Australian Blues and Roots Band -
The Summerland Band
Take a blend of age and experience; add a dash of percussion mastery, some bull fiddle physicality, top off with a raw New Age guitarist, a howlin' old time harp player, throw in four vocalists; a super fat and very warm rhythm section and blend to perfection! Savour your appetite with some very original material that has its own swamp and roots feel and you have a very unique Australian musical experience that is knocking them dead at festivals across the country!
The result is the truly amazing Australian Blues and Roots Band - The Summerland Band - a cocktail of acoustic and electric music that covers over a century of the Masters, from Robert Johnston to Albert King - passing BB and Johnny Lee, Willie Dixon, the Walters, Stevie Ray to name but a few - an eclectic mix of styles, instruments and entertainment wrapped up in one talented outfit!
At no stage are you presented with straight covers as such, Summerland deliver their own style and feel that is built around their exceptional rhythm section - Doug "Snoup" Marsden on percussion, Mark Nightingale on bull fiddle as well as the indelible John "JD" Doyle on guitar.
Up front on lead guitar is Alex "Albert" McKean - a magnificent guitarist with unbelievable passion and raw emotion. He is blessed with the ability to switch through licks and rhythms that seem to blend from nowhere; one minute a touch of Robin Ford, a glimpse of Stevie Ray or BB or Albert King - pure guitar mastery.
The howlin' in this outfit is down to Ian "Half Watt" Wilks on harmonica and tenor banjo; some very old country feels, some hard edged harp that is very new.
