After this auspicious start, Johns formidable chops as a guitarist, singer and songwriter were cultivated the hard way: in the trenches of bands, breakups and tours up and down the UK and far beyond. A master of making his instrument whisper and wail, Harley is virtually unmatched in the category of vocal guitar playing. Another of the albums standouts include Rocking in Louisiana. Fueled by a swamp-rock attack that Creedence Clearwater Revival would envoy, the track reminds us (as CCR did) that a true fondness for Louisiana blues can live in the hearts of those born and raised elsewhere. Having gained a sturdy online following during lockdown, the dedication of When Rivers Meets fans has recently been proven in the real world as theyve played a string of jam-packed venues on their first ever UK headline tour. The name says it all. Song Starter Kit: Bringing It Home from Bringing It Home (single), Shake a Bone from Shake a Bone, Devil Take My Soul from O2. We do not believe there is a best or least best. Allison is the son of blues great, Luther Allison, and is regarded as a slide guitar master. But it seems likely that both problems will work themselves out in time. Backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, the result is not just superb musicianship but a fresh sound with an emphasis on groove. If you enjoy our site, you can help with a small donation. So awesome to see When Rivers Meet made the list!! It proves that, even when steeped in a century of tradition, the blues is as fresh as this mornings snow fall. Anthony Gomes website, Britains own blues/rock hurricane King King dropped the bands most evolved record yet this year with Maverick, which was released on Channel 9 Records. An emerging talent on the UK circuit, Kyla Broxs blues is tinged with jazz, soul, funk and pop elements. So it should come as no shock to learn that Bonamassas latest effort is as consistently solid as anything hes ever created. It finds her making John Mayer (opens in new tab)'s Slow Dancing In A Burning Room and Rag N' Bone Man's Human her own, alongside the new song Here Comes The Flood that's sure to transfer well when she returns to the stage. Howlin' Wolf. Mindi Abair & the Boneshakers (blues, blues-rock, R&B, funk, jazz) Saxophonist, singer-songwriter Video Website Josh Smith (blues, blues-rock, rock, funk, jazz) Guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer. This list is in no particular order. Review of Containment Blues Another phenomenal young playing and vocal talent that assures us guitar is in great hands. 2,625,527 listeners. Song Starter Kit: 12 Gauge from A Savage Life, Blues On The Bay from A Savage Life, Hell For You from Spain to Italy. FANTASTIC NEGRITO - HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND YET. The 2020 FORM UKBlues Awards will be presented at an event which will take place on Sunday 17th May 2020 at Dingwalls in Camden, London. All important, significant and iconic names in british blues music history deserve your votes, so make sure to choose wisely. It features a good man feeling bad and sharing his anguish through both vocals and his harmonica. List includes The Yardbirds, Eric Burdon & the Animals, more. All rights reserved. Savoy Brown. One cursory listen might lead you into thinking their sound is Southern rockthey are much more than that. She managed to play some of her March UK run in support of 2019's Reckless Heart before the pandemic intervened, but JST managed to follow-up the record with companion EP Reckless Blues in 2020. Photo: Jack Broadbent (Jack Fasano), When Rivers Meet (Rob Blackham, Troy Redfern (Rob Blackham), Elles Bailey (Rob Blackham), UK Blues. [38] Review of 100 years of Blues That brings us to his latest offering Thats What I Heard. Through All My Dues are Paid we learn of Beys humble and hurtful beginnings as a poor and black young man raised in the Jim Crow south. These are truly the greatest british blues bands of all time, since the most famous british blues artists ever are listed, and the order is decided by actual fans of the best british blues music. Good Times, as its title would suggest, pines for days gone by with a wistful, gentle breeze of a sound. If its not the albums best track its a close second to her cover of the stunning Billie Holiday classic Strange Fruit. Overall, Blackbirds is a very compelling piece of work. List includes The Yardbirds, Eric Burdon & the Animals, more. Dion website, British singer-songwriter Lynne Jackaman, former frontwoman of rock band, Saint Jude, released One Shot, recorded at Fame Studios, Muscle Shoals. A recent inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame, Bettye Lavettes name may not be as familiar to some as other greats, but make no mistake, this blueswoman is deserving of the highest praise available. When Rivers Meet The sheer energy between Primer and Corrimore are enough to create magic. From seasoned veterans to young breakthrough artists whove used social media to put themselves in front of an audience of millions, to those doing it the old fashioned way in pubs and clubs up and down the country, heres (in no particular order) our list of 15 Great British blues artists to check out right now. Wille and The Bandits are UK festival favourites whose brand of uplifting, rootsy blues rock has been working fields full of music lovers into jubilant frenzies for over a decade. on: function(evt, cb) { With an underpinning of traditional blues and classic rock, their album We Fly Free boasts a genuine, gritty sound with a vintage vibe. But Copeland has recently turned forty and her voice shows all of the gravity and none of the rust of a blues elder statesman. Plan to check out We Fly Free and One Shot also. Individuals [ edit] Ian A. Anderson Elles Bailey [1] Ginger Baker Long John Baldry [2] Chris Barber Norman Beaker [3] Jeff Beck [2] Duster Bennett [2] Graham Bond [2] Marcus Bonfanti [4] John Bonham [5] Geoff Bradford Jack Broadbent [6] Jack Bruce [2] Danny Bryant Eric Burdon Fronted by the American radio and TV personality Robert "Sully" Sullivan and consisting of a host of seasoned musicians including bassist James East who has worked with some of the best including Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson and Elton John. You can only vote once on this list. Their cover of the Phil Colins 80s hit In the Air Tonight will bring a rattle to your bone, but so will almost everything here. Hometown: Seattle, Washington. Joe shares some of his finest blues licks (opens in new tab). To anyone concerned with the current state of the blues, Whitney Shays latest release Stand Up could have been delivered with you in mind. listeners: [], Marcus King website, Mike Zito and his smoking band tracked Quarantine Blues while actually in quarantine at the beginning of the pandemic. Review of Ordinary Madness Having taken cues from the likes of John Lee Hooker and Little Feats Lowell George, his guitar playing also resonates with an untamed intensity. At just 17 years old, Toby Lee has already packed tonnes into his musical career. Picking a favorite would be tough, but the soft ballad Bell Bottom Blues (first made famous by Eric Claptain) is nothing short of heartbreaking. This list answers the questions "who are the best british blues bands of all time?" It returns the listener to the vintage day of the blues, when all it took to get a juke joint jumping was a good man playing a great harmonica. Highly recommended. British blues groups and artists are shown below along with any additional genres in which their music belongs. Blues Artist of the Year - sponsored by Blues in the South Blues Instrumentalist of the Year - sponsored by Digital Blues A mix of blues originals and covers, and two co-writes with Robert Crays bass player, Richard Cousins, My Blues Pathway features 10 tracks of sumptuous, soulful guitar, smooth vocals and catchy melodies with groove. But the old adage of if it aint broke, dont fix it applies very much to this legend. Jared Leto, Thirty Seconds to Mars is an emo-inflected alternative rock group. Uncivil War would not have been possible by a less time-tested voice. Some amazing talent here, I cant wait to dig deeper. Robin Trower Dave Horton - Electric and Acoustic guitar . Keary, The Gospel-influenced Burying Ground may be the albums best track because it reminds listeners of how much of Crays signature sound is rooted in his deep, resonant voice. If you enjoy our site, you can help with a small donation. Indeed he sounds like he means everything. This is very much the case with Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhites deeply satisfying 100 Years of the Blues. window.mc4wp.listeners.push( Put simply, Johns has bags of personality, and thats a weighty currency. Tinsley Ellis website, Released on KTBA Records (Joe Bonamassas record label) Blues with Friends by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dion, features blues/roots contemporary artists Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, Samantha Fish John Hammond Jr., Sonny Landreth Jerry and Jimmy Vivino, Joe Louis Walker, Brian Setzer, Stevie Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, and more. Put it this way, its not easy to listen to King Size Slim without breaking into an unconscious head bob or foot tap at the very least. As a vibrant collection of songs, All My Dues are Paid continues to fuel it even beyond the singers passing of roughly five months ago. Captured live at a packed music club in Germany, this live set is a raw and real set of blues mixed with rock, R&B, jazz and funk from Allisons collection since he began his solo career in the 1990s. Song Starter Kit: Bluesmans Child from Pain & Glory, If You See Him from Throw Away Your Blues, Beautiful Day from Throw Away Your Blues. 2020 Blues Albums Spotify Playlist If 2020 will be forever remembered as the year of a deadly pandemic, it can also be thought of as a year that demonstrated the undying spirit of the blues. Releases from stalwarts like Savoy Brown and Robert Cray as well as newer voices like Whitney Shays and Shemekia Copeland shone as brightly as ever. Recorded in Memphis by the Idaho born and bred Nemeth, Stronger than Strong engages the listener for all the reasons any great blues album engage the fans. His song writing goes far beyond tried and tested tropes, his licks balance classic vibes with contemporary flair, and his main guitar of choice an Ernie Ball Music Man Eddie Van Halen signature isnt exactly the conventional bluesmans go to. If the late Frank Bey isnt familiar to you, the opening (and title) track of his final album serves as a fine introduction. A vintage party that evokes the kind of old-school shindig where you could picture James Dean cutting the rug with Marilyn Monroe. Its a fine enough album closer to make you forget that Stronger that strong is at times a little uneven. King, often come up. You make it easier to keep track of all the new music by established and new artists. 'Girls with Guitars' -The 2011 Ruf Records Blues Caravan Tour - presents three of the scene's hottest young female guitar. All the top british blues bands named on the list also have discographies on their pages if you click on the british blues band names themselves. But any listener seeking guitar wizardry would do no better than the wounded Heart so Heavy. Clearly, Fletcher wants us to feel every note and with the aid of his stunning technique, we do. Epitomising the spirit of DIY, Darvills music has found its way into the eardrums of millions without the backing of a big label, and his tunes have appeared on hit shows like Breaking Bad, Preacher, and Bloodline. Wordfence is a security plugin installed on over 4 million WordPress sites. Kingfish is a player who inspires while simultaneously makes us want to give up the Clarksdale-born sensation is just on that higher blues plain that few can ever ascend to. We'll put money on next year being an even bigger one. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Since then, his YouTube channel has amassed millions of views, hes shared The Royal Albert Halls stage with Joe Bonamassa and been invited to join the Gibson Alliance a select group of musicians chosen to help shape the future of Gibson Guitars. In October, Erja also took part in our Virtual Guitar Show, breaking down some of the songs from her back catalogue and showing us her rig . Song Starter Kit: Cant You See What Youre Doing To Me (Live) ft. Kenny Wayne Shepherd from Blues From The Heart Live, Stop Messin Round from The Blues Album, The Best Thing from Reckless Heart. Black Top Run combines vocal and instrumental cuts to great effect and paints a clear picture of Landreths monumental talent and keen instincts. We know that the fans have been and are keeping the music we love alive and that theyll be there ready to jam when the pandemic has been contained and we can gather safely again. Another home run Martine! Castiglia is a dominant guitarist, a strong singer, and a compelling entertainer who is creating his own legend now, in real time. Thats awesome, glad our lists are helpful and you enjoy them! Tracked at Abbey Road Studios and released by J&R Adventures, the set features new material co-written by Bonamassa and important British musicians including former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden, ex-Cream lyricist Pete Brown, and piano man Jools Holland. It was a tough year for blues its players win hearts and minds the old way, on the stage. British blues artists list, with photos, ranked best to worst by votes. Theres attitude by the fistful in everything the band has released to date, which is perhaps unsurprising when you consider that the heavily tattooed, Telecaster-wielding Barras is an ex-MMA cage fighter. The Kris Barras Band The list includes all new british blues bands, and if there are any missing on the list, you can always add them yourself. Despite its challenges 2020 was a special one for him, where the relentless touring had to stop but Joe Bonamassa certainly didn't. Born in the unlikely city of Paris, France at a time (1965) when the blues seemed to be in commercial decline, Bernard Allison may not have been the blues hero we were expecting, but if his latest album is any indication, hes on a mission to prove himself capable of the job. Review of Last Light On The Highway Young sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell seem to be on a mission to revive lagging mainstream popularity of the acoustic blues by performing mostly recent pop and rock hits. For all his obvious skill as a songwriter, his resonant tenor rattles the soul just as much. Theyd been in Europe on tour but COVID-19 cancelled their gigs. window.mc4wp = window.mc4wp || { There are those who believe the blues is a musical idiom that can only be mastered by Americans. Although Joanne Shaw Taylor has upped sticks and taken up residence in the US, shes an artist that the Brits are very proud to call their own. Having spent most of his career as an R&B songwriter (The Ann Peebles hit I cant stand the Rain is his best known song) the 78-year-old from Memphis, Tennessee has also dabbled in releasing vocal albums. And a damn tasty one at that. Tickets will be on sale in the near future at UKBlues Federation. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Meanwhile, Hot refocuses the attention right back to Crays guitar playing as a scorching demonstration of his ability to set the fretboard ablaze. The same could be said of Watch Your Back, a darker form of satire than Zombies, but also clever and salient enough to the album the color it needs. The style is instantly recognizable to his fans and likely to promptly convert those who arent yet fans. More likely, youll be walking down the street, headphones in, and only become alerted to the fact your gaits developed an unusual slink because people have started staring at you. If you're a fan of blues and blues/rock, some of these artists you know well. Unemployment Highly Annoyed hints that The 48-year-old guitarist/vocalist isnt a happy man. Released by Blue Corn Music, the record was captured live January 26th, 2019 at the 105-year-old Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas and is an overwhelming mix of Ruthies blues and gospel skills and fully-orchestrated big band arrangements. A contemporary exploration of Southern R&B, Country-soul, blues/rock and blues, El Dorado established King as one of the most soulful voices of his generation. Your access to this service has been limited. Charlie Musselwhite website, Alastair Greenes 2020 effort The New World Blues on Tab Benoits Whiskey Bayou Records is a stripped-down blast of live-in-the-studio blues/rock built on grit, soul, and first takes. His idiosyncratic guitar playing often echoes the hypnotism of Mississippi Hill Country Blues, while his vocals are projected forth with all the volume and cadence of a wild street poet. Le live de Kenny Wayne Shepherd est somptueux, et le Jeremiah Johonson ?? We tried very hard to narrow our list down to Top 20 but we could not bring ourselves to cut one more album. Along the way there was another Epiphone signature model, producing Eric Gales' forthcoming studio album, a film about his own remarkable career and Joe has even reversed roles to great effect interviewing his peers in the Live From Nerdville series (check it out here (opens in new tab) it's great). Adept at acoustic and electric styles, he imparts a natural, unlaboured charm to his guitar playing, and hes been blessed with an innate gift for storytelling that allows him to side-step lyrical cliches at every turn.