BIOGRAPHY
Andres Roots Roundabout is a loose association of musicians operating out of Tartu, Estonia and led by former Bullfrog Brown guitarist Andres Roots. Dubbed “an ambassador of the guitar” by the Estonian Kitarr quarterly and “a messenger of roots music” by Finland’s Blues News magazine, the man with the predestined surname topped the video chart on Estonian national TV with his first solo single "Redecoration Day" in 2010, received four consecutive “Best European Blues Album” awards from Canada’s Blues Underground Network for CD’s he either produced or co-produced in 2008-2011, and was voted 5th best International Solo Artist in the UK’s Blues Matters magazine Writers’ Poll 2011.
The trio line-up heard mixing swing and psychedelic roots rock on the band’s new “Electric Dixieland” EP and seen backing Scots alt.blues hero Dave Arcari in the recent Buzz Records rockumentary “Forty Days & Forty Nights” also features Roots’ one-time guitar student Martin Eessalu on second guitar and long-time Bullfrog-associate Raul Terep on drums. In 2011, Eessalu and Terep appeared on the Roundabout album “Leigh’s Spider Jam” and the Roots-produced L.R.Phoenix CD “The Hollow Log Of Capt. Richard Wolfe”, both of which were climbing the blues charts in France by January 2012. Spring 2012 also saw the cinematic premiere of the Estonian-Latvian-Belarusian film “Lonely Island” that features music by Andres Roots, including two live numbers from “Leigh’s Spider Jam”.
During 2011-2012, Roundabout and/or Andres Roots have appeared at a variety of international festivals such as Stompin’ At The Savoy, Lahti Grand Blues, Kaavi Blues and Leppävirta Blues Picnic in Finland, Jazzkaar, Viru Folk, Guitar Jamboree and Pärnu Bluusipäevad in Estonia, and Le Blues Autour du Zinc in France. Upcoming festival engagements for 2012 include Louisiana Cajun Party in Finland, Fontaine Festival in Latvia and Ugriblues and Augustibluus in Estonia. Additionally, the trio will embark on a series of UK gigs in September – that will be Roots’ first trip to England since 2009 when he headlined the UK’s only Bob Dylan festival in Manchester with Bullfrog Brown.
"Electrified jug-band blues shaking hands with The Rolling Stones...a treasure-chest of Americana." – Blues Blast Magazine, USA
"Original and inventive." – Rootstime, Belgium
"Roots Blues of the highest order." – Wasser-Prawda, Germany
"Any modern Blues fan should love this." – Blues Matters, UK
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