Biography
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Years Active
2003 – present (21 years)
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Members
- Andres Roots
"Alar Kriisa, any punk rock blues kid should be able to appreciate his gruff vocals. He sounds like Leon Redbone piss drunk and fronting an Alice Cooper cover band and this is a good thing, a very good thing. The lyrics ramble shamelessly like Dylan, but latter-day Dylan, "Love and Theft" Dylan, which, again, is a good thing, a very good thing," writes Blues In London critic Eric Gebhardt. "Any purist should be able to appreciate the fantastic guitar playing of the great Andres Roots. Andres plays with a soul that feels to be as old as the music he's playing, behind a rhythm section that reminds me of Tom Waits' "Bone Machine" at times."
Combining contemporary, dylanesque lyrics with funky, slide-driven Delta Blues themes and a Jim Morrison-meets-Tom Waits delivery, vocalist Alar Kriisa and guitarist Andres Roots have ensured steady rotation for their songs on blues radio shows on four continents since 2005, while their busy live schedule has taken the little band from Tartu, Estonia to festivals and clubs in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, France and the UK.
Originally founded as a trio with harpist Ullar Kart from the ashes of the award-winning blues-rock outfit Green Bullfrog Kriisa and Roots led before 2003, Bullfrog Brown became a duo in 2008, with veteran British harpist Steve Lury guesting occasionally. Recorded in 2008 and released this February, “Bullfrog Brown with Steve Lury” marked a reunion with Green Bullfrog bassist Peeter Piik - having contributed bass and mandolin to several Bullfrog Brown recordings over the years, Piik officially joined the band in April 2009, with a CD by the current trio slated for release this year.
In 2006, Bullfrog’s “Uncooked” EP was nominated for the “Deed of the Year” award in the group's hometown and a track from the CD included as the only post-1971 and non-American recording in the “History of Slide Guitar” programme on Radio Melibokus in Germany. In 2007, Bullfrog Brown became the highest ranking blues band in ubl.com's Ultimate Band Competition, placing 6th in a 2-year race with thousands of international pop, rock, and hip-hop acts – a mere fortnight before picking up the first prize from the Blindman’s Blues Forum showcase.
Described as “huge stage presence and a superb band” by British radio DJ Dave Raven, Bullfrog Brown’s live performances have been broadcast on national television in Estonia and in Lithuania, most recently as surprise guests on the Estonian Eurovision finals programme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5WydgwOCWY . The promotional video for “Build Me A Statue”, shot in Greenwich, London by Andy Wicks, has even popped up on MTV Estonia.
As critics alternate between “more real than the real thing” (René Malines, “Virus de Blues”) and “all of this punk rock blues experimentation has finally been perfected” (Eric Gebhardt, “Blues In London”), Bullfrog Brown feel equally at home backing Mississippi blues legends such as Honeyboy Edwards and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sweden’s Deltahead at alt.blues events. With their 2008 duo EP “Mother River Delta” declared Best European Release by Canada’s Blues Underground Network, Bullfrog Brown stand as the best-known Estonian act on the blues scene.
“The new voice and sound of the old blues.” - John Vermilyea, Blues Underground Network
“Makes me think of Jim Jarmusch movies.” - Ted Coe, KCSB FM
"We sounded pretty good together!" - David 'Honeyboy' Edwards
Festivals played include:
Le Blues Autour du Zinc, France (2009)
Puistoblues, Finland (2006)
Augustibluus, Estonia (2003-2008)
Bliuzo Naktys, Lithuania (2005, 2008)
Floating Cockroach Alt.Blues Festival, Finland (2007, 2008)
Fontaine Festival, Latvia (2008)
Bellshill Music Festival, Scotland (2009)
Savonsolmu Beach & Blues Party, Finland (2007)
WRA InterContinental Resophonic Guitar Festival, Czech Republic (2005)
Kaavi Blues, Finland (2007)
Tallinn Music Week/Jazzkaar Showcase, Estonia (2009)
Baltic-Nordic Harmonica Festival, Estonia (2008)
Bluza Krustceles, Latvia (2004)
Fiesta de la Guitarra, Estonia (2006)
Prima Vista Literature Festival, Estonia (2004, 2009)
Soodoma Rock, Estonia (2004)
and many more…
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