On June 4, 2022, 'Blues In Zyfflich' took place. A large International Blues festival that guarantees a pleasant evening full of musical Blues enjoyment. This evening you can feel the blues down to your toes!
The Festival in Zyfflich is already planned for 2023.
In the Dorfscheune 5, Zyfflich, Germany.
The 16th Blues Festival In Zyfflich, a sun-drenched & musically warm 2019 edition!
In 2020 and 2021 the fastival could not take place because of Corona (covid 19)
The organization took a risk by organizing the festival in 2022 and luckily it was able to continue.
"On this warm Saturday evening, this is a nice opener for a festival where a lot can be expected for the audience present. The crowds before the box office and immediately after entering the site indicate how highly the enthusiasts rate this festival. The organization has spared no expense to put together an attractive program with a selection of selected musicians and groups from home and abroad.
Bootleg Betty was a guest at Blues in Zyfflich in 2017 and left a crushing impression. Once again, the five-piece from Nijmegen fires its polyphonic mix of rockabilly, pop, country and rock 'n' roll at you. After a first debut album Left the Barn , a series of performances and their music video 'A Song Called Wanda' - an ode to rockabilly star Wanda Jackson - the band continues its musical journey. Within a year they have a performance at Paaspop, Bevrijdingsfestival Zwolle and the Zwarte Cross. They are currently writing new songs for a full album with their own signature music. Bootleg Betty is not afraid to show you all corners of roots music. “Bootleg Betty has issued a business card with Left The Barn to be proud of.
It is difficult to stand out in an overcrowded pop landscape, but this talented five from Nijmegen has it all.” thus 3voor12 Gelderland The band in question, consisting of Karlijn Wolsing (Vocals), Daphne Verlinden (Upright bass), Anneke Zeegers (Guitar, banjolele, blues harp), Merel van Oven (Drums) reinforced with the newcomer Geena D (Guitar) is back to work as witnessed by this new performance in Zyfflich. The clearly recognizable influences of Wanda Jackson, Sallie Ford, Imelda May, Katzenjammer, Kim Lenz & The Jaguars, Eilen Jewell, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Beth Hart, The Beatles, Jessie & the Orbits etc. will not escape the audience's attention either. . They could enjoy the attention of their audience until the last song of their set-list.
The atmosphere is there right away and even the warmth of the big tent, where the sun has been shining all day, this band cannot get the audience outside. Even the now legendary band Catfish has to wait with their sound check until the ladies have finished their program. We will be hearing more from this sympathetic five in the future!
Red White & Blues
On to the big stage in the “Dorfsscheune” then. The next band is there to give the best of themselves. This 8-piece formation, which is celebrating their tenth anniversary this year, is going all out for blues. With the bit of soul they conjure up from their extensive instrumentation, this will be a special performance at this festival. With a rhythm section, vocals, guitar and a real three-man horn section and a seasoned craftsman on every instrument. That formula can handle almost any style of music out there.
The organization of the Dutch Blues Challenge has also clearly sensed this and that
resulted in an invitation to the final of this event. This invitation has also drawn the attention of the Zyfflich organization to this regional act. From understated songs like BB King's 'The 'Thrill Is Gone' to the old-style 'Texas Flood' that won the 2012 Chart Award from the 'Clash of the Coverbands' to Luis Jordan's 'Let The Good Times Roll' in the performance by Joe Bonamassa. The gentlemen in question cannot complain about attention because the village barn is packed full. An evening of Red White & Blues consists of well played and swinging music with a good sound and lots of fun.
catfish
In a considerably short time the British blues rock band Catfish has already managed to make quite a big impression. It is no coincidence that this band, known for its live reputation, has already been nominated five times at the British Blues Awards. Catfish is since 2015 the British blues band around twenty-three-year-old phenomenal frontman/singer and guitarist Matt Long (who has played with Buddy Whittington and Walter Trout).
This year at the UK Blues Awards 2018, Catfish won the 'Blues Act of the Year' (UK), their debut album So many Roads was number one on the Independent Blues Broadcasters Association in January 2015, the month it was released. (IBBA) Blues Airplay Charts and was voted “Album of the Month” by the IBBA in February. In January 2016 the EP When BB Sings The Blues was released, a tribute to B.B. King, the second studio album Broken Man was released in January 2017. That album also reached #1 on the IBBA Blues Airplay Charts and was voted 'Album of the Year' in 2017 by the same IBBA and also nominated by the UK Blues awards.
D-Catfish3Now Matt(hew) Long (vocals, guitar), Paul Long (vocals, keyboards), Adam Pyke (bass) and Kevin Yates (drums) are ready for their third album Burning Bridges, which was released on May 7 this year. On that album the band proves that they can do more than just produce hard-hitting blues rock. That very hard blues rock still sounds very good! Invariably equipped with a 70's Classic Rock sound in which you can encounter bands such as Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and Jimi Hendrix. Catfish's guitarist Matt Long is son Paul Long, the band's keyboardist/vocalist. Paul was the 2016 winner of a British Blues Award in the 'Keyboard Player of the Year' category in the same year that son Matt took home a number of awards. With Catfish and with the young goldcrest Matt Long, the British once again have an “outstanding” blues-rock band on their island. Catfish already managed to convince jury members and fans across borders on many fronts. When you taste Catfish, you immediately taste the passion of the blues.
Catfish has now built up an impressive and passionate live reputation in their home country (but also beyond). They played at major festivals and in renowned clubs.
D-Catfish6Their international career will also take off next year with 3 European tours and 1 American tour already confirmed. “Catfish are one of the finest live bands in Britain today. The quality of musicianship is outstanding and in Matt Long, they have one of the greatest young guitarists on the scene today…” You cannot ignore a band with such a line-up. When you hear Matt's drawn-out solos, you involuntarily think back to the British Blues Boom from the sixties and Jimi and Stevie Ray. Their blues-rock tinged songs lean towards the sound of Cream. The public has absolutely no problem with that. That comes for those solos and will get them. Catfish is a real crowd band that gives what they want!
Blind Lemon Blues & Soul
Back in the Village Barn you can barely enter through the concourse for the next band. Blind Lemon Blues & Soul is on a side stage doing their best to satisfy the audience. Their tight rhythm base with ripping harmonica and Hammond solos, alternating subtle and fat guitar work, all combined with the voice of a singer who expresses her deepest soul and blues feeling. The band name refers to Blind Lemon Jefferson, a leading blues singer in the early 1900s. This band does not limit itself to the primal blues, but plays everything that is made after that. The repertoire ranges from Etta James, Aretha Franklin to contemporary heroes such as Beth Hart, Matt Schofield and John Mayer.
E-BlindLemonBlues1 This band is continuously working on renewing their repertoire in order to ensure that both the true blues enthusiast and a wider audience are catered for. From their different musical backgrounds, the band members decided in 2014 to return to their musical roots: soul & blues. Due to these different backgrounds and input, Blind Lemon has grown into a surprising 'lime-fresh' band. The four members of the band are the (twenty-five year old!) frontwoman Britt Litjens on keyboards and lead vocals, Hubèrt van Hees on drums, Roland Kok on bass and Walter van der Hoeven on guitar. All band members also take care of the (backing) vocals. Although less known to the general public, they immediately strike the chord of a lot of listeners and you can see that in the crowd. With a lot of effort I can get close to the stage to take a few necessary shots and to soak up the atmosphere of the Hammond sounds of Britt and her band and that is certainly not wrong, on the contrary.
Blue Monday Blues Band
Back to the warm tent in the sun where in the meantime the Blue Monday Bluesband has taken over the second stage. In 2012, they appeared as a regional act in Zyfflich Blues, 'Where Rhythm Meets Blues' with the intention of giving a one-off performance with a blues band during a local jam session. The audience, as well as the blues band members themselves, were enthusiastic. After a period of rehearsing on songs by Guy Forsyth, Tommy Castro, ZZ TOP, Mark Ford and other renowned blues bands, Blue Monday manages to stay afloat in the years that followed. The media published good reviews about a number of performances at festivals and clubs in the blues scene in the Netherlands.
F-BlueMondayBlues2In 2004, some of the Blue Monday musicians did a 'mini tour' with the 'modern blues queen' Miss Dede Priest from Austin Texas. Frontman Alex impresses with his energetic performance and his playing on the harmonica. The most important thing for the Blue Monday blues band is to have a lot of fun “Playing the Blues” while entertaining the crowd with an evening of “Rocking Rhythm & Blues”!! Here in Zyfflich, too, you see a part of the audience who really attentively follows the performance and shows its approval by clapping, dancing and applauding.
Stevie Nimmo
On the big stage in the “DorfsScheune” is Mr. Nimmo kicks off with his trio. As one half of Scotland's highly respected Nimmo Brothers, Stevie Nimmo has been a well-known and respected figure in the blues and roots world for over two decades. Now that he's toured extensively with the acclaimed blues-rock outfit for a few years, and took to the track in a stripped-down, acoustic format to promote his debut solo project The Wynds of Life, he says it's extremely satisfying and has him in to showcase his voice and songwriting talents in the perfect environment.
G-StevieNimmo1 Still, sometimes you have to unpack the Les Paul or the Strat, open the old Orange amp and make some noise. That's exactly what he does. Stevie's latest CD Sky Will Not Fall was released worldwide in 2016 on the Manhaton Records label and it was voted album of the year by the media and of course by his fans. The follow-up was slated to be recorded and released in late 2017, but after a nasty fall from a mountain bike, resulting in a fractured humerus, Stevie was forced to put the new recording on hold. Stevie finally had surgery in January 2019 and is well on the way to recovery. He is writing material for a new album which he hopes to release by the end of the year and will be back on tour by the end of March, which will see him play all over Britain and Europe. He still enjoys making music as he has at any time in his 20 years in the business and fully enjoys touring and performing again for his loyal and ever-growing army of admirers.
G-StevieNimmo3Don't miss this chance to catch an artist doing what he does best – standing on stage playing his own music in his own passionate, inimitable way. Everyone knows his witty lyrics and also his grandiose blues-rock sound in his solos in which he gives free rein to his feelings and through which he always manages to grab his audience when he wants it.
Cat Riggins
In the big tent, where the temperature has become bearable again now that the sun no longer shines on it, the line-up of Kat Riggins backing band Blues Revival has now fully arrived. Kat was born on February 7, 1980 as Katriva Riggins in Miami, Florida. She grows up in
a family where music can always be heard. Different genres such as gospel, country and rock are frequently seen during that time and form her broad love for music. “I can remember being in the car with my mom and sister singing along to Tracy Chapman one minute and Chuck Berry the next”, which shows that the whole family is singing a lot from a young age. Kat was most attracted to the gritty voices
from Bessie Smith, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Denise LaSalle, Etta James, Ray Charles, Koko Taylor and Janis Joplin to name a few. When she is twenty-three she sings during a performance in the Sunny Isles Beach Lounge in Florida her first jazz and blues standards, only with the accompaniment of a pianist. Since then she has played in Vietnam, Thailand, China, South Korea, Curacao, Belgium and in our own little country, the Netherlands.
I-KatRiggins5Kat prefers to mix her blues with a good dash of hip-hop, pop, rock, gospel and even a touch of country, or perhaps better said roots music is not lacking in her repertoire. Her first release was the EP Seoul Music, which was quickly followed by a first full
album Lily Rose. She named her penultimate release Blues Revival after her eponymous backing band, an album in which gospel, rock, funk and modern and traditional blues come together in a very pleasant way and that goes a bit for her new album In The Boys Club on and lets hear a very well-articulated Kat Riggins. Inspired by the variety and abundance of music in her parents' collection, it makes sense that her own music would be laced with hints of R&B, soul, country, gospel, hip-hop, and rock-n-roll. Make no mistake, however, Kat Riggins is undeniably a BLUES WOMAN!
I-KatRiggins4She travels the world with the sole mission of keeping the blues alive and thriving through her Blues Revival Movement. What is a “Blues Revival” anyway? According to Kat, it is a musical revolution that aims to awaken the masses and introduce them to the sincerity behind blues music. “It's about the raw emotion in every note,” Kat Riggins exclaims as she tries to describe her love for the genre. Backed by a dynamic band, Kat evokes said emotion through energetic soul shakers and heartbreaking ballads. “If I can move someone to feel what I feel when I sing a song, it's all worth it,” said the Miami-born singer/songwriter. Little Mrs. Riggins knows how to grab her audience with her voice and the members of her band also know how to do what they stand for on stage. At the last performance of last Saturday the place was packed and that was not surprising with so much talent on the stage."
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