Internationally Acclaimed Estonian Guitarist in Riga

On September 27th, the Estonian guitarist and official Ambassador for the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 Andres Roots will be playing a solo concert at the Atmoda cultural centre in Riga. Reviewing his last month's appearance at the Tallukka Blues Party festival in Finland, the Blues-Finland.com webzine noted that with his "juicy basslines and percussive right hand effects, he sounds like a trio at the very least!"

Over the years, the former Bullfrog Brown guitarist has performed in the USA and toured throughout Europe - in 2023 alone, he's visited Germany, Finland and Latvia, sharing stages with the likes of Ahmed ag Kaedy (Mali), Banjolectric (USA), Faarao Pirttikangas (Finland) and Ismo Haavisto (Finland), and will be heading to England in November.

Roots' music has received radio airplay on five continents, his 2016 LP “Roots Music” remains the only blues album ever to top the album charts in Estonia, and his latest solo release "Vol. 12" has invoked comparisons with not just the heyday of Mississippi Delta Blues but also with Ry Cooder, Leo Kottke, Davy Graham, and even acoustic Led Zeppelin.

"Musicians of this sort run counter to all expectations, and upset various purists," writes the American jazz critic Ted Gioia in his "12 Outstanding New Albums by 12 Artists from 12 Countries". "It's almost as if muddy waters were flowing into the Gulf of Riga."

Live video: Andres Roots performing "Meow Meow" at Savonlinnan Kulttuurikellari in Savonlinna, Finland on August 16th, 2023: https://youtu.be/fU9rHFdgT7c?si=oQFm3VTOSPmSY_M0