Blindstone – a genuine blues/rock-slap in the face from Thisted A few months ago I received – like so many times before – an e-mail newsletter from the American record company Grooveyard Records, and to my big surprise I saw that they had released an album by a Danish (!) blues rock band. Now what the hell was this? No less was my surprise when I clicked my way to the label’s website to listen to the stuff and practically got blown off my chair by the title track, Freedom’s Calling. It goes without saying that the disc was in my mailbox a few days later and at Frisbee speed found its way to my CD-player where it stayed for quite a while. But how can it be that a Danish release of this caliber – and one that has gathered splendid foreign reviews at that – can pass completely unnoticed here in the duck’s pond [a popular expression for Denmark], where one usually has a good sense of what’s going on beneath the surface? And who are Blindstone anyway? The answers lie with Martin Andersen, the band’s singer/guitarist, who was so kind as to do an interview with HiFi Review. The Beaver sees the light of day Blindstone is a classic rock trio as known from 70s bands like Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Robin Trower Band and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and surely the present line-up consisting of Martin J. Andersen (Guitar/vocals), Jesper Bunk (Bass) and Anders Hvidtfeldt (Drums) is heavily influenced by those bands. However, it wasn’t blues rock the three guys from Jutland were playing when they first began frequenting the scene based around the local rehearsal area at the Plantagehuset community center. Here, a wealth of young musicians hung out and played together in myriad constellations and organized improvised concerts. Jesper and Anders were already in a band together, and Jesper and Martin made up two thirds of a jam trio that excelled at covering songs by their 70’s heroes, and it didn’t take long before the three along with singer Mikkel Blaabjerg Poulsen smelled blood and formed the ambitious rock group Creamy Beaver. They played original material inspired by bands such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine and, to some extent, Smashing Pumpkins, and up through the first half of the 90s the band, among other things, took part in the newly arisen Danish Rock Championship phenomenon (which brought popular Danish bands like Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and Kashmir into the spotlight), and had big ambitions about making it in music. “I don’t know if we were the best rock musicians in Thisted”, Martin says, “but we were certainly the most arrogant. We wanted to conquer the world, and we all moved to the city of Aarhus.” Reality, however, didn’t match their ambitions, their dreams petered out, and Anders gave up drumming altogether. Too much energy had been spent on second-guessing what people wanted to hear, and playing what you really wanted to play went by the wayside. Martin moved back to Thisted where he, for a while, made a living teaching music while he and Jesper kept on jamming in their cover trio. Eventually, Martin joined the band Daybreak that played no-nonsense pop/rock and enjoyed great popularity in the local area, and when the original bass player left the band, Martin and Jesper were re-united in music. However, in 2002 the band’s singer Thomas Alstrup was involved in a serious accident, and for a long while the band’s future was uncertain. When he finally recovered, he and the band’s keyboard player chose to leave the band in favor of another outfit, and Martin, Jesper and drummer Benjamin, were left to pick up the pieces.

Blindstone manifests itself

Now the time had come for Martin to take the bull by the horns and become the master of his own band, and this time the blues rock – Martin’s musical life’s blood – was allowed to run free. Martin presented the idea to Jesper who didn’t hesitate to jump on board, and towards the end of 2002 they and Benjamin formed the blues rock trio Blindstone. Eventually, a demo CD was recorded, featuring three songs, all of which can be found on the band’s debut album Manifesto, but response from the record companies was, to put it mildly, negative – most of them felt that this genre of music was long dead. “I thought it was a strange thing to say, when they could hear that someone was actually playing this type of music”, Martin later told the newspaper De Bergske Blade.

After the band had faced rejection from most of the established labels, Claus Clement Pedersen (better known as “TømrerClaus” [Carpenter Claus] from his musical career in the 70s) volunteered to do a trade-agreement – if Blindstone delivered a finished master, he would handle the release and distribution of the album. The band went into the fray of recording, and after having passed through the competent mastering hands of Jan Eliasson, the band’s first album, Manifesto, saw the light of day in 2003… and did okay. Distribution through Karma Music led to solid sales, shows were performed (albeit mostly in the local area), and reviewers praised the album. Among others, Ove Nørhave of the newspaper Nordjyske Stiftstidende wrote the following around the time of the album’s release: “One wonders why a major label hasn’t shown interest for a new Danish band that seems more than ready to fly”.

Blindstone may have been ready to fly, but shortly after Manifesto’s release they experienced a bit of a rough landing when they were scheduled to perform as part of a large manifestation at the freetown Christiania in Copenhagen. It was a giant event with multiple stages and a number of popular bands, but due to a mistake by the organizers the blues rockers were moved from the Rockmaskinen stage [the Rock Machine] to the Den Blå Karamel stage [the Blue Caramel] and ended up playing in front of eight people, five of which being the members of the band scheduled to appear next. That same night drummer Benjamin announced that he no longer wished to be a part of the band due to a lack of interest in the genre and a new job. That night the drive home to Thisted was spent discussing who could be brought in as the new drummer. The answer was obvious: Anders, whom at that time hadn’t as much as touched a drumstick for the past six years, was recruited and brought the trinity into balance once again.

A Blues-loving Dawg

During the following years Blindstone didn’t make much noise. Personal issues, work, children, and many other things laid claim to the band members’ time, and record sales and concert activities declined. However, Martin had succeeded in placing a few copies of Manifesto with an American internet store, The Funkstore, and by way of a few detours, the CD ended up in the hands of Joe “grOOveDaWg” Romagnola, the man behind New York based Grooveyard Records. Joe contacted the band in 2005, offering to take over distribution of the remaining Manifesto stock and possibly release a follow-up to their debut. Grooveyard Records is an independent record label from 1999, owned and run by Romagnola himself, whose mission in life is to spread “heavy guitar riffage” throughout the world, and he has a number of prominent names such as Chris Poland (former guitarist in Megadeth), Lance Lopez, Blindside Blues Band and Buddaheads in the fold. With artists like those, there can be no doubt that Blindstone has landed on the right shelf.

Romagnola is enthusiastic about Blindstone, and in the press material for Manifesto he calls the album “an amazing, classic, timeless bluesy guitar-statement”. When I contact him about arranging an interview with Blindstone, he has nothing but praise for the band: “The whole band is on the same page creating outstanding awesome bluesy/funky, soul-powered, heavy guitar power trio music with all the right influences. Martin is one of the most underrated guitarists out there … Denmark has a true Guitar Hero on their hands." When this comes from a man who has devoted his life to promoting guitarists of the highest caliber imaginable, one had better listen. And once you have heard Mr. Andersen and Co. do their thing, it would be difficult to dispute such a statement.

Freedom, the world and success is calling

Recording of the band’s second album, Freedom’s Calling, began in august 2006, and the work was initiated with a cover of the Frank Marino track Had Enough, which features a guest performance by Texan whirlwind Lance Lopez (a Jimi Hendrix/Stevie Ray Vaughan-clone on steroids). A year earlier, Martin had come across Lopez’s Simplify Your Vision album, which had deeply impressed him, and at concerts the band had even begun performing the track Stones In My Passway as a tribute to Lance. Meanwhile, Joe Romagnola had made several attempts in vain to make Lance Lopez record a Frank Marino cover, so what could be better than to have him and Martin cross blades in a guitar duel on Had Enough, as Lopez was already in the studio recording his third album, Higher Ground.

The members of the band still had their day jobs to attend to in addition to their music, so the album came about during a series of sessions, each resulting in three or four song demos which were sent across the Atlantic to Joe. Martin personally believes that the band has sought more advice from Joe and involved him more in the process than other Grooveyard artists might usually do, but the guidance from a man with so many like-minded musicians under his wings has been valuable. Some of the tracks also received a thumbs-down from Joe Romagnola during the demo phase, and thus exist only as demos in a drawer, but so be it. Still, there has to be a bit of bonus material left over for when the Blindstone catalog is to be reissued some years from now.

On August 1, 2008, the second Blindstone album, Freedom’s Calling, was released, five years after the release of the Manifesto debut which was reissued at the same time with three bonus tracks and new artwork. It’s possible that the boys have been saving up a lot of energy during those five years, because the band truly lets loose from start to finish on the new album which is jam packed with ultra heavy blues riffs, blazing solos with the wah-pedal to the metal and genuine, soulful singing that makes it hard to believe that we’re dealing with a Danish band here. And though it may be that only Ove Nørhave has sensed the band’s potential so far, one doesn’t have to travel any further than to our brother nation (Sweden) to find a reviewer who calls Blindstone “a veritable blow to the solar plexus” and gives Freedom’s Calling 9 out of 10 (Sweden Rock Magazine #55). But in the States, reviewers are also enthusiastic and describe the album as “a tour de force with elegant lyricism, transcendent intensity, and clear technical command … taking Blues Rock to new heights” (Steve Rosen, September 2008). Guitarist Martin is also commended:”The nucleus of this musical hurricane is the world-class axe master MJ Andersen whose skill with six strings is equally on par with the true greats of the instrument. He slices, dices and boogies his way through a dizzying array of high-powered, riff-heavy tunes guaranteed to blow your mind” (The Cutting Edge, September 2008). Now we just need to get the Danish music press to open their eyes and ears …

Lauded abroad... Lost at home?

Blindstone has got a foot in the door in the USA; in Sweden, the band’s blues magic has been noticed, and recently a French radio station asked the band for an interview. But here in Denmark people are slow off the mark. The most important thing right now is finding a Danish distributor for the two albums, so some legwork has to be done to get the success up and running. Hopefully, before too long, this will lead to an opportunity to see the band play live all over the country and maybe even get them a bit of airplay. The boys are already working on their third album which is scheduled for release sometime during the first half of 2009 – once more through The Grooveyard where the band feels very much at home. There are also rumors of another as yet undisclosed project with Mr. grOOveDaWg, but we will have to wait to hear more about that one. However, we do recommend that you keep an eye on the Grooveyard Records newsletter which just might unveil a bit of what is in the melting pot “over there”.

Many people in the music business will probably be persistent in their claims that pure blues rock, as delivered by this blues rock trio from Thisted, is stone dead and has been so for a couple of decades. But in that case Blindstone is a phoenix rising from the ashes of a certain gentleman’s torched, white Fender Stratocaster, giving lustre not only to the genre they excel at, but also to our tiny Denmark that can now pride themselves of a blues rock band of hitherto unseen format and potential. A phoenix that has been ready to fly since 2003 but which has finally gotten some well-deserved air under its wings.

Quotes were borrowed from Morten K. Holm’s article "Back In The Sandbox", published in De Bergske Blade, May 3rd, 2003.
(Martin Mathiasen - HiFi Review Magazine - Denmark - 9.08).

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