Photograph by Dave Peabody
© 2005
"Michael
Messer is a virtuoso slide guitarist who has one of the best bands performing
some of the greatest blues tunes produced this century. His playing encompasses
the
entire history of the blues but is totally individual and contemporary. His use
of
turntables in the band adds a new element to the music and Messer’s
haunting vocals ooze authenticity and integrity. The American magazine, ‘Spirit’
listed Michael as one of the greatest slide guitarists ever alongside
Duane Allman and Ry Cooder". Dave Tracey
Michael Messer was born in Middlesex in 1956. Throughout his childhood and teens
he played rock music with his two brothers and in various local bands. In his
early
twenties, Messer spent time in Nashville where he had the chance to meet and
hear
some of the ‘greats’ of country music performing in their home environment.
These included Roy Acuff, Hank Snow and Johnny Cash. Back home in England in the
late seventies, Messer was mastering the art of Mississippi delta blues slide
guitar,
buying his first National steel guitar in 1979. He began playing blues gigs,
both as a
solo artist and in various local bands in the early eighties.
In 1983 he
met Ed Genis and they began playing music together, a partnership that has
lasted for the past two decades. During that year, Messer started gigging
regularly with
British blues singer, Mike Cooper, and through him he got known on the folk and
blues circuit.
In 1984, Cooper asked him to play slide guitar on The Continuous Preaching
Blues, an album
he was recording with Ian Anderson (now editor of fROOTS).
Photograph by Alan Messer©
2001
The Michael Messer Band was formed in 1985 and they cut their first album,
Diving Duck,
in 1987 which received some fantastic reviews.
“Beautifully played.
Diving Duck is the kind of album Ry Cooder should be making”. Q
magazine
In 1989 Messer produced and played on an album with the legendary Venice Beach
busker,
Ted Hawkins, called I Love You Too, which was later re-released as
Nowhere to Run.
In that same year he became friends with the late S.E. Rogie and produced some
tracks
for his New Sounds of S.E .Rogie album.
Messer’s second album Slidedance was released in 1990,
and one year later, he was voted
Acoustic Blues Artist
of the Year
at the B.B.C Awards. “To say that Messer is
a slide guitarist
is like describing Mother Theresa as
a nun! Slidedance is possibly the finest
blues / world music album of the
year.
One of the best slide guitarists Britain has ever produced”. Time Out
Rhythm Oil, a trio album with songwriter Terry Clarke and Texas guitar
ace, Jesse ‘Guitar’ Taylor,
was released in 1993. The CD boasts sleeve notes written by the late Johnny
Cash, a rare honour
shared with Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson. “What
I hear here is the real thing - Bare-bones
blues gut-bucket rural rock. This record carried me away to a long time ago,
down a delta dirt
road to a land of my musical good-old-daysing.
PS…Don't squeeze the trigger, if you can't stand the recoil.” Johnny Cash
1995 saw the
release of Moonbeat, which featured a mixture of world music and blues, as well
as DJ Louie Genis (son of rhythm guitarist Ed) scratching old blues vinyl. A
practise that became
popular a few years later with the likes of Little Axe, Moby and R.L. Burnside.
"MOONbeat is an extraordinary, innovative album that
deserves to be heard".
In 1999,
Messer went to Alberta to record with Canadian guitarist/songwriter Doug Cox.
One of
Cox’s songs from the sessions, Cold When I’m Dead, which features Messer
playing electric slide
guitar, can be heard in the latest Terry Gilliam movie Tideland.
In 2001
Messer released King Guitar, a compilation album comprising of sixteen
tracks from back
catalogue. The album received critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic,
reached number
one in the US
Living Blues
chart and in
May 2001 was the most played album on US college radio.
One prominent American reviewer described him as “an unavoidable force in
modern blues” and
commented that “King Guitar has met a new century with style,
grace and a new colourful direction
for the music”.
Photograph by Graham Poulton©
2007
Second Mind,
recorded and
released in 2002 followed the widespread success of King Guitar.
This highly anticipated and critically acclaimed album featured Messer’s regular
band, plus the
great Ruby Turner on backing vocals. DJ Louie Genis came back into the fold and
this time
instead of working on one or two tracks, he cut loose and played on the whole
album,
creating a sound that was both totally contemporary and very traditional. The
album
won the Best Blues Guitar Album at the 2003 International Guitar
Federation awards,
beating other nominees including Chris Rea, Sonny Landreth and Eric Bibb.
On ‘Second Mind’, Michael delivered a set of
recordings that stretch across the
musical landscape. Deeply rooted in and inflected with the blues, the album
incorporates a rich and
diverse texture of different styles that appeal to an array of musical
tastes.
‘Michael
Messer is one
of the most important bluesmen in Britain and mightily relevant
throughout
the blues world. He has
progressed from being an excellent technician - on
the National Steel
especially, to being in the
vanguard of the 21st century blues. And
that doesn't mean he has forsaken
traditional values
either. A beautiful amalgam of
history and foresight; musicality and grit;
blues, boogie
and beats -
Second Mind is a work of near genius’. Joe
Cushley – Mojo/Blues Matters
Messer signed to Cooking Vinyl in 2005 and released his eighth album, Lucky Charms,
in February 2006. Recorded and mixed the old way with no digital
trickery or computers,
just reels of tape, live performances, an old mixing desk and a lot of patience.
The album
features ten original songs. Louie Genis, now very much a part of the Michael
Messer sound,
is scratching and texturing with loops, old vinyl and home made samples, and the
music has
a more acoustic feel to it than Second Mind. Ed Genis is playing rhythm
guitar, Richard Causon
is on keyboards, Jerry Soffe is on bass, Simon Price is on the drums, and
of course
Michael Messer is singing and playing slide guitar. Lucky Charms has
garnered some fantastic
reviews and along with recent tour dates, festival appearances and live sessions
for various
radio stations during 2006, Michael Messer is becoming known worldwide for his
unique sounding band, Michael Messer & the Second Mind Band.
In 2007 Soyuz Music in Russia released Lucky Charms, Second Mind & King Guitar.
The albums garnered excellent reviews and
magazine coverage
in the
Russian press.
2007 also saw the release of the National Debt CD, 'From the Horse's Mouth'. The
album was
featured on Mark Lamarr's BBC Radio 2 show and received great reviews from the
British music press.
In November 2007 Michael Messer & BJ Cole debuted their steel & slide guitar
show 'That Sliding Sound'
at the International Festival of Guitar in Lancashire. The show was a great
success and Michael & BJ are
planning to make a DVD & CD of 'That Sliding Sound'.
In July of 2007, along with
the Campbell Brothers
and Debashish Bhattacharya, Michael Messer was
one of three featured slide
guitarists at the Cognac
Blues Passions Festival. Later in 2007 Michael
Messer & Ed Genis
played to an ecstatic crowd
at the prestigious 'Issoudun Guitar Festival', in France.
2008 marked twenty five years of
Michael Messer & Ed Genis
playing together as a duo.
The year started with an amazing run of sell-out UK tour dates
for Michael Messer & Ed Genis.
Michael Messer with the 'Michael Messer LIGHTNING Resonator Guitar'
by Rosanna Stalbow© 2008
2008 was also the year that Michael Messer stepped into another area of the
industry and
launched his own brand of resonator guitars. True to form and always breaking
the mould,
Michael's venture into the guitar industry is a very unusual among recording
artists.
Two models, the Michael Messer BLUES and the Michael Messer LIGHTNING, came onto
the
market in August. News about these new guitars spread very quickly and the first
shipment was completely
sold before it arrived in the UK. The MM range of resonator guitars are fast
becoming brand leaders in
the acoustic guitar market around the world.
----------------------------------------
Michael Messer’s significance as a blues artist is further confirmed by his
inclusion in
"The Virgin Encyclopaedia of the Blues.” Messer’s name appears alongside
many of the
blues ‘greats’ who influenced his playing.
Newtone® Guitar Strings in conjunction with
National Reso-phonic® Guitars have a
Michael Messer
brand specifically made for the National steel guitar, which reflects the
esteem in which he is
held.
These are the brand leaders in their field and used by most National
steel players around the world.
Photograph by William White© 2005
Photograph by Alan Messer© 2001
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