Well, a U.S. soldier boy on leave in West-Berlin
No music there that rocks, just a thousand violins
They wanna hear some American music, American music
They wanna hear that sound right from the U.S.A.

That may have been true in Germany a few decades ago when Dave Alvin wrote these lyrics but you can hear the sound that’s from the U.S.A. coming from some German lads who are steeped in the blues. Two brothers who are almost twenty years younger than Dave Alvin and his older brother Phil of The Blasters are making American music and having a blast doing it.

Twenty two years ago, the enigmatic guitarist Andreas Arlt and his ebullient younger brother, band front man, vocalist and harp player Michael Arlt formed the band B.B. and the Blues Shacks. Their five piece ensemble includes keyboard player Dennis Koeckstadt, bassist Henning Hauerken and Berhard Egger on drums.

 They have nine albums under their belt including their most recent a 2010 release entitled London Days on Crosscut records. London Days is available both in the popular CD format as well as on vinyl.

The band recently played in front of thousands of fans at the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, CA. One of the festival highlights each year is the inclusion of an international act. B.B. and the Blue Shacks were back at Doheny by popular demand. This represents the first time a foreign group has played this festival twice. The Brothers Arlt and their band opened for the Brothers Alvin and The Blasters on Sunday, May 22nd.

On that day, B.B. and the Blue Shacks were joined on stage by one of their musical heroes
pianist Fred Kaplan who sat in with the band on a couple of numbers. Kaplan was the subject
of BLUES JUNCTION’s Monthly Artist Spotlight in April (see Archives) and an ongoing contributor to this ezine. They closed out their set that day by sharing the stage with a true Super Hero, Candye Kane. You can read about Candye in an article written by BLUES JUNCTION contributing writer Julie Jenkins in a piece entitled Citizen Kane (see archives).

Audiences are shocked by the high quality of musicianship exhibited by the mostly European artists like B.B. and Blue Shacks. The level of musical sophistication and taste often exceeds what young bands are doing on this side of the pond. These European bands have a sense of history. When they are not doing original material they interpret the American originators, not the 60’ and 70’s era bands cover versions of that material. For instance, when American bands cover Sonny Boy Williamson's tune One Way Out, they universally choose to copy the Allman Brothers' interpretation of this tune.

Europeans also place a higher value on the arts. In Europe, American music is placed on a pedestal. It is held in high esteem and treated with a great deal more reverence . Many European bands including B.B. and the Blue Shacks are the beneficiaries of this ethos.

Additionally, many international musicians have another advantage over their American counter parts. Some artists are benefactors of government grants. Our country’s low priority as it relates to the arts puts American musicians at a distinct disadvantage. Many European musicians don’t have to take day jobs to make ends meet. Many civilized nations make health care available to all their citizens, even musicians.

European blues acts have also benefited greatly from their exposure to American players
visiting their continent. Eddie Boyd, Memphis Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) spent a great deal of time in Europe in the 1960’s. All three lived there for various amounts of time. The Willie Dixon organized “American Folk Blues Festivals” of the 1960’s not only stopped over in England, but spent a great deal of time on the European mainland as well. In recent years these concerts have been made available through a series of DVDs. They were shot for German television in front of large theatre audiences and on a television sound stage. The artists that appear on these DVDs include T-Bone Walker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Memphis Slim, Otis Spann, Hubert Sumlin as well as Willie Dixon and many others.

Last Memorial Day weekend American guitarist and ex-patriot Alex Schultz, now living in Germany, played at the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival. He played with Dutch harmonica
player and vocalist Big Pete van der Pluijm. European musicians benefit greatly by being able to play alongside veteran performers like Schultz. Big Pete and Alex Schultz closed their set with an old Smokey Smothers tune, I Got My Eyes on You, sung by one of van der Pluijm’s idols, Al Blake. The two harmonica players separated by a generation and an ocean swapped harmonica licks like blues brothers from different mothers. Junior Watson another west coast guitar legend has spent a great deal of time playing the European club and festival circuit in recent years. His playing has had a huge influence on European players such as Vidar Busk and Amund Maarud as well as countless others.

Well, it can be sweet and lovely, it can be hard and mean
One thing's for sure, it's always on the beam
They wanna hear some American music, American music
They wanna hear that sound right from the U.S.A.

A more sweet and lovely person you will not meet than Ana Popovic. She is a Serbian who plays hard and mean. She first heard American music from her father through his extensive
record collection. She told me she just kept wanting to hear more of this music that still fascinates her. Her brand of blues-rock has made her the one of the most popular artists on the scene today. Her 2009 record Blind for Love on Delta Groove’s Eclecto Groove label is one of the company’s best sellers. Popovic also played the Doheny Blues Festival and performed over the Memorial Day weekend at the 22nd annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival.

We got the Louisiana boogie and the delta blues
We got country, swing and rockabilly, too
We got jazz, country-western and Chicago blues
It's the greatest music that you ever knew
It's American music, it's American music, it's American music
It's the greatest sound right from the U.S.A.

The world’s leading authority on the international blues music scene is Jeff Scott Fleenor. This Southern California native has, for 14 years, featured international blues artists on his weekly radio program that’s broadcast out of the University of California at Irvine. Jeff has also booked at least one international act at the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, CA, every year over the past ten years. European acts not only from Germany but Norway, Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Denmark have played at this festival as a result of his efforts.

In the western hemisphere there is Montreal’s own Bharath Rajakumar, a harmonica player of phenomenal maturity, instinct and tone. Rajakumar has built his own recording studio in Montreal where he will be laying down tracks with Junior Watson and Fred Kaplan this summer for an upcoming series of recordings.

From Sao Paulo, Brazil there is the Igor Prado Band who, along with Rajakumar, have been
featured on Jeff’s radio show and graced the stages of the Doheny Blues Festival in 2010. The Igor Prado Band has a November, 2010 release on Delta Groove Records called Brazilian Kicks, which features American vocalist/harp player Lynwood Slim. The album is outstanding.

We got jazz, country-western and Chicago blues
It's the greatest music that you ever knew
It's American music, it's American music, it's American music
It's the greatest sound right from the U.S.A.

It isn’t always Americans going over to Europe. Norwegian Chris “The Kid” Andersen moved to Northern California several years ago. He has demonstrated first hand to American audiences what this phenomenon is all about. He has led his own bands and toured with

Amund Maarud, Chris Andersen & Vidar Busk

saxophonist/vocalist Terry Hanck before joining Charlie Musslewhite’s band. He then joined Rick Estrin taking over Little Charlie Baty’s guitar spot in the Nightcats. Most recently Andersen co-produced, engineered, mixed and recorded the upcoming Terry Hanck album due out later this month, entitled Look Out! Andersen also co-wrote one of the album's tunes. He plays guitar on six tracks and even bass and organ on a couple of other tunes.

Italian guitar player Enrico Crivellaro spent a great deal of time stateside over the past 15 years or so. He studied guitar under Duke Robillard on the east Coast and with Kenny Burrell at UCLA. He contributed to many fine recordings with American artists including Janiva Magness’ 1999 album My Bad Luck Soul and Finas Tasby’s 2005 What My Blues is all About.

I remember hearing for the first time a band Jeff brought over to the Unites States from Europe in 2000. The band was called Knockout Greg and Blue Weather.  They were from Sweden. I was floored by the deep appreciation they had for American music. They did originals and covered artists many American bands have never taken the time or trouble to get to know. It was moving beyond belief to hear fresh interpretations of this material played with nuanced precision, respect and with care. They had fun doing it as well. There is an element of blues history that many European bands seem to have that is lost on many of their American contemporaries, which is this music can be fun, danceable and swinging. These elements in no way make the music any less “bluesy” or any less authentic. In fact quite the opposite is true.

Listening to American music through these young artists from all over the world is inspirational and a welcome trend that breathes new life into an important aspect of our own culture.

Well, a US soldier boy has to stop right in his tracks
When he hears that crazy beat, he turns and doubles back
Because they're playing American music, American music
The whole world digs that sound from the U.S.A.

-David Mac / American Music by Dave Alvin

Note: This treatise was never conceived to be a comprehensive look at the international blues scene. There are simply too many fine blues artists from all over the world to name them all. That would be a long book. Maybe someday Jeff Scott Fleenor will write that book. He is the only person I can think of qualified to do so. Hopefully to those not aware of the depth and scope of what’s going on around the world this short piece whetted your appetite just a little. Check the June Jukebox at the JUNCTION for some tunes from some of the artists featured in this article. Also, here are some other recordings that I recommend from some international blues artists. Additionally check the links page on this site to “stream” Jeff’s radio show Mondays from 10:00am – 12:00pm PDT.

Knockout Greg & Blue Weather - The Wig-Flipper (2000)

Sven Zetterberg - Grounded In Reality (2010)

Junior Watson, Fred Kaplan & Bharath Rajakumar - Best of Three (2010)

Vidar Busk & His True Believers - Atomic Swing (1999)

Amund Maarud - Ripped, Stripped and Southern Fried (2003)

B.B. and the Blues Shacks - Midnite Diner (2001)