Like many British blues artists Danny Bryant regularly performs overseas to large audiences. Recently signed to a new record label and with a new Live DVD set for a January 2012 release, things are looking good for the up & coming young bluesman…
Words: Tim Slater
or many British blues and R&B bands Continental Europe is something of a second home. Large, enthusiastic audiences and an extensive network of decent-sized well equipped venues run
by professional promoters mean that many great acts who would otherwise most likely be confined to the UK pub circuit can still earn a decent living so long as they are prepared to travel. Guitarist Danny Bryant is part of a long established tradition among British blues players who regularly play live in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, insisting that the enormous distances covered are more than compensated for by the demand for their music overseas. With his busy schedule consolidated by a new record deal with German specialist label Jazzhaus Danny explains the benefits of his latest career progression. “We’d been with the previous label (CRS) for five years. I was going to renew the deal but I thought I’d take the chance to try for something new. When I originally signed with the previous label, Jazzhaus approached me but at the time they were still fairly new and I’d already committed to CRS, so it was out of the question. We kept in touch and now it feels like the right time. They have a bigger budget for PR, which is important, we’ll be targeting more countries and spending a lot more money on promotion. They’ve also got better distribution and they’re just a little bit more dynamic. The other side of it is that for the last 15 years they’ve been one of the biggest blues booking agencies in Germany, so they are also going to take over all of my booking for Germany!” The Europeans more open-minded attitude
Holland is definitely a Danny Bryant stronghold, and his forthcoming live DVD Night Life was recorded at a specially selected venue in Rosmalen, Holland. “I always had it in my mind when we did a live DVD that we would do it in Holland, which is where my biggest following are. I chose that particular venue because the local promoter is very good, he works hard and everything is done properly. Also, geographically, it’s close to airports and is handy for people from other countries who like that band to fly in, so that was basically it. It’s a CD and a DVD; the CD will have different
tracks from the DVD, purely from a marketing point of view but in terms of the show we picked songs from the last six or seven albums.” Like his long time hero, blues guitar legend
Robin Trower, Danny Bryant is a full time Marshall amp endorsee, plugging his Fret-King Corona SP into a TSL100 head.
towards live music also helps pave the way for UK acts who are largely prevented from breaking through into the mainstream by a somewhat tribal insistence on sticking everyone into a pre-labeled box. Danny agrees, saying that there are signs that things are starting to change for the better.
“I think that the biggest difference is that
the European festivals tend to feature all kinds of music,” Danny offers, “Whereas if you play blues, in the UK you only generally play at blues festivals. Over there we get on national TV and things like that, which I don’t really think tends to happen with a UK-based blues acts, although that might be changing a little bit. It’s picked up a bit recently; it’s definitely on the rise. I think that Joe Bonamassa has really helped to open people’s eyes to the blues over here, more guitar mags tend to be writing about it again, which is good for everybody. I think that the main difference between the UK and Europe is the amount of exposure. You can get on pop festivals and it exposes you to their market.”
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www.playmusicpickup.co.uk
“I love Fender amps and I have used them for a long time but when they break I can’t seem to get anyone to fix ‘em properly!” Danny laughs, “I live about 45 mins from (Marshall HQ) Milton Keynes. I went after an endorsement deal with them and now it’s great because if anything needs doing I can take my amps over there. I hate to use a different kind of amp from Marshall now; when we fly in to do a gig and for whatever reason they can’t supply a Marshall and I have to use a Fender I find it difficult to get back to that mindset! I changed to Marshall after I did a show with Robin Trower and I loved his tone, I tried a few and really liked the Marshall TSL. I don’t use any pedals, I have the amp set on the high-gain channel and just back the volume off to clean up my sound, if I back the volume off to about four of five you get a nice clean sound that still has a bit of throatiness to it, and you get the drive as you increase the volume on the guitar. On stage I just have a tuner, a wah, a digital delay and a little Uni-Vibe type pedal that I found on E-Bay. “ Danny’s Fret-King also takes pride of place in his live rig.
“I love it, I’ve got a couple of them, they
are great. I really like having the P-90 in the bridge, it sounds just that little bit hotter than a standard Strat pickup. I can’t really live without the sound of the Marshall and the Fret-King guitar!”
Keep an eye on Danny Bryant’s website:
www.dannybryant.com for details on the release of the Night Life DVD and more news. PM
ROLLIN’ DANNY F
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