Terji spiller slide-guitar som på titelnummeret. Det bliver imidlertid aldrig mere råt, end at hovedindtrykket er af en behagelig lytteplade, der aldrig skurrer i ørerne, men som er både fængende og instrumentalt og vokalt interessant nok til, at den snildt tåler mange gennemlytninger og faktisk bliver bedre for hver gang.

Musician

Terji Krossteig:
Vocal / guitar / bass / washboard / kazoo / drums / perc. etc

Tracklist

Blúsmaður
A2 Gev Mør Frið
A3 Klirr, Klirr, Klirr
A4 Trúgví
A5 Ukuleleblús
B1 Hjartaleysur
B2 13 Long Ár
B3 Leita
B4 Eg, Meg, Mio, Meg
B5 Pengar! Pengar! Pengar! Pengar!

Streaming of this album is not possible.

Keep My
Belly Full

October 6, 2020 by admin

Big Creek Slim CD/Vinyl, Releases

Keep My Belly Full

Big Creek Slim
Keep My Belly Full
Straight Shooter – SHOT 015

On Keep My Belly Full, Big Creek Slim offers up seven original tunes, and also performs songs by Tommy Johnson, Son House, J.B. Wright, Luther “Snakeboy” Johnson and Jesse James. Big Creek brings a sometimes raucous, sometimes reverent authority to the proceedings, gracing his renditions with a soulful presence and a natural ease.

Big Creek Slim is a Danish-born musician who has traveled in the United States. Keep My Belly Full is his fourth CD release, and his second on Peter Nande’s Straight Shooter Records label. Nande met Big Creek in 2007 and was captivated by Big Creek’s Delta blues playing. Convinced that Big Creek deserved a wider audience, Nande invited him to record for Straight Shooter. The result was Hope For My Soul, released in 2015.

Keep My Belly Full is a more diverse set of tunes than its predecessor Hope For My Soul, delivering a hearty dose of pre-WWII country blues, early Chicago blues, seasoned with boogie woogie, funk and gospel. The music has a vintage sound, but the emotional urgency and intensity of Big Creek Slim’s performances are timeless. Listen, and believe.

Tracklist

00:00

Bye Bye Blues 00:00
You Don't Love Me 00:00
Precious Memories 00:00
Keep My Belly Full 00:00
Woman Don't Lie 00:00
Alright Baby 00:00
Do Somebody Wrong 00:00
Tell Me Baby 00:00
Lonesome Day Blues 00:00
Cockfight 00:00
Sink 'Em Low 00:00
Mrs. Headache 00:00
Dry Spell Blues 00:00

Musicians

Big Creek Slim – Vocal, guitar
Miriam Mandipira – Vocal, backing vocal
Peter Nande – Harmonica Ronni Boysen – Guitar
Paul Allen Jr. – Bass Lea Thorlann – Backing vocal
Jens Kristian Dam – Drums
Kjeld Lauridsen – Organ
Nathan James – Guitar Pia Trøjgaard Fredfeldt – Backing vocal
Troels Jensen – Guitar, piano, backing vocal

Hope For
My Soul

September 21, 2020 by admin

Big Creek Slim CD/Vinyl, Releases

Hope for my soul

Big Creek Slim
Hope For My Soul
Straight Shooter – SHOT 014.

Prepare to take a journey back in time.

Big Creek Slim captures the true sound of the old blues, a sound you rarely hear these days except on the vintage recordings of the original bluesmen. Big Creek Slim performs with a raw, soulful authority. His powerful voice conveys experience and feeling, and his fingerpicking guitar style can cut to the bone.

On the matter of influences, no name-dropping is needed here: If you dig the blues, you can hear his musical influences in his performances and recordings.

However, Big Creek Slim is not from the cotton fields of Mississippi, or the rough-and-tumble streets of Chicago or the bayou regions of Louisiana. Big Creek Slim is from the Danish countryside. He started playing guitar as a child, and discovered the blues in his early teens. It was a turning point in his life. After school and military service, he was determined to find his own voice in the blues. He worked construction to save money for a trip to the United States. He left Denmark in 2008 and hoboed around America, playing on street corners, coffeehouses and bars, all the while writing songs.

Big Creek’s journey brought him to Teddy’s Juke Joint in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where stayed for a good while, jamming with locals and touring bands in the evenings. Among others, he met piano man Henry Gray, with whom he recorded his first album, Tumbleweeds in 2008.

After leaving the U.S., Big Creek traveled to Brazil, where he fell in love with the country and its culture. He currently lives on the island of Santa Catarina, in a cabin right by the ocean. He likes a simple, laidback life, and starts most days with a long morning swim with his dogs. Yet, he remains fully dedicated to the blues, playing all the gigs he can get.

I met Big Creek around 2007 while I was doing a compilation album for the Copenhagen Blues Festival. I was looking for new artists for the album, and I’d heard about him through friends. I tracked him down. His Delta stuff was mind-blowing! Like Muddy, the Wolf and John Lee, he brings to his blues a commanding mix of emotional urgency and economy – delivering everything a song needs and nothing else. Like the Mississippi Delta blues musicians of the 1920s and beyond, he sings and plays with a simple, expressive intensity. I convinced him to be on the album. We soon became friends and now play together every time he returns to Denmark.

Big Creek Slim’s raw talent deserves a wider audience and blues lovers around the world should know his music. In 2013, he made his second album, Ninety-nine and a half, a solo album of his own material, in the Delta blues tradition. However, his two albums are largely unknown, so I offered to produce a new album for him and release it on my Straight Shooter label.

For the recording, I had a few production ideas and songs I wanted him to try. I called some of my favorite blues guys and arranged a session in Copenhagen. I had Nathan James come from California to record it all. Nathan has recorded and mixed several of my albums, and he really knows how to capture the authentic blues sound! He also added his own exquisite guitar and washboard playing to the sessions.

The sessions were spontaneous, fun and sweaty, fueled by Big Creek Slim’s intensity and his ability to kick off one killer song after another. No explanations, no one called out so much as a key signature. Usually, he began with a guitar phrase and ended the song with a big smile and a laugh. A few times, we had to start over, simply because the song began too suddenly for Nathan to press “record” in time. In the end, we just left it on “record.” We recorded about 50 songs, live, in a couple of days, creating enough material for several albums!
So there you have it… a bunch of songs, and a bunch of guys having fun playing them! Sit back, turn it up and enjoy Big Creek Slim’s Hope For My Soul.

Tracklist

00:00

On My Way 00:00
Mama Don’t Allow 00:00
Wrath Of Grapes 00:00
Catfish Blues 00:00
Got What It Takes 00:00
Hobo Blues 00:00
Hope For My Soul 00:00
Will the Circle Be Unbroken 00:00
Spoonful 00:00
Down The Dirt Road Blues 00:00
Rubby Rub 00:00
Big Road Blues 00:00
I’ve Got A Home 00:00

Musicians

Big Creek Slim – Vocal, guitar
Peter Nande – Harmonica
Troels Jensen – Piano
Christian Rannenberg – Piano
Paul Allen Jr. – Bass
Jens Kristian Dam – Drums

Ride Train Ride

September 28, 2020 by admin

Blues Jamboree CD/Vinyl, Mik Schack CD/Vinyl, Peter Nande CD/Vinyl, Releases, Tim Lothar CD/Vinyl, Troels Jensen

Ride Train Ride

Blues Jamboree
Ride Train Ride
Straight Shooter – SHOT 013

Volume 2 of Blues Jamboree’s Scandinavian Blues Revue Live features more of those superb performances that made ‘Grab A Root An’ Growl’ so good.

This set opens with the traditional ‘Get Right Church’ which melds the influences of Big Joe Williams, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, with declamatory “call and response” vocals underpinned by fine mandolin and jaw harp. ‘Cornbread, Peas And Black Molasses’ again captures the spirit of Sonny and Brownie, moaned vocals echoed by percolating harp and rolling piano whilst Tim Lothar’s title track is a spiritual train blues that fairly rattles along replete with fine mandolin and Nighthawk styled slide.

‘I Need your Love So Bad’ has a strong country soul feel – you will find yourself rocking along to Al Simmons’ You ain’t Too Old’ with it’s rollicking harp and growled “call and response” vocals – Hank Williams’ ‘Weary Blues from Waitin’ personifies that lonesome feel fuelled by wistful piano, vocals, guitar and cajon – whilst Son house’s ‘Louise McGhee features Nighthawk slide, deep rolling piano and melancholy mandolin.

Add in a stunning renditions of ‘You’re Gonna Need somebody On your Bond’ and ‘Jesus Is On The Mainline’ – a brooding version of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ – and an anguished work-out of Skip James’ Good Road Camp Blues’ – and you have a set that is deserving of your support.

Treacklist

00:00

Get Right Church 00:00
Jack of Diamonds 00:00
Cornbread, Peas & Black Molasses 00:00
Ride Train Ride 00:00
I Need Your Love So Bad 00:00
You Ain't Too Old 00:00
Weary Blues From Waitin' 00:00
Louise McGee 00:00
Jesus Is On The Mainline 00:00
Folsom Prison 00:00
You Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond 00:00
Good Road Camp Blues 00:00

Musicians

Paul Banks (vocal, guitar, mandolin)
Troels Jensen (vocal, piano)
H. P. Lange (vocal, guitar)
Tim Lothar (vocal, guitar, percussion)
Rune Myren (vocal, Harmonica, Cajon, Percussion)
Peter Nande (vocal, harmonica, jug, jawharp, washtub bass, percussion)
Svante Sjöblom (vocal, guitar, mandolin)
Olav Poulsen (guitar)
Mik Schack (washboard)
David Larsson (cajon)
Hugo Rasmussen (bass)

Grab A Root
An’ Growl

September 28, 2020 by admin

Blues Jamboree CD/Vinyl, Mik Schack CD/Vinyl, Peter Nande CD/Vinyl, Releases, Tim Lothar CD/Vinyl

Grab A Root An' Growl

Blues Jamboree
Grab A Root An’ Growl
Straight Shooter – SHOT 012

Blues Jamboree is a Scandinavian Blues Revue featuring some of the cream of the Scandinavian blues scene recorded live in a basement liquor store in Copenhagan. Not quite a Mississippi juke joint but the music is certainly worthy of anything recorded or played in one.

The line-up includes harmonica virtuoso Peter Nande and his recording partner guitarist Tim Lothar, with our own Paul Banks, Troels Jensen (piano), HP Lange, Rune Myhren and Svante Sjőblom playing some classic, mainly traditional, blues interspersed with a few fine originals.

The musicianship is top notch as the band open with Gus Cannon’s ‘Walk Right In’ which captures the purity and simplicity of jugband music replete with Jazz Gillum styled harp, piano and washtub bass with all of the group vocalising. Charley Jordan’s ‘Keep It Clean’ maintains that jugband feel with it’s infectious guitar and gin house piano – whilst ‘You’ve Got To Move’ has spiritual overtones with it’s haunting slide, mandolin, piano and wistful vocals.

Nande’s title track is a Harmanesque blues replete with lowdown greasy harp, rolling piano and “growled” vocals – Estes’ ‘Divin’ Duck Blues’ is delivered as a modern soulful blues replete with quirky mandolin and Chi-Town harp – Tampa red’s ‘You Can’t Get that stuff No More’ displays shades of Rice Miller, with Sonny and Brownie styled vocals, hot blues guitar and rocking piano – whilst Dylan’s ‘Buckets Of Rain’ is given a moody, jugband styled workout.

You’ll wish you had been there!
Mick Rainsford

Album Tracks

00:00

Walk Right In 00:00
Keep It Clean 00:00
You Gotta To Move 00:00
Grab A Root An' Growl 00:00
Know You Rider 00:00
Gin House Blues 00:00
Divin' Duck Blues 00:00
You Can't Get That Stuff No More 00:00
How Long, How Long Blues 00:00
Soul of a Man 00:00
Blood Of Jesus 00:00
Buckets of Rain 00:00

Musicien

Two For
The Road

September 24, 2020 by admin

Peter Nande & Time Lothar, Peter Nande CD/Vinyl, Releases, Tim Lothar CD/Vinyl

Two For The Road

Tim Lothar & Peter Nande
Two For The Road
Straight Shooter – SHOT 011

I’m here to tell you ’bout a special »side project« I’ve produced for my Danish buddies Peter Nande and Tim Lothar. Many of you know Peter as the harmonicaplaying front man of The Peter Nande Band. Tim Lothar is the band’s drum – mer, and as such is a rare, wonderful, ex – tremely musical player. But he’s also a sing – er and guitar player, and together Tim and Peter create authentic-sounding country blues. Yeah, I know: I’ve seen several really good sit-down retro blues duos lately in a dozen countries myself, but I think our boys here really have somethin’ special goin’ on. Tim’s signature guitar style blends pure Mississippi Delta slide guitar with Piedmont finger pickin’ and a taste of Deep Ellum/ North Texas. His singing combines moody, melodic chanting with an incredible, natu – ral vibrato, plus old-time jump-up th’owdown country preacher ranting that you won’t often hear. Peter, Copenhagen’s favor – ite son, sings his share of his original blues songs and offers a healthy dose of that pat – ented, sexy harmonica that he’s known for. Tim and Peter love performing as a duo just as much as playing with the whole band. Here they present twelve songs that feature their talents as country blues artists. This is not as powerful as the Peter Nande Band in full swing, but it sure is fun. These two artists have won several national awards for their recordings and perfor – mances, so they bring much to the party. I had the pleasure of producing Peter’s last two studio albums and it was a solid gas working with them on this one as well. They asked me to sing a song for this release, so I chose my song, »You Got To Choose.« Oh, and as to that crazy spoken word business called »Pa-tainin’ ta’ jookjernts,« I should explain that was my reenactment of a set of drunken directions I received from a fellow standing on the roadside in Mississippi, back about 1967! If you’re reading this, you’ve already made the financial investment and personal com – mitment, so pour yourself a tall, cool one and relax … put your feet up, wiggle your toes a little and let your mind jump that old rusty boxcar with »Lonesome Tim« and »Big Boy Pete.« Take that rough ride on down to Goatman Holler, to the track-side jungle where sad men get happy and happy men get sad … you’re just reading about it now, but slide that compact disc into your machine and feel the blues … go on, take that lonesome hobo ride. Thank you baby!

Tim Lothar & Peter Nande – Two For The Road
In 2008, Lothar and Nande began playing gigs as a duo, laying the groundwork for their CD release, Two for the Road. Guided by producer and guest artist James Harman, the CD showcases the pair’s songwriting gifts (on nine original songs), instrumental fluency and love for country blues. It’s an impressive introduction to what this duo is capable of right now, and hints at what it just might become in the years ahead.

»Two for the Road« finds Tim Lothar and Peter Nande, two of Denmark’s finest roots music artists, traveling back in time to capture the essence of pre-WWII American acoustic country blues.

This is foot-stompin’, front porch stuff, featuring nine original tunes and three tasty covers that showcase each man’s gift for capturing the currency of a vintage musical style.

Two for the Road finds Lothar and Nande wielding primal tools of the trade – the human voice, guitar, harmonica, washtub bass, and feet, made for stomping – to craft music that is true to another time and place, but also true to human experiences that are timeless.

Listen to the elegant »Poor Boy«, for example, and you can almost hear the crunch of worn, leather-soled shoes, walking step by step over gravel roads, almost taste the dust and feel the relentless sun on the back of your neck.

Hear the restless mix of hope and regret in »Done Left You« – regret and lament in the lyrics, hope in the prospect of a new start – set to an infectious Bo Diddley groove. Hear the anticipation in the hard-driving »Slow Train«, as a man awaits his lover’s return: »There’ll be no more blues, no more feeling sad, I feel so good, my girl is coming back …«

It makes sense that this would work: Guitarist/vocalist Tim Lothar was named Blues Artist of the Year at the Copenhagen Blues Festival in 2008. Harmonica player/vocalist Nande had won the same award in 2007.

Lothar has years of experience as a drummer, currently drumming in Nande’s band. He brings a rhythmic constancy on guitar, drums, foot-stomping and percussion that is essential to a successful acoustic duo.

Nande’s harp work, influenced by the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), »Little Walter« Jacobs, »Big Walter« Horton and others, is resplendent in this acoustic milieu. Listen to his tasteful, slinky lines on »Rough Ride« and on James Harman’s »You Got To Choose«. Impeccable.

Tracklist

00:00

Slow Train 00:00
Can't Get That Stuff No More 00:00
Ain't Too Old 00:00
Baby Blue 00:00
Late Again 00:00
You Got To Choose 00:00
Done Left You 00:00
Rough Ride 00:00
Still On Hold 00:00
Poor Boy 00:00
Confessions 00:00
Pa-Ta-Nin' Ta' Jook-Jernts 00:00

Musicians

Tim Lothar – Vocal / Guitar / Drums / Percussion
Peter Nande – Vocal / Harmonica / Washtub bass / footstomp
James Harman – Vocal (#2, #6, #12)
Ronni Boysen – Guitar (#7)
Magnus Lanshammer – Upright bass (#11)

Produced by James Harman

California-based producer and blues artist James Harman, in fact, is the producer of this recording, as he was on Nande’s band releases Big Boy Boogie: California Sessions Vol. I (2006) and Jelly Bean Baby: California Sessions Vol. II (2008). Drawing on a career that began in 1962, Harman knows what to do and what not to do to create a great blues recording with an authentic vibe, and brings out the best in artists he produces.

On Two for the Road, he’s done it again. He also co-wrote two of the songs here, and sings on three, including the irresistible »Pa-tainin’ ta’ jook-jernts«, in which he recreates a set of drunken directions he received from a fellow standing on a Mississippi roadside, circa 1967.

Harman wouldn’t invest his time in artists or in a project that he didn’t believe in. »I’ve seen several really good sit-down retro blues duos lately in a dozen countries myself,« he writes in the CD liner notes, »but I think our boys here really have somethin’ special goin’ on.« Indeed

Jelly Bean Baby

September 28, 2020 by admin

Peter Nande CD/Vinyl, Releases

Jelly Bean Baby

Peter Nande
Jelly Bean Baby
California Sessions Vol. II
Straight Shooter SHOT 002

Hey now, James Harman back again… this time shoutin’ about Jelly Bean Baby: California Sessions Vol. II, the new album Nathan James and I just finished producing over here at Sacred Cat Studios in Oceanside, California! This is our second one for our Danish buddy, Big Boy Pete, or Peter Nande, as his parents insist on calling him, the first one being Big Boy Boogie: California Sessions Vol. I from 2006.

This new story is similar to the last one – again we spent two straight weeks singin’, playin’, eatin’, drinkin’, laughin’ and tellin’ stories, and came up with another cool, fresh album for our pal Pete. We think you’ll find it to be a lot of fun, but still with that dangerous edge that only low-down, juke-joint blues can bring to the festivities.

Creating this recording was like being at a party with a bunch of old friends. We had everything in place from the last time, so it went down easy once we got started. This time we chose to use Marty Dodson, longtime drummer with Mark Hummel’s Blues Survivor, and he was a force to be reckoned with. We added a swingin’ horn section consisting of Jonny Vaiu and Tony Matoian, and organist Neil Wauchope, who brought along a tone smoother than a tall taste of Kentucky sippin’ whiskey.

Jelly Bean Baby is a 54-minute helping of blues stirred into a program of great dance grooves. I’ll assume you know that when I say dance grooves, I’m not talkin’ no stinkin’ disco or hip-hop, but just some sho-nuff, hip-shakin’, jug-bustin’ th’owdown songs, all performed by our house groove-squad, plus Pete’s #1 guitar man, “Good Rockin’ Ronni” Busack-Boysen. I’m talking about cool, American rhythm & blues, spiced with a taste of Africa and the islands… but perfect for a low-down juke-joint as well. We hope you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it for you.

Thank you baby!

James Harman0

Musicians

Vocals & Harmonica: Peter Nande
Vocals & Harmonica: James Harman
Guitar: Ronni Busack-Boysen
Organ: Neil Wauchope
Piano: Carl Sonny Leyland
Tenor Saxophone: Jonny Vaiu
Baritone Saxophone: Tony Matoian
Percussion: Mike Tempo
Bass: Buddy Clark
Drums: Marty Dodson

Background Vocals: James Harman Nathan James, Ben Hernandez & Ronni Busack-Boysen

Tracklist

00:00

Jelly Bean Baby 00:00
Beware Brother 00:00
Slo’ Poke 00:00
Ridin’ the Gravy 00:00
In a State of Bliss 00:00
Walk the Talk 00:00
Let Me In 00:00
The Can’t Hardlies 00:00
The Stubblejumper 00:00
The Golden Rule 00:00
Stop Now 00:00
Goodbye California 00:00
Bumpin’ on Leonard 00:00

Jelly Bean Baby: California Sessions Vol. II is Peter Nande’s third CD release, and his second recording in three years under the auspices of blues artist and producer James Harman. Like its predecessor, Big Boy Boogie: California Sessions Vol. I (2006), it features a baker’s dozen of distinctive, danceable original blues-based songs. These were written primarily by songwriter/vocalist/harp player Peter Nande, with help from Harman, guitarist Ronni Busack-Boysen and, on one track, organist Neil Wauchope, and recorded with Busack-Boysen and a stellar supporting cast, assembled by Harman.

Jelly Bean Baby expands upon the format that made Big Boy Boogie a success. Nande spins clever tales around the general theme of human desire and its consequences… stories of infidelity, excess, and finding one’s way. Nande isn’t afraid to take his time, telling his stories with a sly grin and anchoring them in the propulsive, hypnotic rhythms and tonal vocabulary of American blues and Caribbean music, flavored with jazzy touches.

Give a listen to “Beware Brother,” a tale of marital caution set to an irresistible groove; check out the reggae-styled double entendre “Slo’ Poke,” or “Ridin’ the Gravy Train,” with its lyric about livin’ the high life, set to a primal Mississippi blues rhythm. Listen to “Walk the Talk,” which condemns a woman’s unfaithful behavior, but moves with such a driving shuffle beat that you can’t help but visualize the same woman shakin’ what her mama gave her; somehow, you know she’ll get away with it. These songs work on more than one level, clearly, and bear evidence of Nande’s artistry, separating him from the glut of blues musicians who are happy simply to regurgitate “Sweet Home Chicago.”

Nande executes his ideas with inspired support from Busack-Boysen, who has played with Nande for three years and has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s top guitar players, and with the guidance of Harman, his creative mentor, and Harman’s crack team of blues artists. These include guitarist/engineer Nathan James, bassist Buddy Clark, percussionist Mike Tempo and others. The songs, primarily, are Nande’s, but they come to fruition only under the care of the entire ensemble.

Here’s the back story: Peter Nande is a Danish blues musician. Born in 1968, he’s pursued his blues quest since age 16 or so, when he first heard the music of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Fascinated by the harmonica and the blues genre, he devoted a decade to studying such blues masters as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and others, as well as working blues artists, including Harman. In 1998 Nande formed a band, Nande & the Big Difference. In 2002 the band released a CD and soon began playing festivals in Europe, often backing top American blues artists.

Nande’s group disbanded in 2005. Nande set his sights on recording in the U.S. with American musicians. The dream became reality in 2006 when Nande and Busack-Boysen flew to California to cut a CD with Harman as producer. Big Boy Boogie was engineered by Nathan James, and recorded in Nathan’s home studio in Oceanside, Calif. The CD was nominated for Danish Blues Album of the Year by the Danish Blues Awards in 2007, and contributed mightily to Nande’s recognition as Danish Blues Musician of the Year for 2007 by the Copenhagen Music Festival. The release elevated Nande’s status in Europe, helping to make the Peter Nande Band an increasingly sought-after act for festival and club work.

During 2007, Harman with his Bamboo Porch trio, including Nathan James and Ben Hernandez, toured Scandinavia for three weeks. Harman gigged at festivals and other shows with the Peter Nande Band and with the trio. “They all stayed at my apartment in the middle of Copenhagen on the Danish part of the tour,” Nande recalls. “We‘re talkin’ fun and blues 24 hours a day for three straight weeks.”

This brings us to Jelly Bean Baby. Nande prepped for more than two months with Busack-Boysen prior to the sessions, which took place over two weeks beginning Feb. 1 in the garage studio of Nathan’s new residence in Oceanside.

“I brought over a bunch of ideas and demo tracks,” Nande explains. “James called his friends and band members to join the session, and Nathan set it all up at his garage studio. James has taught me that it’s important not to prepare too much, as you get the best ideas while you record. The material has to be fresh and interesting to the musicians – then they give their best.”

Harman helped break the ice as the sessions began, “tellin’ stories and makin’ everybody laugh,” Nande says. “One of his secrets as a producer is that he makes everybody feel good and have a great time while they record. He’s not just producing the music and songs, but also has the important ability to bring out the best in every musician and make everybody feel relaxed.”

However, to coax out Nande’s full potential, Harman sometimes took a less casual approach, one that was at times bluntly honest and demanding.

“James always tells the truth and it can be painful,” Nande says. “He’ll let you know right away what can be better… He knows I’m a fighter and a go-getter, so too much sweet talkin’ doesn’t work on me, but criticism and good coaching works.

“Sometimes he’d say, ‘Shut up and listen! Pay attention and learn!’ Then he’d tell me stories about the old blues masters – Muddy, Sonny Boy, Wolf and more, quite a few of whom he met and played with – and how they lived their lives in the old days. He tried to get me in the right mood so I could tell my stories, sing my songs, with the right feeling.”

While Harman tended to the performances, Nathan James took charge of capturing them for posterity. He again engineered the sessions, arranging vintage mics and amps in the small wooden garage. The space did not have a good natural sound, Nande says, but Nathan knew how to position the mics for the best tone and separation. “He placed amps in different places in his house – some in the bathroom for that cool echo effect, and some in closets.” Later, Nathan mixed the recording, with help from Harman and Nande, and did the mastering as well.

The basic tracks took about four days to record, cut live with Busack-Boysen or Nathan James (or both) on guitars, Clark on bass and Marty Dodson on drums. “Marty has backed all the harp guys doing the Blues Harp Meltdowns,” Peter said. “He’s the best ‘harp drummer’ there is, and is a funny, great guy.”

Harman describes Nathan James and Buddy Clark as “the best and most focused musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with… When I’m trying to make the magic happen as a producer, so it sounds like it ‘just happened’ and doesn’t sound over-produced, I lean on Nathan’s and Buddy’s ridiculous natural abilities to instantly hear what should go where, and on their good-natured willingness to try as many different things as I can come up with until we all hear the right one happen together. It never fails.”

In addition to Nande, Busack-Boysen and Harman’s blues team, organist Neil Wauchope joined in for the third and fourth days of tracking. Nande had heard him on recordings, loved his feel and wanted him on the CD. He had Wauchope fly in from Atlanta, where he now lives, to take part in the sessions.

The basic tracking was followed by a week-and-a-half of overdubs. Nande wanted horns on some tracks, so Harman called his tenor sax buddy Jonny Vaiu, who brought Toni Matoian from Chicago to add baritone sax. They arranged the horns on the spot. “The arrangements sound so fresh and natural,” Peter says. “Nathan made ‘em sound so good and James had so many cool ideas for horns.”

Mike Tempo added percussion, and Nande, Busack-Boysen, Harman and Nathan James added vocal and instrumental parts. Ben Hernandez came by a few times to hang out and Peter asked him to put backing vocals on a couple of tracks. Pianist Carl Sonny Leyland, vacationing in England, couldn’t make the session, so he recorded the piano parts remotely from his parent’s house in England and sent them by e-mail!

The last night of Nande’s California expedition ended with a concert by the James Harman Band at the Café Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach… a fitting wrap to two blues-drenched weeks.

Nande returned to Denmark knowing that his blue journey is ongoing: This summer he’ll cut a duo album with guitar/vocal partner Tim Lothar, to be produced in Copenhagen by Harman. He also plans work with U.K. musician Big Joe Louis; and, in 2010, California Sessions, Vol. III.

While he knows he still has a lot to learn, Nande has come a long way: Three years earlier, he had a dream of working with American blues musicians. With his second volume of California sessions behind him, his progress is there for all to hear. Whereas once he showcasing instrumental prowess, his emphasis now is on the songs themselves.

“Now I focus on lyrics, on the story I want to tell,” Nande says. “You won’t find too much harmonica on this album because I found other instruments that tell the story in a better way. You won’t find many harp players doing that. Gary Primich once said to me, ‘The better I’ve become on this little silly instrument, the less and simpler I play.’

Just listen to Jelly Bean Baby, and you’ll hear where he’s going. “On these tracks, you’ll find laid-back, cool grooves that are easy to dance and listen to. You’ll find lots of air and space in the songs, and musicians playing to the songs and playing together, not trying to show off… well, maybe just a little,” Nande says, with a laugh.

Golden state of mine – wish I could turn back time
Well, I enjoyed the ride – good friends by my side
Califonia, I gotta go…
We all had a good time…

Liner notes by Bryan Powell, writer/musician, Lawrenceville, Georgia, July 2008

Song lyric excerpts from “Goodbye California” by Peter Nande

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