Blues Asia Network

Ron McMillan, our blues informant in Bangkok, has passed on information about a truly international blues project  .Blues mandolin maestro Bert Deivert ( www.deivert.com ) is well along on making his new blues CD project become a reality. It has a very strong Asian element, with a lot of the material having been recorded in Bangkok with top Thai blues musicians, including Pong from Adhere Bar and Ped from Ped’s Blues Band. Parts of it were also recorded in Sweden (where Bert lives – he is American but has lived there for nearly 30 years), Germany and in the USA. He now spends a couple or three months of the year in Thailand, and in November this year he will be featured at the Himalayan Blues Festival in Kathmandu.

Below is a personal message from Bert about this project, which gives you insight into what he’s putting together, into his ties to Thailand and into the difficulties of mounting such a project.  Click on the link underneath Bert’s photo to watch his moving video from Vimeo — it’s worth a watch, and be sure to read the test there too.  I certainly learned things about blues mandolin that I never knew.  Hopefully some of us can help him along.  By the way, I’m intrigued with this new approach to encourage support for creativity.

And also below is a performance by Bert last April in Europe to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Robert Johnson. Bert’s the guy in the middle, wearing glasses and singing. This is true roots music.

YOUTUBE LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR9NGOSR3DI