Michael van Merwyk & Bluesoul
New Road
With their brand new release New Road, Germany’s Michael van Merwyk & Bluesoul have asserted their position as one of the country’s finest blues bands. Last fall, these four veteran players took home first prize at the German Blues Challenge, thus earning the right to compete head-to-head against national winners from 18 other countries at the European Blues Challenge 2012. As anyone familiar with Germany’s blues scene well knows, each of the band members is of international caliber: Guitarist Jochen Bens (Tommy Schneller, Big Daddy Wilson), bassist Olli Gee (Blues Company, 5 Live) and drummer Bernhard Weichinger (Liquid Lefty, Adriano Batolba) boast long, impressive resumes and are held in high esteem by fans and fellow musicians.
The focal point is frontman Michael van Merwyk. The guitarist, singer and songwriter has paid his dues on numerous tours and sessions and as house guitarist at the Roadhouse club in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, one of Germany’s most authentic blues locations. His encounters with international greats and local heroes have led to an ever deeper understanding of blues and roots music. Van Merwyk combines his talents as a guitarist and vocalist with those of his mates in Bluesoul to create a singular style. In honor of the late Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, one of his musical heroes, he refers to this sound as "American Music – Euro Style."
As New Road shows, van Merwyk doesn't believe in wearing musical blinders. He comes from the blues, loves the blues, lives the blues – but he is not a purist. "To me, music is all about communicating with other musicians and the audience in the here and now. My CDs capture the energy of the moment," the bandleader explains. Case in point: New Road kicks off with the title track, a thick, swampy southern-style blues, then quickly detours into some hot, slinky funk: The insistent groove of "Gravy" is vaguely reminiscent of the Sly & the Family Stone classic "If You Want Me To Stay." A few songs later, the band delivers sparkling up-tempo country music on "Next Trouble To Come." The album is also loaded with emotional ballads and lots of earthy roots rock recalling both Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale.
The extraordinarily dynamic interplay between van Merwyk and fellow guitarist Jochen Bens spices up the album's 14 tracks. The duo plays a range of acoustic and electric instruments including guitar, Dobro, banjo, lap steel and Weissenborn. Their instinctive interaction with one another – already in evidence on Big Daddy Wilson's critically acclaimed album Thumb A Ride – reaches new dimensions on New Road. "The two of us are total opposites as far as playing the guitar," says van Merwyk. "Jochen studied jazz and classical guitar and graduated with honors. He can play anything from death metal to Segovia. I'm self-taught, know nothing at all about music theory and have never taken a guitar lesson. I guess we just complement each other." Meanwhile, bassist Olli Gee and drummer Bernhard Weichinger form a rock-solid rhythm section and also had significant creative input into songs like "New Road," "Call My Name" and "Hooked." From start to finish, the album speaks of the finely-tuned sensitivity of these four musical brothers: Van Merwyk and his colleagues understand intuitively what a song needs and what it doesn't.
The European Blues Challenge 2012 takes place in Berlin in mid-March. A victory there is sure to push Michael van Merwyk & Bluesoul even further into the international spotlight. But whether they win or lose: The impressive display of songwriting, chops and musical savvy on New Road shows that this band "Made in Germany" is a force to be reckoned with.
(Vincent Abbate, March 2012)