News English

05. Oktober 2023

WATER AND SAND, side project of Todd Thibaud and Kim Taylor, are back with their third album on Blue Rose, Hey Love!

TODD THIBAUD is a consistently convincing, reliable artist who always stays true to his musical vision. He does not change things up dramatically but finds variety in nuances of arrangement and production. After all, the consistently high quality of his songs and his mellifluous, warm voice create an irresistible and familiar atmosphere. This was already true of his first band, The Courage Brothers, in the early to mid-90s. With his 1997 solo debut Favorite Waste Of Time, the man from Vermont made his first mark on the songwriter/pop canopy. It was followed by a slew of classic Blue Rose studio albums Little Mystery (1999), Squash (2000), Northern Skies (2004), Broken (2008), Waterfall (2013), and Hill West (2019).
KIM TAYLOR is an American singer-songwriter. She has released 5 full-length records and toured with numerous notable acts including Kasey Chambers, Ron Sexsmith, Grace Potter and Over the Rhine. In 2013, Taylor starred in the Sundance and Berlinale selected Indie film, I Used To Be Darker. Her fifth full-length record, Songs of Instruction, is a 10 song collection of her signature intimate folksy narrative songwriting style.

For several years Thibaud and Taylor had the same management. Their idea was that both musicians should try writing songs together that the management could then submit to their contacts. Both finally met each other in person at SXSW several years ago and struck up a friendship.
While they were at SXSW, they made plans to get together for a writing session the next time Kim traveled to Boston from her home in Ohio. When she was in Boston they met up and actually had no luck that day writing a song, but discovered that they really liked singing together. The idea for a collaboration project came from that meeting. They talked about how interesting it would be to focus the songwriting for their collaboration on the struggles and joys of relationships/marriage etc. Both of them were busy with their own projects at the time, but they agreed to stay in touch and make this happen as soon as the time was right. After a few years had gone by without any progress, it was Taylor who took the initiative and got the ball rolling for what would become WATER AND SAND.
„We struggled coming up with a name for our project, sending each other lists of potential options, but nothing seemed to really resonate“, Thibaud recalls. „Both of us were in the process of writing songs at that time for our forthcoming album, and Kim sent me one of her new ones called ‚Water and Sand‘. I loved the song as soon as I heard it, and as the two of us discussed it, I think we both agreed that it would actually make a good band name for our project. We ran it by our management and some trusted friends/family, and everyone seemed to like it. I think for us the name relates to the balances that life imposes and requires of us. The two sides of the coin. The Yin and Yang. The life giving water and the gritty, abrasive sand. There are many joys and good times in our lives, but of course, there are also times of struggle and pain. I think the name points to those co-existing experiences.“
Weiterlesen / Read more

29. September 2023

New live album Journeyman by STEVE WYNN on Blue Rose – only available at his shows and at the Blue Rose webshop!

Journeyman
WYNN, STEVE Journeyman CD
€ 14,90*

We are releasing STEVE WYNN’s albums on Blue Rose Records since 1997, both as a solo artist and with his band Miracle 3. Every now and then there are also CDs put out that are not sold through regular retailers, but only available at Steve’s concerts and through the Blue Rose webshop. It’s the same again with the live album Journeyman. Recorded during the most recent solo tour in Germany on May 24, 2023 at the Music Star in Norderstedt, the CD contains 15 songs that go back in time to the beginnings of The Dream Syndicate to the current Baseball Project album, and of course are also songs from his numerous solo albums not missing.
The edition is limited to 1,000 copies.

Why the album title Journeyman? Steve explains: “I am the journeyman. And I do go from town to town. Just like it says in the song. For all of the shows I have played over the years, every night remains a new adventure and a uniquely empty slate upon which to etch brand new memories. Always keep my bags packed? Sure, but while the physical one is filled with clothes and strings and various items for road survival, the metaphorical one holds songs and a mental took kit to solve whatever puzzle lays in front of me on any given night. This live recording was from one of those nights that needed no tools and had no puzzles to be solved. Smooth as silk and captured expertly by Wolfgang and the rest of the gang at the Music Star. I’m glad to have you along for the evening. The car leaves at midnight.”

11. April 2023

New exclusive free mailorder-only CD available – Blue Rose Collection 18!

Another issue of the Blue Rose Collection series with a running time of 70 minutes (!) is available now! A copy of the compilation will be added automatically to an order at our webshop with four and more items. A copy is also available for purchase for € 5,00.

Tracklist:
1. BLUE MOUNTAIN – GENTLE SOUL (taken from the album „Midnight In Mississippi“)
2. WRINKLE NECK MULES – STONE ABOVE YOUR HEAD (taken from the album „Apprentice To Ghosts“)
3. CAROLYN WONDERLAND – MEET ME IN THE MORNING (taken from the album „Peace Meal“)
4. THE WYNNTOWN MARSHALS – THE POCKET (taken from the album „Big Ideas“)
5. WATER AND SAND – EVERY GOOD THING (taken from the album „Catching Light“)
6. TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS – BLUE STAR (taken from the album „Goodbye Normal Street“)
7. US RAILS – LAY YOUR HEAD ON ME (taken from the album „Live For Another Day“)
8. THE SLUMMERS – RIFT VALLEY EVOLUTIONARY BLUES (taken from the album „Love Of The Amateur“)
9. THE BLACK SORROWS – THE HONEYDRIPPER (taken from the album „Live! At The Palms“)
10. THE SILOS – BEHIND ME NOW (taken from the album „Come On Like The Fast Lane“)
11. JAMES McMURTRY – SOUTH DAKOTA (taken from the album „Complicated Game“)
12. JOSEPH PARSONS – THANKFUL (taken from the album „Holy Loneliness Divine“)
13. THE GREAT CRUSADES – THE DEVIL AND ALL HIS RELATIONS (taken from the album „Thieves Of Chicago“)
14. TONY FURTADO – TIRED LION (taken from the album „The Bell“)
15. RICH HOPKINS & LUMINARIOS – MORNING DEW (hidden track taken from the album „Exiled On Mabel Street“)

27. Januar 2023

Blue Rose proudly presents a brandnew US RAILS album with Live For Another Day !

In the 2000s, the prominent quartet US RAILS was one of the most reliable and hard-working acts on the Blue Rose label. The Americans have released no less than five studio productions in the past decade alone – in addition to a number of live, cover and acoustic albums, numerous European tours have led to a constant increase in their fan base. Ben Arnold, Tom Gillam, Scott Bricklin and Matt Muir (as well as Joseph Parsons in the early days) are all strong singer/songwriters in their own right with a long list of individual solo projects. Live For Another Day is the name of the brand new release that has been eagerly awaited after the compulsory Corona break. Its ten self-written songs are bursting with zest for action, versatility and the band-typical sound of melodic rock’n roll full of guitar load and vocal bliss!


So now, after three years of US Rails abstinence, Live For Another Day is being released in time for the upcoming, most extensive European tour of the popular band. And this time nothing should come between them! The ten tracks prove that the four haven’t forgotten anything – on the contrary: Everything here shows that they had a lot of strength and creativity during the break and that they threw themselves into the recording sessions with great joy! At the start, keyboarder Ben Arnold sings the title song he wrote himself, a vehement rocker with an irresistible refrain, with his distinctive, soulful, smoky lead voice and raises the level of quality right away. This is followed by Scott Bricklin’s folk-rock, acoustic/electric arrangement ‚Can’t Let It Go‘. Not only does he function as the standard bass player for the US Rails, but also convinces as a multi-instrumentalist on various guitars and mandolin, among other things, and sings with a strong, bright voice. Backed by Arnold on accordion, this track is reminiscent of another hugely popular Philadelphia band, The Hooters. With the catchy ‚Too Much Is Never Enough‘, guitarist and singer Tom Gillam succeeds in another of his typical Rock’n Roll numbers: loud, uncompromising, unleashed rocking! It’s part of the good team atmosphere that the fourth member, Matt Muir, full-time drummer but also responsible for the sound as a recording engineer and mixer, is at the center at least once per album. Here he sings his latest composition, the compact, catchy ‚Walk Away‘, which will certainly compete with his signature song ‚Don’t Take Me Now‘ for many years, especially at the upcoming live concerts.

The creamy, soulful ballad ‚What Did I Do?‘ Scott Bricklin then provides a first well-placed rest phase, Ben Arnold on the piano and Tom Gillam on the electric slide set small, targeted instrumental hits before Arnold’s ‚No Better Love‘ gets us moving again with its easy-going rhythmic shuffle grooves. Tom Gillam’s melodic mid-tempo rocker ‚Feels Like A Heartache‘ comes across as absolutely dominant with all those layered electric guitars and mighty four-part harmony vocals before kicking off the final round with Bricklin’s ‚Lay Your Head On Me‘. On ‚Road To Hell‘ Gillam is allowed to show off his ″mean & bad ass″ rocker heart and Arnold makes a clear commitment to his favorite topic ″powerful, smooth soul rock with plenty of vintage R&B″ for the perfect finish with ‚End Of Time‘.

After the long pandemic break, US Rails quickly found each other again in their home studio in Pennsylvania and recorded a complete new album with audible joy of playing. That turned out to be ten super-fresh, consistently great songs, each of which stands on its own and really calls for enthusiastic celebrations in our clubs on the forthcoming live tour!

01. Dezember 2022

Mailorder Christmas campaign 2022


Now since the Black Friday/Black Week/Cyber Monday craziness/hype is over we are starting a little season campaign. Not very exciting, though, but not really uninteresting for Blue Rose fans/customers/friends. Little story ahead: In the early days of the label we once in a while sent out special promotion CDs to our media partners. These CDs (in a cardboard sleeve like our recent Blue Rose Collection CDs) didn’t contain the complete songs of the CDs but instead personal comments to the songs of band members. The following promotion CDs are included in this campaign:

LITTLE BLUE – Straight For The Moon (release date 22.10.2001)
ELLIOTT MURPHY & IAIN MATTHEWS – La Terre Commune (release date 19.02.2001)
BIG IN IOWA – Green Pop (release date 28.05.2001)
RICH HOPKINS & LUMINARIOS – My Lucky Stars (release date 27.08.2001)
STEVE WYNN – My Midnight (release date 08.03.1999)

Included in this campaign is the promo issue of „Vestavia“ by JOHN P. STROHM which had been released on April 6, 1999 with the catalog number BLU CD0190. The record doesn’t contain comments but the complete album which is out of print for a long time. Last but not least we have a few copies available of the promo CD 2XX6 Roses – A Year In Music from 2006. It contains songs of all the albums we had released in the year 2006 – 26 songs.

All these CDs are not available to purchase, one of these items can be chosen with each order and will be added for free to the shipment. Just add the album to the comments field in the shopping cart before submitting the order. This offer is limited while supplies last.

21. Oktober 2022

JOSEPH PARSONS is releasing a new studio album: Holy Loneliness Divine !

This is a pre-order. The item won’t be shipped before 11.11.2022. If you want to order other items please place a separate order so those items are not delayed.

Holy Loneliness Divine is the latest and final record from the JOSEPH PARSONS BAND (JPB), as the members disperse to follow their individual musical paths. To mark that milestone, the band has created a record that fully realizes its signature sound, forged from countless recording sessions and live shows. From the opening anthem, “Dreaming a Universe”, the songs bite hard on the world’s march towards an uneasy future while finding hope in it’s not-so inevitable path. The journey includes moments of deep confusion followed by epiphanies and emerging clarity, while some age-old love songs balance out the mix. It’s an unpretentious record that provides a deeper sense of Parsons’ writing style, along with the themes and visions that he has pondered in these last few years. Some of the stories are provincial, some are worldly; but always relatable. A deep sense of “life-lived” emits from the disparate yet cohesive and hopeful tones.


Tonally, the record is a rock record mining the depths of traditional instruments – drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, piano – with touches of modern flavors to accentuate moods and provide ear candy to the headphone enthusiasts among us. Musical production is almost as big a part of Parsons’ palette as the songwriting itself. When performed solo, the songs hold up beautifully and display the range of Parsons’ edgy songwriting style. In the studio, the band’s full, uncluttered arrangements expand those edges and bring the listener an enhanced musical landscape of each of
the songs. This is underpinned by the soaring electric guitar solos and pristine vocals throughout.

While the songs were written by Parsons and much of the record was produced & mixed by him as well, each member of the band fully produced and mixed one song – top to bottom – from a guide vocal & acoustic track Parsons recorded in his studio. This showcases the amazing talent and evolution of the band individually and collectively and their ability to reach the ‘zone’ wherever they are. The record is a document of a band firing on all cylinders, creating a work that is energetic and vital, showcasing some of Parsons’ most consistent songwriting to date.

Going out at the top of their game, JPB has disbanded to pursue other demanding musical projects.

This is Parsons’ 15th full length studio record and his 25th studio record including the bands he has founded or co-founded (Hardpan, US Rails, 4 Way Street, Parsons Thibaud). He also has released numerous live albums and singles.

20. Oktober 2022

RICH HOPKINS & LUMINARIOS finally are back with the new studio album Exiled On Mabel St !

After three decades of making music, Rich Hopkins has become synonymous with dusty, guitar-drenched desert rock from the American Southwest. After all his well-documented activities as leader of the Sidewinders, Sand Rubies, Underbelly and many other projects, the Luminarios are still his central focus – with himself and his wife Lisa Novak (the couple wrote all the ten album tracks) being the only irreplaceable band member, of course. Since 1992 they have been active as a trio, a four-piece or a five-piece band or simply a loose collection of Tucson, Arizona and Austin, Texas musicians. Early on, Rich was heavily influenced by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. In recent years he has become a more mature songwriter, has released some exciting concept albums and explored different styles and sounds.

The new studio album Exiled On Mabel St effortlessly joins the ranks of earlier first-class RICH HOPKINS & LUMINARIOS releases in terms of content, sound and quality. The desert is alive and desert rock will be vibrant and fresh as long Rich Hopkins can hold a guitar. An electric guitar, mind you! On the album’s ten numbers electric guitars dominate the sound and help create this striking mix of epic rock hymns, sandy folk rock, tried and tested rock’n’roll values from the 60s and 70s, jingle jangle guitar pop and a healthy dose of psychedelia.


Listening to tracks on Exiled On Mabel St, you can hear how comfortable Rich Hopkins is in embracing the musical styles of the past, and exploring his own creative instincts. Hopkins is a lot more than just an archivist. Aided by his talented wife, singer/songwriter Lisa Novak, he mines all areas of his life, as well as his observations of the world today, for the songs on Exiled. It kicks off with „A Message Of Hope“, which acknowledges how everyone is struggling but says, „forgive yourself…you’ll make mistakes“. In the liner notes, he dedicates the song to Pastor David Dahlberg and says it was inspired by Steve Earle. In „Count On Me“ he is singing to his lady love and reminding her that he has come through for her despite his problems. „Everybody Knows“ is the reverse of the Leonard Cohen song of the same name, which has a dark cynicism at its core. Hopkins‘ song, rather, portrays how love cannot be hidden and shines so that everyone can see it.
Other standouts include „Prodigal Son“, which is based on an encounter with an unhoused person that Hopkins had back in Austin, Texas. The outpouring of compassion in the song will surprise no one who knows the singer/songwriter – who served in the Peace Corps and has helped people on the streets in Tucson in various ways for many years. Be sure, also, to give a good listen to „I Don’t Care“, which has almost a Mexican guitar feel to it, and a message of rejecting the haters, and „Bataan Death March“, a track about the infamous forced march of Filipino and American prisoners of war by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1942. The piece features sound effects, music that evokes the horrendous 60+ mile journey, and finds Hopkins reciting „The Lord’s Prayer“.

30. Juli 2022

THE WYNNTOWN MARSHALS return with a new studio album – on Blue Rose!

This is a pre-order. The official release date of the CD and vinyl-LP is September 2, orders through the Blue Rose mailorder will exclusively shipped on August 19! If you want to order other items please place a separate order so those items are not delayed.


Seven long years after the The End Of The Golden Age, THE WYNNTOWN MARSHALS are back with a new studio album!

Big Ideas, the fourth full-lenth studio album by Edinburgh-based quintet, will sound immediately familiar to those who know the band, and serves as the ideal introduction for those who are less familiar with their output. Four years in the making, the album features ten tracks covering jangling, forthright, radio-ready power pop, rugged, rootsy rockers, moody guiatr workouts and stetely ballads – all underpinned by the heartfelt, poetic wordplay that the band are well-known for.

The Marshals have, like the rest of the planet, been through some challenges in recent times – and some of the lyrical content is inevitably shaped by the events of the past two years (the title strack and „Disappointment“ in particular), but – like the protagonist in the middle eight of the nostalgic, bittersweet album track „Tourist In My Hometown“ – the band have ‚emerged unbroken, smarting from the pain‘.

02. Mai 2022

New exclusive free mailorder-only CD available now – Blue Rose Collection 17 !

Another issue of the Blue Rose Collection series is available now! A copy of the compilation will be added automatically to an order at our webshop with four and more items but a copy is also available to purchase for € 5,00.

Tracklist:
1. STEVE WYNN – BLOOD FROM A STONE (taken from the album „Sweetness And Light“)
2. WOOLDRIDGE BROTHERS – SWEET SENSATION (taken from the album „Uncovering The Sun“)
3. TIM EASTON – ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS LEAVE TOWN (taken from the album „Special 20“)
4. ELLIOTT MURPHY – LOVE TO AMERICA (taken from the album „Selling The Gold“)
5. RICH HOPKINS & LUMINARIOS – UNGLUED (taken from the album „El Paso“)
6. FARMER NOT SO JOHN – GRAND BOUQUET (taken from the album „Receiver“)
7. CONTINENTAL DRIFTERS – SPRING DAY IN OHIO (taken from the album „Vermilion“)
8. RAINRAVENS – I AIN’T EVER GOIN‘ HOME (taken from the album „Rainravens“)
9. JOSEPH PARSONS – YOU LIED (taken from the album „5am“)
10. THE HOOBLERS – TOMORROW FADE AWAY (taken from the album „Can You Do This?“)
11. SHAKIN‘ APOSTLES – DISTANT FIELD (taken from the album „Austin, Texas“)
12. THE DASHBOARD SAVIORS – THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY (taken from the album „Love Sorrow Hatred Madness“)
13. JULIAN DAWSON – ALL ABOUT THE RIDE (taken from the album „Under The Sun“)
14. THE PINETOPS – JESUS SPOKE (taken from the album „Above Ground And Vertical“)
15. TODD THIBAUD – DON’T SAVE ME (IT’S ALRIGHT) (taken from the album „Little Mystery“)

11. Februar 2022

THE BAND OF HEATHENS brave the pandemic with Remote Transmissions Vol. 1 !

With their professional lives on hold during the pandemic, The Band of Heathens found a year-long creative workaround. Every Tuesday night, the five-piece group came together via Zoom from their respective homes – from L.A. to Asheville – to host the Good Time Supper Club, a ninety-minute variety program. „It was nice to be able to use music as a connective thread and something that’s healing,“ says guitarist-vocalist Ed Jurdi. „We were doing it for ourselves, but the greatest benefit was how it created this community for us to hang out with our fans.“ Guitarist-vocalist and fellow founding member Gordy Quist agrees. „The show was like a release, where we all connected and forgot about the stuff going on around us. At some point, we decided to bring in guests for an interview, and that turned into ‚Hey, let’s pre-record a music video of a cover song with each of them.'“ That segment of the show, called Remote Transmissions, became a much-anticipated fan favorite each week. And it is now the title of their latest album, featuring covers of ten classic songs with guest vocals by the likes of Margo Price, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Charlie Starr. It’s just the latest innovative move for The Band Of Heathens, who over the last fifteen years have released nine acclaimed albums of roots rock originals, played festivals like Bonnaroo and South by Southwest, and toured the world many times over (Rolling Stone calls them „a smoking live band“), all while remaining that rarest of birds – a truly independent group.

This is a pre-order. The item won’t be shipped before the release date 25.02.2022. If you want to order other items please place a separate order so those items are not delayed.