Bman's Blues Report

I just received the most recent release, After The Flood, from Micke Bjorklof & Blue Strip and it rocks. Opening with House For The Blues , a blues rocker, Vocalist Bjorklof and guitarist Lefty Leppanen set a strong pace backed by Teemu Vuorela on drums, Seppo Nuolikoski on bass and Timo Ruiko-Jukela on percussion. On Jack The Black Hat , the band takes a more expansive journey with heavier vocals, distorted guitars and free wheelin guitar work. Cool! Water From Your Shoe is a solid R&B style pop track with a taste of New Orleans featuring super cool piano work from Brian Coogan. Woogie Or Die is an interesting boogie track with a cool bass line. Soaring slide guitar work from Lefty give this track a sharp edge and Bjorklof's vocals with his edgy harp playing adds to the edge. Understanding opens with a slip sliding guitar part and a Latin influenced drum part. Having the flavor of a traditional western theme song with a twist, and backing vocals by Michaela Harriso...

I just received the newest release, Up The Wall, by Micke & Lefty (Featuring Chef) . Opening with acoustic ballad, You Better Me , Micke Björklöf on vocals, drums&percussion, harmonica, guitar, Lefty Leppänen on vocals, acoustic- and national steel guitar and Chef on vocals and bass sing in incredibly sweet harmony. I'm A Guitar Man is an acoustic track featuring alternating vocal leads and hard driving Texas style boogie. Lead resonator guitar soloing by Lefty is quick and clean. Up The Wall has a simple country blues feel with cool guitar and harp riffs under vocal lead by Micke, and clean bass and drums. Clean Up opens with a cool slide riff and had a early sixties rockabilly feel. Slick slide work throughout and clever vocal backing make this one of toe coolest tracks yet. Come Here Pretty Baby again showcases cool vocal harmonies and clever guitar finger work. Ultimate All Around Man has a bit of a Cajun feel with a light march beat from Micke. With it's li...