HAGELAND BLUES

& ROOTS NIGHT

Editie 2017:

These distinguished gentlemen have a problem: They can never agree whether to drink their way through the liquour cabinet from right to left...or vice versa. In between drinking and eying young ladies the way only the French can, THE GOON MAT and LORD BENARDO are the fiercest Boogie 'n' Roots natural catastrophe going on the European continent. These bois don't open a show and ease into a set, the set the g'damn house on fire the moment they hit the first chord and yell: "Do you want to boogie?" I advise each and everyone of ye to respond: "Hell yeah!" What follows are 90 minutes of adrenaline and alcohol fused primal BOOGIE mayhem. THE GOON MAT is hip to the hypnotic drone that is remiscent of a Junior Kimbrough and LORD BERNARDO...that boi has lost his mind and plays the most demented and groovin' harp I've heard in years. Now all the hip blues punk kids talk like they've been to a jukejoint and we all know that they haven't but I'll be damned if these Boogie fiends wouldn't have stood their ground in Chulahoma or Holy Springs alongside the allmighty R.L. Burnside and T- Model Ford and their whisky guzzlin' bloodshot-eyed chums. Now this ain't cutesy blues...this is testosterone driven, hard hitting drinkin' and dancin' music and it certainly ain't nuthin' for the underaged. I shit you not...these partisan bluesmen are out to raise Cain..and mothers beware of your daughter 'cause these bois have ideas...and they ain't pure.

18u00-19u00:

THE GOON MAT & LORD BENARDO (B)

Shakedown Tim & the Rhythm Revue deliver the blues as if they hand-carried it from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago personally. It’s a fierce and joyful combination of down home blues en uptown jump, swing & boogie; from a Pre-War ‘Dust Bowl Depression era’ blues party, straight outta these ‘Dirty Thirties’, to a fifties street corner dance at Maxwell Street Market in ‘the Windy City’... The sounds of a vintage fat body guitar, saxophone & skin tight rhythm section mix low down with happy. Frontman Shakedown Tim (Ielegems – guit./voc.) started the late-great Belgian bluesband Fried Bourbon (cfr. Steven Troch) back in the days, and shared the stage with Gene Taylor, James Harman, Roland Van Campenhout, Steven De Bruyn, Jo' Buddy, Little Victor, Bill Sheffield... Rhythm Bomb records (London) will release their debut album in October…Shakedown Tim & The Rhythm Revue came to Rhythm Bomb Records through Nico Duportal, who also produced this platter. The result is a blend of different Blues styles. These originals from Tim proove that he is a great songwriter too. Modern, sometimes really funny lyrics make this record fun to listen too.Together with (t)his ‘Rhythm Revue’, he brings you wild, Memphis-style boogie, some juke joint stomp, and an occasional gospel. This band is not only shooting from, but right at the hips as well; they will wanna see ànd make you DANCE !

19u30 - 20u30:

SHAKEDOWN TIM & THE RHYTHM REVUE (B)

21u00 - 22u00:

SUGAR QUEEN AND THE STRAIGHT BLUES BAND (US/B/NL)

Sugar Queen and the Straight Blues Band are a collection of American/Belgian/Dutch blues musicians. Michele Denise, known as The Sugar Queen, is a versatile American vocalist whose musical roots started in gospel. The Straight Blues Band is comprised of Belgian and Dutch seasoned blues artists : Ronald Burssens (bass), Andy Aerts (guitar), Dominique Christens (drums), Wim Heirbaut (harmonicas) and Jean Raven (guitar). Sugar Queen and the Straight Blues Band perform music which touches a wide range of emotions and blues styles. Straight blues. Giving the audience a journey from injustices, lost loves to a dance celebration of pleasure and success. Straight blues. Sugar Queen invites you to come along.

22u30 - 23u30:

STEVEN TROCH BAND (B)

Steven Troch got “contaminated” by the blues in his late teens and over the years has turned into a very fine traditional bluesharp player with an extra dose of originality. But it would be a great injustice to label him as just a good harmonica player, he’s also an accomplished vocalist and original songwriter. He has surrounded himself with a very talented & experienced bunch. "Top Notch" guitarplayer "Little Steve" Van Der Nat, powerhouse Liesbeth Sprangers keeping a steady pace on the bass and no-nonsense drummer King Berik. They bring you a fine mixture of blues and roots. In their music you will hear the raw harshness and mean menace of modern day life but also wild and catchy rhythms that evoke hope and heartache from the past. A solid 4 piece band that plays rough-edged traditional blues invested with soul-baring conviction. Without any doubt "Steven Troch Band" is one of the finest bands playing some of the best contemporary and vintage style blues you will hear in Europe today. - Charlie Musslewhite

00u00 - ..... :

CHRIS BERGSON BAND (US)

"Over the past decade, Chris Bergson has become one of the most interesting blues-inspired songwriters. He describes the streetscapes and nightscapes of city life, painting small, memorable pictures, a kind of Edward Hopper of the blues. Bergson doesn't do predictable, but there's a visible thread of blues awareness running through the fabric of everything he writes, sings and plays: he is a concise and subtle guitarist and tough, grainy singer." The Blues Magazine (UK)