Robert Hill was early caught by Woodie Guthrie’s music and it was natural that he soon also got to be inspired by others like Lightnin’ Hopkins, Reverend Gary Davis and of course the inevitable Bob Dylan. With Guthrie as the obvious guiding star these influences characterize his music on the debut album “What Are We Waiting For”, which was released this Autumn.

Brian Kramer, with his earthy blues fingers, has produced the album and guests on two of the tracks with his guitar. Besides that  it’s just Robert we meet, with his acoustic guitar and sometimes his harmonica, on the 13 blues and folk songs. I think it’s an impressive album where he, despite the distance in time and space, and with only 20 years of age, makes it feel so authentic, close and honest. Authentic meaning that it’s Robert we meet, his stories, feelings, frustrations and view of the world. Add to this an excellent blues and folk guitar and you have an album that is easy to get caught by.

I’m afraid I can’t find any listening links at the moment, but I will update as soon as they show up. Meanwhile you can taste the album in the two songs below.

Robert Hill on Facebook

Debt blues
Talking Blues blues 

Last Autumn I wrote about Coyote Deathbed, a somewhat mysterious band. I do know, though, that Måns Rohde Wittsell is involved in the band. Måns normally is the singer and guitar player in the band Wittsell 3, a trio which was formed in 2010, and that recently released their debut EP, “Using Palettes”.

It feels like a mix of older and newer influences, of classic blues and blues rock mixed with garage rock and a dose of grunge. Besides drums and bass guitar they are armed with a distorted 12-string guitar and  wah-wah pedal, and manage to create a special sound and a cool jam-vibe in the songs.

Wittsell 3 on Facebook – on Spotify – on Soundcloud

Using Palettes

During my years of blogging here on Meadowmusic, one of my absolutely best discoveries was Andreas Lundgrens “Bad Buddha”, which I wrote about back in 2008. As he now finally released a new album, “Lovely Dream”, I was of course excited to see what it was about.

And I’m met by a painfully beautiful music. In general terms I could say that it’s a mix Americana, blues and acoustic rock. Across the somewhat desolate atmosphere road dust sweeps in and gives an authentic feeling for the journey Andreas shows us, often accompanied by a worn acoustic guitar. It’s an inner journey, which is hard not to get affected by, self-revealing and naked, as a musical showdown with himself.

It’s not heavy, rather darkly beautiful, with wonderful melodies and often a more low-voiced Andreas than before, but who sometimes rips and shakes you around. All the songs are written by Andreas except the enchanting “Why I Am” where Jade Ellis has written the lyrics, which she also sings.

To me this is without a doubt the strongest album experience I’ve hade this year. “Lovely Dream” was recently released digitally and is available on Spotify. Here are three songs from the album:

Where the Wildfire Runs
If I Get High
Misery

Three years ago I wrote about Lo Kivikas as a solo artist. The year after she began collaborating with legendary Bosse Skoglund to record a new album, which later on resulted in the album “Sister Blue” and the band project InLOve.

It’s an intimate story with slow, soft rock and Americana and, as the name suggests, with blues vibes, emphasized by Roland Nilsson’s wonderful harmonica. Even though I feel that the sound is a little to compressed here and there for my taste, overall it’s a strong and emotional album. There’s a lot of room here for Lo’s special voice and expression, a voice that reminds me of Marianne Faithful.

You can listen to the album on Spotify and follow InLOve on Facebook.

Lay Down
Knocked Out

Despite the french sounding band name, the band Lé Betre don’t hesitate to dig deep down into the dirty blues rock soil on the new EP “Gentlemens Club Cabin”. It’s a nice raw, almost stoner rock-vibing sound, which is fronted perfectly by Marcus Jonssons raspy vocals.

The name in itself has no direct meaning in French. It was invented by drummer Jonas Sahlberg when he was playing with a word during a walk. And the word he was playing with was of course “Lé batteur”, the french word for drummer.

You can listen to the EP on their Facebook page and follow them on their site. The album will be available on Spotify within short. Here’s the first track out of five, “Easy Rider”:

Easy Rider