Stefan Schill

Supporting Philip Sayce at London’s 100 Club Stefan Schill gave a fine account for himself and seeing his enthusiasm and sheer excitement at playing one of the great venues sent me back to listen to this album with fresh ears; he really is a very fine talent.

He sits in the ‘Funky Blues Rock’ type of space and he’s got a voice that could be American or European with a fine drawl and relaxed style but his guitar playing is quite excellent and even though he is still very young I would happily put him up alongside Danny Bryant or Simon McBride in terms of his playing. His band are no slouches either with Bob Fridzema’s Hammond and other keys balancing Stefan’s raunch with full, rolling sounds.

The songs are all self-written but there isn’t any sense of self-indulgence because they are all band workouts and the whole album rocks along with real pizzazz and even gets a lazy git like me boogieing along. ‘U Don’t Mind’ is a real cracker with a great choppy sound and a good groove; ‘Gone By Tomorrow’ has a jazzy feel to its Blues and Schill’s guitar tone is full and soulful but it really is the first track, ‘Any Direction’ that gets my shoulders shaking and the organ sound and kickass guitar is terrific – I just love the lazy feel to his vocals.

The current crop of young Bluesmen is incredibly strong at the moment with the likes of Oli Brown, Virgil & The Accelerators and Jay Tamkin all making a big name for themselves but on the basis of this album Stefan is one more to watch and a nice kid too; Provogue have got themselves some real potential here.