"Red Hot Blues Rock - four words that get my blood pumping, my toe tapping, my heart racing, my head bobbing and always get me reaching for my guitar!" says Laurie Morvan. "Blues rock is that perfect, visceral combination of the soulfulness that is so intrinsic to the blues, powered by the high-octane fuel of rock-n-roll. It is my very favorite musical art form!"
Admirers of this genre, both its fans and its performers, cut a wide and varied swath across the musical spectrum. It is pretty well accepted that no one can definitively describe this hybrid style in such a way as to get any kind of consensus agreement on its definition. It's often been said that if you asked ten different people to define what it is, you will get ten completely different answers.
"I love the diversity of it," says Laurie. "I think infusing your music with the richness of multiple styles makes for a much more colorful and interesting pallette from which you can create a more exciting and cinematic picture. As an artist, I allow myself complete freedom to let the song take me wherever it wants to go. I'm certainly not going to squash a creative moment by labelling something too blues or too rock. I think it is an incredible blessing to get to draw from both universes. These songs explode into the world with a life of their own and we get to ride along with 'em! How cool is that?"
As in all things human, sometimes people will argue about what blues rock is - and what it isn't. Blues purists will argue that it isn't blues enough, and rockers will argue that any song where the first two lines repeat themselves is the blues. "Why label it at all?" says Laurie with a grin. " Why not just enjoy it and let it heal your soul?" |
