Blistered

Blistered ‘Europeana’

Having played together in various bands for many years, Bobby Ruijgrok and Gijs Anders van Straalen decided in 2008 to embark on a new journey, and formed a duo under the name 'Blistered', which refers to the painstaking process of practice one needs to carry out to become a proper musician.
Bobby – a true autodidact – has performed with various bands in his native Holland. Inspired in his youth by guitarist Leo Kottke, he began using open tunings... Meer »

Blistered ‘Europeana’

Having played together in various bands for many years, Bobby Ruijgrok and Gijs Anders van Straalen decided in 2008 to embark on a new journey, and formed a duo under the name 'Blistered', which refers to the painstaking process of practice one needs to carry out to become a proper musician.
Bobby – a true autodidact – has performed with various bands in his native Holland. Inspired in his youth by guitarist Leo Kottke, he began using open tunings early on. Since every tuning requires a distinct approach, Bobby has had the opportunity to reassess guitar playing many times over the past three decades, producing startling yet melodic sounds.
Gijs is a percussionist who knows both how to play ‘in the tradition’ and to improvise. Always looking for new sounds, his set-up is a genuinely unique collection of instruments from all around the world. At the moment he is working with various artists, such as Wouter Hamel and Sensual, and he has recently toured in Europe and Japan.
Both Bobby and Gijs share a love for the music of the Americas, from the guitar and banjo-driven melodies of the US to the hard-grooving drums from Brazil and the Caribbean. From this mutual passion came the idea to combine both worlds and interpret them from a European perspective. Surprisingly, although the duo consists only of guitar and percussion, it is precisely this simplicity that creates an intriguingly rich and open sound. On the album 'Europeana' North and South meet, resulting in the mixture of instruments, like the slide guitar and the cajon, which wouldn’t be paired in a more traditional setting. On the one hand, the compositions remind us of the style of Ry Cooder and Bill Frisell, and on the other of Mino Cinelu and Cyro Baptista.
‘Europeana’ will soon be available on iTunes, drummerszone.com and gbwusic.com.

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