Move On Down The Line

Michael van Merwyk (CD & 12" Vinyl-Album)

A room full of guitars, two microphones — and a musician who needs nothing more than voice, slide, and feeling. For his new album "Move On Down The Line," Michael van Merwyk radically stripped down the recording process, creating an intimate sound world as direct as it gets.

The CD was recorded at Mainwood Guitars in the Netherlands, a guitar shop specializing in resonator guitars. Only National Reso-Phonic guitars were used — from venerable vintage models from the 1930s to modern instruments. On some tracks, van Merwyk also plays his faithful companion “Heart,” a Continental CS-N from the 1990s. Every song is captured in a single take, with no overdubs, no studio tricks — as pure as if he were sitting right in the listener’s living room.

For the recording, he used just two microphones from the renowned Ear Trumpet Labs, prized for their natural, warm sound in acoustic music. The result: an album full of depth, intimacy, and authenticity.

The repertoire is evenly split: half of the tracks are van Merwyk’s own compositions, while the other half are interpretations of classics by Barbecue Bob, Hank Williams, Charley Patton, Sleepy John Estes, Norman Beaker, and Al Ferrier. The title track is by Jesse Fuller. With each song, he honors the tradition of the “songsters” — musicians like Mississippi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy, and Lead Belly, who played whatever the audience wanted, regardless of genre boundaries.

This is how "Move On Down The Line" sounds: honest, raw, soulful — a soundtrack for the here and now, deeply rooted in the history of American music, yet unmistakably shaped by Michael van Merwyk’s unique “Euro Style.”

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BLUES EVERYWHERE I GO

Michael van Merwyk (CD & colored 12" Vinyl-Album)

Das Album zum 40-jährigen Bühnenjubiläum von MvM. Eingespielt in den HOME-Studios Hamburg mit Abi Wallenstein, Martin Röttger, Georg Schröter, Mark Breitfelder und im Watt Matters Studio in Bielefed mit Ollie Gee, Ollie Spanuth und White Coffee.
Acht MvM-Songs und ein Cover (Cool Down von Phil Wiggins), satter Groove, rauhe Slide-Gitarren von MvM und Abi...

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SONGS’N’SLIDE

Michael van Merwyk, Bad Temper Joe (Exklusive, colored 12" Vinyl-Album)

Blues in Germany has a large and devoted audience, and the artists who represent it deliver in full. Two prominent names in the scene are Westphalian bluesmen Michael van Merwyk and Bad Temper Joe. These two giants — MvM standing 2 meters tall, BTJ a solid 1.95 meters — have established themselves over the years as distinctive personalities and musicians.

The elder, Michael van Merwyk, celebrates his 40th stage anniversary in 2024, while the younger Joe marks 10 years since the release of his first album in the same year. From the very beginning, van Merwyk shaped Bad Temper Joe’s musical path, serving as mentor and supporter.

With “Songs ’n’ Slide”, they now release their first joint album on the Timezone label in Osnabrück. Perfectly suited to their raw and captivating acoustic blues, the album is available exclusively on 12" vinyl.

It’s time to pour yourself a drink, drop the needle on the record, sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in the unparalleled sound of these two musicians. This is how music is meant to be enjoyed.

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