Biography

Rated "one of the best six stringers in European blues" by Colombia's Historias del Blues and "a stylish and versatile writer" by Finland's Blues News magazine, the Estonian guitarist and songwriter Andres Roots was born in the U.S.S.R. in 1976 and played his first show in Denmark in 1995.

After stints in several award-winning college bands in Tartu, Estonia around the turn of the century, he co-founded Bullfrog Brown in 2003. Quickly earning cult status in their native country and securing airplay across five continents, the alt.blues trio went on to play hundreds of shows from the Baltics to the UK, sharing stages with the likes of Honeyboy Edwards, Deltahead and Gurf Morlix.

Roots' first solo single "Redecoration Day" with vocals by Eric "Red Mouth" Gebhardt (USA) was released in May 2010 and went straight to number one on the local Top of the Pops, Eesti Top7. Released in November 2010, the album "Roundabout" also featured collaborations with Bottleneck John (SWE), Dave Arcari (UK), Black River Bluesman (FIN) and World Harmonica Festival bronze '09 Jantso Jokelin (FIN).

With reviews ranging from "Tom Waits' missing blues album" (Roots & Fusion, UK) to "traditional Delta blues in all its beauty" (SoundGuardian.com, Croatia), the CD was welcomed as "a hugely entertaining album that has far more appeal than its blues credentials would suggest" (The Music Critic, UK). Accordingly, Top 3 TV hits continued with "Watcha Do" (feat. Black River Bluesman) and "Lemon Days" (feat. Gebhardt and Jokelin) while two more tracks made it onto the soundtrack of a popular youth TV series.

"Roundabout" popped up in the top 10 of the French-speaking Blues Radio Society's monthly Powerblues chart and was declared "Best European Blues Album of the Year" by Canada's Blues Underground Network. In Britain, Andres Roots was voted 5th best international solo artist in Blues Matters magazine's Writers Poll 2011 - in a tie with Mississippi legend Jimmy "Duck" Holmes and Finland's leading blues lady Erja Lyytinen.

For the album’s release party, Roots had recruited his former guitar student Martin Eessalu and Estonia’s finest blues harpist Indrek Tiisel. Live footage from the night ended up as Episode 1 of the "Folgikelder" music series on Tallinna TV and the band soon became known as Andres Roots Roundabout, with line-ups ranging from the core trio to multinational quintets.

New band album "Leigh's Spider Jam" was launched in August 2011 with 16 shows in 16 days, performed by five different line-ups in six different towns. The CD includes two live cuts from the trio's inaugural jam and seven studio tracks with Raul Terep on drums, Ahti Bachblum on keys, Leighton "L.R." Phoenix (UK/FIN) on vocals and a special guest appearance by Bert Deivert (USA/SWE) on mandolin.