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Things have happened so quickly for Oli Brown that he must feel like he’s been swept up in a vortex, a little disoriented but very excited. Only 21, he’s being hailed as the real deal torchbearer for a resurging British blues scene. But Brown is adamant that his music should stand on its merits not his age. “I don’t play this music because I am young so it could seem a novelty,” he insists. “I play because I love what I do and I love to entertain.”
Brown got into the blues innocently enough, picking up the guitar in 2002 at the age of 12 responding to the constant drone of his father’s blues record collection around the family home in Sco Ruston, a village located northeast of London, England.
At first, it was just a practice exercise. “When I started playing, I didn’t even try to understand the lineage of the blues,” he confesses. “I was just interested in playing solos.”
That all changed dramatically in 2005 when Brown was invited to perform in America as a guest of Blinddog Smokin’ that included opening for Buddy Guy and Taj Mahal. Those guys (Blinddog Smokin’) sat me down every night for two months and taught me about the blues,” says Brown of his crash course in the genre. “They’d also tell me things to avoid.”
In late 2006, The Oli Brown Band was formed and played its first gig in Norwich, England the following spring. Events accelerated early in 2008 when Thomas Ruf personally signed Brown to his German blues record label. Six months later, Brown’s debut, Open Road hit the blues charts where it stayed for two years. In February of 2008, the Oli Brown Band was the only UK act to perform at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. While there, they were the featured artists on Ardent Sessions, an on-line broadcast recorded at the fabled Ardent Studios that received 1.3 million hits in the first three weeks.
In 2010, legendary producer Mike Vernon came out of retirement to oversee Brown’s second CD, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose which unleashed a torrent of rave reviews. Mojo applauded Brown as “the hottest young pistol in British Blues,” while Classic Rock went one better idolizing him as “one of the best and brightest guitar heroes performing in the world today.” The band then headlined the Blues and Jazz stage at the Glastonbury Festival, the largest open-air music and performing arts festival in the world and Brown was declared Male Vocalist of the Year and Young Artist of the Year at the inaugural British Blues Awards.
How far will Brown go? The sky is clearly the limit for someone with the talent, showmanship and charisma to make an audience eat out of his hands. Fortunately, an inbred modesty keeps him grounded and focused on the stage where he has the most fun serving up everything from leather-hided blues rockers to broken-hearted laments. “I’d be very disappointed if my show wasn’t better than the album,” he concludes. “It’s something you’ve got to see live. It’s got to feel personal.” www.olibrownband.co.uk
Ken Wright
