Now, I’m not at all sure why anyone would try and sell new versions of some of the best Rock and Roll songs ever put down on plastic. But if anyone is going to be that crazy, then it might as well be someone that is doing it for the fun rather than the money. In which case, Mr Mike Zito gets away with the ‘blasphemy’ of re-playing already perfect Rock n Roll songs with perfection on his new release A Tribute To Chuck Berry
Things seem to have been quiet for Dani Wilde since her 2012 release ‘Juice me up’ on RUF Records. In fact, Dani has been pretty busy touring, writing, and making sizeable dents in the Country music charts. Things seem to all be coming together right now for the belle from Brighton, and with the release this week of her new CD on Bri-Tone ‘Songs About You’ and a concert scheduled for Cologne’s Yardclub (28 April) this seems to be a good time to catch up with whats happened since my previous interview in 2012.
Prepare for tales of growing up, falling in love, out of love, and growing old. Like I say, it’s been a busy last couple of years for Dani Wilde…
‘Where the Blues Crosses over’ is how RUF Records describe the music they offer. On this the tenth Anniversary of their Blues Caravan Tour it was very definitely crossing over into Rock, and you didn’t need the tattoo of Hendrix on the shoulder of Christina Skjölberg to tell you that, it pounded out of the speakers from three relatively unknown musicians who all clearly wanted to say ‘Here I Am’. It’s a hard old musical world out there though so who has the looks and the licks to succeed? Christina Skjolberg, Laurence Jones and Albert Castiglia – let battle commence…
My first memories of Denis Palatin come from a review I did of Ana Popovic at Cafe Hahn in Koblenz some years ago. I remember he was at the bar with Ana’s then bassist Fabrice Ach after doing the early evening soundcheck and it struck me that he was still tapping his fingers on the bar counter in between sips of coffee. Even taking a break he seemed in search of rhythm it seemed. I’d jokingly asked if his neighbor’s were relieved whenever he went off on Tour – living next-door to a drummer must be Hell I suggested, unless you’re deaf, and even then it must be unpleasant when the plaster jumps from the ceiling. Maybe, I pondered,it was one of those neighbors who in a search for peace and quiet gave Thomas Ruf a call and suggested Denis would make an excellent Road drummer for RUF’s Touring Show the Blues Caravan? Or quite possibly Mr Ruf saw Palatin, with his congenial temperament and adaptable drum technique, as the perfect man for the job. After asking my first question in 2006 it seemed time for another, and following the Show at Bonn Harmonie I asked it, and another…
Time once again for the RUF Records Blues Caravan to hit town. It would be easy to say ‘What again’ except that every year Thomas Ruf seems to find a new batch of musicians and stir them together to create a hot and tasty Blues Soup for Harmonie visitors to savor. This year saw the return of Joanne Shaw Taylor and Jimmy Bowskill, with the Bonn debut of Tennessee born Bart Walker.
Germany’s first real taste of ‘The Finnish Bonnie Raitt’ came with her appearance on the 2007 Blues Caravan. It brought a lot of praise, particularly for the girl’s undeniable slide guitar talents, but also a lot of expectation. In ‘Forbidden Fruit’, Erja Lyttinen’s fourth studio album for RUF, there is certainly a depth both lyrically and musically that leaps out from the earlier discs.
Following the Blues Caravan show almost a year ago to the day here at the Harmonie the question was – ‘Is Bonn ready for ‚More Girls with Guitars’?‘ The packed house that turned out was an emphatic YES! And Dani Wilde, Sam Fish and Victoria Smith, aided by drummer Denis Palatin, rewarded them with an explosive set of hard hitting music on high heels.
