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song lyrics already, but lately words just seem to distract from the music... Unless
it’s Bob Dylan, of course – he’s still got it.
BiTS: I saw a review of a gig you did where the reviewer said it was like
listening to six people play. How do you feel about that?
AR: Humbled – I’d say it’s three people at most! But I’m definitely glad to hear it.
Years ago, while I was with a traditional blues rock band, it occurred to me that a
guitar player in a rock band is only doing what any piano player can cover with just
one hand: either soloing or chording. So I became determined to try and get that
“other hand” in there, and it makes me very happy to hear that on occasion, I may
have succeeded.
BiTS: Recently, and it’s the source of your latest album, you played at
Temperance. What was it like?
AR: Brilliant. The first time I was
there was a Monday night in July
last year, and it was just amazing
– a real cool place and a
wonderful audience! I had no
intention of making a record, but
Adrian Gains, who runs the place,
had everything set up, so I said
“why not” and just like that we
had a great-sounding live album!
I played there again on the launch
Andres at the King’s Theatre, Kirkcaldy, 2024. Photo by tour this March and it was great,
Dave Arcari. again. If you haven’t visited
Temperance yet, you definitely
should.
BiTS: You are about to go on a short tour of the south of England. How did
that come about?
AR: Well, I’d been talking to Bournemouth Brewery when booking the March tour,
but those plans had to be scrapped when the Bradford Estonian Club asked me to
go and play there as part of their 70th anniversary celebrations – I could hardly say
no to that, but it was the next day and getting from Bournemouth to Leeds in time
would have depended on way too many trains not being late... I wasn’t happy about
turning Bournemouth down, though, so when I was booked to play the Howth Roots
& Blues Festival in Ireland, I jumped at the chance to do the Mardi Blues Club on my
way back.
Now, British TV series are extremely popular in Estonia, and in most of them,
someone travels to Brighton at some point, so that seemed like the logical next step
– The Caroline of Brunswick was very welcoming, too.