Ari Eisinger at the Gregson Arts Centre, Lancaster on Friday
Oct 7, 2017 7:23:31 GMT
cottonopolis, geddarby, and 4 more like this
Post by lavaman on Oct 7, 2017 7:23:31 GMT
Ari rarely visits the UK so it was worth a two hour drive up the M6 on a wet Friday afternoon to hear this master country blues picker. The Gregson is a great venue, manned mostly by enthusiastic volunteers serving fine cask ales and yummy food. Mrs lavaman and I met up with geddarby for a post HB8 natter and pre-concert meal. During our meal Ari Eisinger came over to join us for half an hour. He is a really nice guy. I was surprised to discover that such a talented singer and guitar player has to hold down a 'proper' job writing computer software. His UK tour was undertaken during his annual leave. I guess country blues isn't appreciated widely enough. (Why aren't there more country blues nerds in the world?)
He played almost exclusively country blues from the 1920s and 30s including songs from Blind Blake, Blind Lemon, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Rev Gary Davis, fully sighted Mississippi John Hurt, Josh White, Memphis Minnie and others. I expected virtuoso guitar playing and he delivered in spades. He captures the essence of Blind Blake's sporting thumb and right hand picking like nobody else. Moreover, he does it effortlessly, including a superb rendition of Blake's Southern Rag.
He played two 45 minute sets and frequently encouraged the audience to shout out requests. He played all of them, including Memphis Minnie's "When the levee breaks", and Blake's "Rope Stretching Blues" and "Chump Man Blues".
He played mostly on a Fraulini Erma parlour guitar which is a modern day homage to the Stellas of that era. The Fraulini sounded beautiful but had trouble staying in tune on the night. Perhaps it was the cold room or maybe the frequent changes of tuning, but Ari coped admirably, often tweaking the tuning in mid song like we all wish we could do.
Yes, his guitar playing was truly impressive, but what really did surprise me was the power and quality of his singing.
In summary, a great night out: £12 for ticket and another £12 for a delicious meal. What more could you ask for? He's playing in the Isle of Man tonight and details of his remaining tour dates are here.
weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=11471.0
Iain
He played almost exclusively country blues from the 1920s and 30s including songs from Blind Blake, Blind Lemon, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Rev Gary Davis, fully sighted Mississippi John Hurt, Josh White, Memphis Minnie and others. I expected virtuoso guitar playing and he delivered in spades. He captures the essence of Blind Blake's sporting thumb and right hand picking like nobody else. Moreover, he does it effortlessly, including a superb rendition of Blake's Southern Rag.
He played two 45 minute sets and frequently encouraged the audience to shout out requests. He played all of them, including Memphis Minnie's "When the levee breaks", and Blake's "Rope Stretching Blues" and "Chump Man Blues".
He played mostly on a Fraulini Erma parlour guitar which is a modern day homage to the Stellas of that era. The Fraulini sounded beautiful but had trouble staying in tune on the night. Perhaps it was the cold room or maybe the frequent changes of tuning, but Ari coped admirably, often tweaking the tuning in mid song like we all wish we could do.
Yes, his guitar playing was truly impressive, but what really did surprise me was the power and quality of his singing.
In summary, a great night out: £12 for ticket and another £12 for a delicious meal. What more could you ask for? He's playing in the Isle of Man tonight and details of his remaining tour dates are here.
weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=11471.0
Iain
Jo whoever he is.
