The UK based British-Norwegian guitarist KRISSY MATTHEWS and his blues-roots comrades are out on a Spring tour to celebrate the release of their first live album “Live At Freak Valley.”
THE KRISSY MATTHEWS BAND is best described as an intoxicating and powerful rock trio, busy with the blues tradition.
Krissy has opened for several high profile artists in his career, such as Joe Bonamassa, Toto, Gregg Allman and Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Live At Freak Valley — recorded during the Freak Valley Psych-Stoner-Blues Festival in Siegen, Germany in May 2016 — captures the sheer adrenaline and absolute thrill of a talented blues rock trio that includes Sam Weston on bass & vox with Max Maxwell on drums & vox and Krissy himself on guitar and lead vocals.
Bonus tracks on the edition also include some songs recorded at Gerd’s Juke Joint in Joldelund in April 2016.
We had a listen:
If you’re a white teenager living in the Shires it is not difficult to feel estranged from the bullshit rules that purists might feel you have to comply with…
It’s a given, for example, that you have to be blind, black, poor and at least seventy years old to be able to do the blues properly.
But a teenager from Europe can feel the melancholy and the ‘devils’ just as keenly as any Dockery share-cropper in Mississippi… and can make an equally valid expression.
“Feeling for the Blues” is a song that has rice and soy rhythms scattered all over it and a guitar that seems smeared as darkly pungent as a flood of chopped walnut oil. The high melting point occurs when a fatty loose-limbed riff takes over completely. This is suffocating… yet Krissy wrote it when he was fourteen.
“I’ve Been Searching” exclaims Krissy. And is that for a girl or for an identity? If a musician is looking for freedom, then he will not want to compromise. This has dark centrifugal riffs and ram-pressed rhythms and seems uncomfortably tight until the lead guitar is released. Once uncoupled from the anchor-weight of stability, the sensation is release. But at any cost?
The listener can hear the crowd murmur on “All Night Long” written when Krissy was seventeen. The guitar follows the voice here. Krissy’s vocal is vigorous and athletically forceful— though no match for his anxious, agile fretwork that’s break-neck intrepid and given-up without hesitation. This song has more of those dark, low yawns … It’s as if, inside all of Krissy’s songs, there is a measure of undealt regret.
“The Soul Will Never Die” is a song about a casual meeting with B.B. King [Krissy likes to create his own opportunities] and a reflection on the night that probably changed his life.
It’s a slow lob and an electrified walk. The amazing guitar radiates out from this number like a young animated sprite. This recalls the night when the imp was freed from the bottle.
This is a collection of zippy songs that soar ever-more angelically using the brightest colours found in the Blues.
Words: @neilmach 2017 ©
Photos Credit: Robert Lesic ©
There’s still time to see Krissy play live in the UK [dates below] for Euro Dates check https://www.facebook.com/krissymatthewsband
The Fiddler’s Elbow, London Wednesday 19 April
Tring Blues Bar, Tring Thursday 20 April
The Bear Club, Luton Friday 21 April
The Fleur De Lys, Didcot Saturday 22 April
Black Market, Mansfield Sunday 23 April
Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff Monday 24 April
The Arches, Coventry Thursday 27 April
RAW RAMP 