Greyhound George heard this sentence in the seventies from blues veteran Champion Jack Dupree, who had benevolently observed the first musical attempts of the young Bielefeld blues scene.
Since then, George has studied and interpreted the blues in all its forms and guises, but he has never forgotten this phrase. His own blues translates everyday life into music. With all due respect for the old masters of traditional blues, he continually incorporates modern and unique elements into his music and lyrics.
For many years, he has relied primarily on his own material in his concerts and recordings. His guitar playing and, not least, his songwriting have earned Greyhound George considerable recognition in the international blues world. Perhaps the most notable of these was reaching the finals of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.
"Get Up and Walk" is a deeply personal album that could only have been created in 2020/21. Its songs speak of lockdown, existential angst, strained relationships, and the now-more-than-ever party mood. Musically, the boundaries between blues, jazz, and soul, between Memphis, New Orleans, and Bielefeld, blur.
"Get Up and Walk" is an album by someone who grew up musically in the 1970s. That was a time when a good song intro could be as long as a modern single, and a track without an extensive guitar or organ solo wasn't taken seriously at all. All of these musical roots are audible, but "Get Up and Walk" isn't a retro sound; it's a versatile and multifaceted modern blues album.
The band, which "Bluesnews" once wrote about as playing "so tight that not a sheet of paper will fit between them," once again features the tried-and-tested rhythm section with Wolfgang Lohmann on bass and Detlev Schütte on drums. They are joined this time by Dieter Kozak on organ and piano. George's longtime collaborator Andy Grünert plays the blues harp.
On some tracks the band is reinforced by a three-piece brass section consisting of Jens Buschenlange on trumpet, Matthias Günther on sax and Michael Meyer on trombone.
The next generation of German blues musicians is represented by Bad Temper Joe, who can be heard on two tracks as singer and guitarist.
01 Thin Line
02 Bad Luck
03 Messed Up State Of Mind
04 Alienation Blues
05 Back In The Groove
06 Rambling Mind
07 Twenty Twenty
08 Pack It Up
09 Hot Line To Heaven
10 Underrated
11 The Winning Team
12 Shake What You've Got
13 Good Years For The Blues
