Swagger - Album

Ian Siegal Born Ian Berry In Portsmouth On 4 February 1971 Is A British Blues Singer And Guitarist. As Well As Solo Albums He Has Recorded As Ian Siegal Band Ian Siegal & The Score Ian Siegal And The Youngest Sons Ian Siegal & The Mississippi Mudbloods And Ian Siegal & Jimbo Mathus. It Is Said That Siegal's Earliest Musical Memories Are Of The Likes Of Buddy Holly Jerry Lee Lewis Elvis And Chuck Berry But That It Was On Hearing The Great Little Richard That He Really Caught The Music Bug And Became Nothing Short Of Obsessive About It. This Lead Him Into A Life-Long Passion For The Blues And All Of Its Various Branches And Most Of All The Man He Calls "God" - The Inimitable Muddy Waters. At 16 He Began To Roadie Occasionally For His Cousin's Band And One Night Quite Unexpectedly He Was Asked To Sing. The Result Was A Blown-Away Audience And A Delighted And Rather Surprised! Young Vocal Talent With A Long Career Ahead Of Him. It Was Two Years Later That He Picked Up A Guitar And Taught Himself To Play Listening To The Likes Of Muddy B.B King Robert Cray And Albert Collins. At 20 He Dropped Out Of Art College And Travelled To Berlin Busking For A Living. By The Time He Returned To England He Knew That A Career In Music Was The Only One For Him. A Visit To Nottingham Resulted In A Five-Year Stay And Hi's First Band Became Popular On The Local Music Scene With A Residency At The Running Horse Attracting Full Houses And Appearances At Colne And Burnley Festivals. His First Album Was "Picture Postcards" . Moving To London To Further His Career Was Inevitable And Ian Became An Established Part Of The London Blues Community Almost Immediately. Many Gigs Followed Along With A Number Of Appearances With American Blues Acts - Phil Guy Sugar Blue Nappy Brown Eddie Kirkland Catfish Keith And Jimmie Vaughan To Name But Few. He Has Also Sung With Other Bands Notably The Lee Sankey Group And Can Be Heard On The Album "Tell Me There's A Sun". All The Time Siegal's Writing And Playing Skills Developed And Appearances On Larger Festival Stages To Bigger Audiences - Such As Edinburgh Lugano Peer North Sea Jazz - Enabled Him To Hone His Skills Into Becoming One Of The Most Naturally Exciting And Vibrant Talents On The Scene Today. Awareness Among British Audiences Of Ian’s Talents Grew Considerably After Two Consecutive Tours Opening For Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings Including A Performance At The Royal Albert Hall And Then In 2005 He Toured Playing As A Duo With Big Bill Morganfield Muddy Waters’ Son . “That’s As Near As I Can Ever Get To The Great Man Himself ” Says Siegal. Siegal's First Major CD Release Was In Ian Siegal Band's 2001 Album “I Shall Be Standing In The Morning” On Which He Drafted In Some Of The Top Players Around To Supplement His Band In Particular The Horns Of Nick Payne Frank Mead Martin Winning Sid Gauld And John Beecham Who Between Them Have Worked With The Rolling Stones The Kinks Van Morrison Albert Collins And Buddy Guy. The Album Is An Entirely Original Composition With Reviewers Drawing Comparisons With Tom Waits Bruce Springsteen Dr. John And Van The Man. His Solo Album “Meat & Potatoes” Followed In April 2005 . For This Recording He Augmented His Core Trio Sound With British Guitarist Matt Schofield Who Also Produced The Album And Jonny Henderson On Hammond Organ. In 2008 His Sole Album The Dust Was Released. In 2009 Siegal Released The Album Broadside With Musicians Andy Graham Bass And Nikolaj Bjerre Drums . This Album Was Voted "Blues Album Of The Year 2009" By Mojo. His 2011 Release The Skinny Was Recorded By Ian Siegal And The Youngest Sons In North Mississippi With Cody Dickinson Of The North Mississippi Allstars As Record Producer And Also Playing On The Album. Backing Siegal Were The Sons Of Some Notable Mississippi Blues Men Including On Guitar Robert Kimbrough On Guitar And Bass Garry Burnside And On Drums Rod Bland. Also Guesting Were Alvin Youngblood Hart And Duwayne Burnside. In 2012 Ian Siegal & The Mississippi Mudbloods Performed At The Manchester Bluesfest Recorded By The BBC. Later He Was The Guest Interviewee Of Paul Jones On The Latter's BBC Radio 2 Show. An Appearance At The London Bluesfest In 2013 Resulted In An Album Release April 2014 Entitled Man & Guitar Recorded By The BBC And Released By Nugene Records. In A Twist To His Career He Played For Several Years With France's Orchestre National De Jazz In A Program Of Billie Holiday Songs Entitled Broadway In Satin. Backed By A 12-Piece Orchestra Of Young Hand-Picked Musicians And Accompanied By The French Singer Karen Lanaud Siegal Performed Broadway In Satin At Festivals Across France And South America And East Africa. In 2016 He Recorded The Live Album "Wayward Sons" As Ian Siegal & Jimbo Mathus. read less