International Acclaim for Darren Watson

Darren Watson, New Zealand’s premier bluesman, continues to receive great notices around the world for his most recent Red Rocks release, Saint Hilda’s Faithless Boy. The November/December issue of US publication Blues Revue called it “a beautiful album”, noting that he had crafted “a set of backward-looking (but by no means retro) blues, recorded with a bracing, contemporary sonic treatment.” Singled out for special mention were the Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson-style guitar pops on ‘She’s Got it All’, the soulful Robert Cray-style ‘Love is An Ocean’ and his acoustic slide reading of Otis Rush’s ‘My Love Will Never Die’.

Rick Bryant - New Album coming!

Though currently on sabbatical from the music business, Rick Bryant has completed a new solo album of original songs, scheduled for release later this year. Production is by Edmund McWilliams, otherwise known as Ed Cake, who has recently worked on successful records by Haunted Love and The Sami Sisters. The songs are all Bryant originals, mostly co-written with Gordon Spittle. The proposed title for the album is The Black Soap From Monkeyburg.