Atlanta, GA (Top40 Charts/ Mark Pucci Media/ Ruf Records) - Ruf Records announces the release dates of new CDs by young blues guitarslingers Jimmy Bowskill's Live on June 8, and Oli Brown's Heads I Win, Tails You Lose on July 13. Both CDs will be distributed in the U.S. by the Allegro Corporation.
Already a veteran at the age of 19, Canadian singer/guitarist Jimmy Bowskill was first discovered by the legendary Jeff Healey at the age of 11 playing guitar outside of his nightclub in Toronto. Since then, he's opened shows for such artists as ZZ Top, Dickey Betts, Garth Hudson and Deep Purple, while touring in Canada and internationally in Germany, France, Mexico, Ukraine, and at the World Expo in Japan, among others. He's also received a Juno Award nomination (Canada's Grammy).
On Live, Jimmy Bowskill demonstrates his amazing mastery of guitar, with one foot firmly planted in the blues and the other in rock. The album's dozen songs include his takes on several of the artists who've influenced him, including Free ('Walk in My Shadow' and 'Ride My Pony'), Peter Green ('Rattlesnake Shake') and B.B. King ('Three O'clock in the Morning'). Within the trio format, Bowskill dazzles the live audience with a combination of his searing guitar work and soulful, rockin' vocals.
'Jimmy Bowskill is one of the brightest shining stars for people who love real rock and blues magic,' said a reviewer in Classic Rock Revisited.
The eye-catching cover of Live features art by one of Canada's most-celebrated graphic artists, Bob Masse, whose work since the 1960s has included posters of Bob Dylan, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin and The Yardbirds.
For more information on Jimmy, visit www.jimmybowskill.com.
Also 19 years old, Oli Brown is releasing the eagerly awaited follow-up to his critically-acclaimed 2008 release, Open Road, his debut album for Ruf Records. On Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, Oli showcases his enormous growth as a songwriter, while giving audiences more of his blistering guitar work and vocals that have endeared him to audiences around the world.
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose was produced by the legendary Mike Vernon, whose resume includes seminal blues albums from John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (featuring Eric Clapton), Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After and Freddie King, among others. Vernon literally came out of retirement to work with Oli Brown on this new album, having done so after hearing his first CD and being excited by the prospects of the youngster's potential. The album's 12 tracks also include his exciting take on the Little Willie John classic, 'Fever.'
Oli Brown has had a big year touring Europe, including as part of the 'New Generation Blues Tour' with labelmate Joanne Shaw Taylor in the UK, as well as making his debut at England's prestigious Glastonbury Festival. Plans for later this year include more European touring, as well as dates in the U.S. Besides headlining his own shows, Oli has been the supporting act of choice for UK tours by Johnny Winter, Walter Trout and Robben Ford.
Already released in Europe, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose is generating the kind of rave reviews that have become the norm for Brown. 'Oli joins the ranks of a new generation being forged by Joe Bonamassa's example that kills the myth that the young can't play the blues,' said influential UK magazine, Blues Matters. 'If this CD is anything to go by, not only can Oli play the blues, he's one who can help to keep it alive, move it forward, and most of all, touch yet another generation with blues magic.'
For more information on Oli, go to www.olibrownband.co.uk. More information on both artists can be had by going to www.rufrecords.de.
