MvM - Blue River Rising

2021 - timezone

If you listen to Michael van Merwyk’s music with your eyes, you’ll see a very tall, imposing white German guy, with a Dutch name – an unlikely purveyor of the deep-roots, down-home blues. What’s he going to do, you might wonder. After all, he seems far removed from the origins of American roots music. A much preferential method is to listen to music with your ears. Then you will hear an accomplished, fiery songster belting out fierce and emotive songs in the acoustic roots & blues tradition. He does it with reverence and dignity. He’s not faking a black accent, not disrespecting the African American heritage of this music that was rooted in the exploitation and oppression of the Jim Crow era. He’s not claiming to have invented it; or, giving himself false credit for keeping it alive. He plays it with respect and passionate devotion. in a deep, meaningful way with a tip of the hat to the originators during the golden era of this music. He’s startingly good, as a singer/songwriter and guitarist, slide or fingerpicking. There have been great European blues singers and songsters since the mid-1960 as part of the folk & blues revival. Michael van Merwyk now deserves a seat at the table with the best of them. He sings in a rich tenor, almost baritone voice, and he is a swiftly skilled, virtuosic guitarist. His new release Blue River Rising has everything done right, exquisitely tasteful, well-crafted songs, with hot, superb instrumentation. All that in a generous set of songs, mostly written by van Marwyk. His harmonica partner Gerd Gorke plays along sensitively and elegantly, adding just the right touch to van Marwyk’s powerful and gritty merrymaking. This fine album will give you a deserved dose of fun and joy in this mean pandemic, and that’s what roots & blues music has always done, give you lift in troubled, hard times. We need this now, the real deal, for sure, and it works like dynamite! 

Frank Matheis
Contributing writer to Living Blues magazine
Co-Author of ‘Sweet Bitter Blues – Washington DC’s Homemade Blues’ with Phil Wiggins
Publisher of thecountryblues.com

Rezensionen:
»...van Merwyk, das sei in aller Deutlichkeit gepriesen, hat ein Organ, das es mit jedem US-amerikanischen Blueshelden aufnehmen kann. Das Album lebt eine knappe Stunde lang von den vielen Klangfarben, die der westfälische Bluesmann aus seiner Gitarre uns seiner Stimme herauszuholen vermag...« (Blues News, September 2021)

»We want more, Mr. van Merwyk!« (Good Times, September 2021)

»Echten Roots Blues, bis auf den Kern reduziert, bietet das neue Album von Michael Van Merwyk. Auf „Blue River Rising“ gibt es wieder traditionellen Blues in seiner reinsten Form. Mit tiefer, rauchiger Stimme und einer virtuosen Steel Guitar gibt der Singer/ Songwriter Michael Van Merwyk den musikalischen Blues Storyteller. Man kann kaum glauben das der deutsche Vollblut Musiker mit dem holländischen Namen nicht aus dem tiefsten Süden der USA stammt. Alle 14 Tracks bieten wunderbare Blues Musik, die zwar sehr ruhig gehalten ist, dafür aber zum Chillen bestens geeignet. Die leicht traurige und melancholische Grundstimmung macht das ganze noch umso authentischer. Mit Bluesrock hat das Gebotene allerdings nichts zu tun. Wer allerdings ein Ohr für echten Blues hat, der nicht unbedingt von den Baumwollfeldern der Staaten stammen muss, sollte oder besser gesagt muss hier zuschlagen. Feines Album und das bis dato Beste von Michael van Merwyk.« (darkstars.de, September 2021)

Titelliste:
1. blue river rising 
2. won´t get any better 
3. keep sinking 
4. strange man 
5. circumstances 
6. the blues will do your heart good 
7. lonely days 
8. heal my wounds 
9. i ain´t got no home in this world anymore 
10. i don´t want your millions, mr 
11. bye bye blues 
12. dark & dreary 
13. the road of life 
14 travel on