Biography
In the late 1980s, Siegal dropped out of art college and went busking in Germany. He has been active on the UK blues scene for many years, and after two European tours supporting Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in 2003 and 2004, began to receive significant attention in Europe and further afield. Although he had released several albums it wasn't until his 2005 opus Meat & Potatoes (Nugene Records NUG502) that he started to receive recognition for his recorded material. This and following release Swagger were produced by also feature guitarist Matt Schofield, and are catalogued in the Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Swagger achieved no.2 position in Mojo magazine's chart of best blues albums of 2007. In 2008 the album The Dust was released. Unlike the previous albums it contained mainly solo performances. In 2009, Siegal released another album together with his band members, Andy Graham (bass) and Nikolaj Bjerre (drums). This album, Broadside, was voted "Blues Album of the Year 2009" by Mojo.
His 2011 release, The Skinny, was recorded in North Mississippi with Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars as record producer and he also played on the album. Backing Siegal were the sons of some notable Mississippi blues men, including on guitar Robert Kimbrough, on guitar and bass Garry Burnside, and on drums Rod Bland. Also guesting were Alvin Youngblood Hart and Duwayne Burnside. This album was nominated in the Blues Foundation's 2012 Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
Read more about this topic: Ian Siegal
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