Proper (label)
14 April 2017 (released)
08 April 2017
Krissie Matthews is a phenomenal guitarist and he is definitely at his best live with his own power trio backing him up. I’m not totally convinced about his vocal prowess but the same can be said of more than a few front men.
This album was recorded in Germany at the Freak Valley festival last year and the proud boast of Matthews is that “On Freak Valley you get the real deal. No overdubs”. It sounds like it too – this is one of the few live albums I’ve heard recently that doesn’t have the spark and the joy of the music stifled by a heavy hand in the post-production studio. There is also a bonus few tracks recorded Gerd’s Juke Joint in Germany and again, they are ‘raw and naked’.
Sam Weston on bass and Max Maxwell are far more than supporting musicians and the closeness of the three is evident in the power and drive of the music – it may be Krissie Matthews by name but band by nature and all the good for it.
Blues purists will probably roll their eyes at the guitar pyrotechnics on show here but fans of Laurence Jones or Phillip Sayce will definitely recognize his talents. As a guitarist Matthews leads the line and on opener ‘Feeling For The Blues’ his power lead is speedy and riff-laden. To quote the man himself "I wasn't born in 1902, I didn't pick the cotton from the fields...although my name isn't blind boy, I got the feeling for the blues". This is the opening line. I wrote this when I was 14 as a f**k you to some of the blues purists out there. Some people used to come up to me (and still do), and say you can't play the blues unless you are 70 years old and have lived through very hard times.”
His Blues do come from the heart and from other places too especially on numbers such as ‘All Night Long’ or ‘Language By Injection’.
He does do covers, a perfect example being Blind Willie McTell’s ‘Searching the Desert For The Blues’ where he creates a Blues that is both true to the original and completely his own sound.
He will be touring throughout April and on the basis of this is a must see. Power Blues at its very best.
The Fiddler's Elbow, London
Wednesday 19th April 2017
Tickets: £5 advance £8 door
Book Online: eventbrite.com
Box Office: 0207 4853 269, 07877 798 233
Venue Email: elbowgigs@hotmail.co.uk
1 Malden Road, Camden, NW5 3HS
www.thefiddlerselbow.co.uk
Tring Blues Bar, Tring
Thursday 20th April 2017
Tickets: £6 entry on door
Venue Tel: 07713 450992
Venue Email: info@bluesbartring.co.uk
Tring Park Cricket Club, London Road, Tring, Herts, HP23 6HA
www.bluesbartring.co.uk
The Bear Club, Luton
Friday 21st April 2017
Tickets: £9 advance £10 door
Book Online: www.the-bear.club/reservation
Venue Email: www.the-bear.club/contact
Mill Yard, 24A Guildford St, Luton LU1 2NR
www.the-bear.club
The Fleur De Lys, Didcot
Saturday 22nd April 2017
Tickets: £10 on door or call venue in advance
Box Office: 01235 813 247
Venue Email: www.thefleurdelyspub.co.uk
30 Main Road, East Hagbourne, Didcot, OX11 9LN
Black Market, Mansfield
Sunday 23rd April 2017
Tickets: £5 on door
Box Office: 01623 842 105
Venue Email: info@blackmarketvenue.co.uk
43 High St, Warsop, Mansfield, NG20 0AB
www.blackmarketvenue.co.uk
Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff
Monday 24th April 2017
Tickets: £5 advance £6 door
Book Online: www.fatsoma.com/fuel
Venue Box Office: 02920644176
Venue Email: mail@givemefuel.co.uk
5 Womanby Street, Cardiff, CF10
www.fuelrockclub.com
The Arches, Coventry
Thursday 27th April 2017
Tickets: £7 advance £9 door
Book Online: theticketsellers.co.uk
Box Office: 024 7671 1010
Venue Email: archesvenue@gmail.com
22-23 Arches Industrial Estate, Coventry CV1 3JQ
www.archesvenue.co.uk
