New Brunswick blues/rock band Ross Neilsen and the Sufferin’ Bastards may be too loud for Memphis, but they are looking forward to returning to Lethbridge on Wednesday, June 23.
Before releasing their new CD, ‘Redemption’ in late April, the band dipped down into the United States to tour the east coast and ended up in blues mecca Memphis , Tennesee itself where they participated in a blues competition.
“We played on Beale Street at the Blues Café right across from B.B Kings. It went pretty well. It was interesting considering we’re not a traditional blues band,” said lead singer/guitarist Ross Neilsen.
“One of the judges listened to our set with her hands over her ears. So we didn’t get far in it, but it was amazing. It was like a glorified battle of the bands,” he continued adding the tour has gone well.
“It’s gone pretty well. It’s been a pretty good tour so far,” said Neilsen, enjoying a rare luxury — a steady, five day gig in Edmonton.
“Not many places do this anymore,” Neilsen said adding response to the band’s new CD ‘Redemption,’ has been very favourable, including reviews in bigger newspapers like the Edmonton Journal. It is also starting to chart well.
“The first CD was acoustic, ‘Early Grave’ was more blues rock. This one is even more blues influenced rock. It has the rock edge to it and shows the natural evolution of the band,” Neilsen continued.
“It’s going to be a great night. We missed Lethbridge on the last tour. This is a Wednesday night, so we’re hoping for a better turnout. We’ve been a working band for 10 years. We’ll be doing pretty much the whole album as well as some of our favourites. It’s pretty high energy,” he said.
“It’s always a good time,” he continued adding the band immediately launched an 8-9 week tour as soon as they released the CD in late April.
While they don’t have plans for a follow up CD anytime soon, they try to release a live CD every year.
“We have a live CD ready to go probably in late October. We just print a limited number to see at shows, then they’re free to download online, (http://www.rossneilsen.com), ” he continued adding they are shooting for a new studio CD in 2011.
“We’re a touring band. We’re not going to get any significant top 40 radio airplay. So we’ll just keep going, keep playing and keep meeting people. And we get really positive feedback on it,” he said.
They play the Slice at approximately 9:30, on Wednesday.
