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Oscar Wilson and Joe Nosek work really well together with great vocals and harmonica
throughout and along with their supporting roster of top musicians have produced a great
Chicago blues style album. Sometimes it’s good to just sit back, reset and get back to basics with
the blues Chicago style and that’s exactly what this album does, no more no less!

Ged Wilson

Andres Roots—Vol. 12—Roots Art Records

Andres Roots is a slide guitarist / songwriter based in Tartu,
Estonia dubbed “the king of Estonian blues” and has performed
across Europe including the UK as well as the USA.

The album opens with some bluesy slide guitar on ‘So It Is,
Subhuti’ with hints of an eastern twist here and there somewhat
reminiscent of the late Davy Graham. ‘Sunstroke’ is more upbeat

and bordering on Led Zeppelin 3 territory at times. ‘Starbuck
Theme’ has a nice Hawaiian slide guitar style about it.

‘Birdsong Thing’ is a twelve bar slide blues whilst ‘Hawk’s Out With His Axe’ is a very pleasant
gentle melodic tune with an almost piano like sound, I really liked this tune. ‘Bye Bye Berry’ as
the title suggests features some classic Chuck Berry guitar licks. ‘Waiting Around’ has a nice
tremolo/delay sound that gives it a cool jazz feel. ‘Yuletide Blues’ as the name suggests is a
Christmas slide guitar tune with reference to jingle bells and silent night before ‘Sherwood’ an
upbeat rootsy tune closes the album.

Andres is a first class acoustic guitar player. His playing is clean and precise throughout and his
sound has been captured and produced well on this album. The problem Andres faces here is
how to keep the listener interested throughout with an album of fourteen acoustic guitar
instrumentals. Despite mixing various styles it’s still a big ask and only diehard acoustic blues
fans like myself are going to persist! I can see a lot of these tunes working well within film
scores and that may be an avenue Andres might wish to explore but in any case please give this
album a spin and see what you think.

Ged Wilson

Doug MacLeod—Raw Blues 1— Sledgehammer Blues / Val-
ley Entertainment

Doug MacLeod is an American storytelling blues musician well
known in the UK for his first class live performances. Doug has
won many blues awards over the years and “Raw Blues 1” is his
latest offering.

The album opens with ‘I’m Gone’ a raw blues with some enter-
taining lyrics, I particularly like the line, “…love is a two way
Street but you got a one way mind…’! ‘What’s Been Heard (May-
be Ain’t Been Said)’ is a slower blues which reminded me at times of the great Buddy Guy.