YOURI BLOW
Born in Troyes, in the Champagne-Ardennes region, Youri Blow took his first steps into the world of music playing Leadbelly's "Where Did you Sleep Last Night " (discovered in Nirvana Unplugged) by ear on a cheap guitar. Different songs from Led Zeppelin III would follow, and at 16 he started working as a painter to pay for his first electric guitar (Epiphane. Gibson).
Inspired by the power of Jimi Hendrix's (Blues in the West) voodoochile, at 17 he bought a new electric guitar (Fender American Stratocaster). The first Hendrix song he played was "Little Wing": from this point onward music had become such an integral part of his life that the passion of his youth saw him sleeping next to his guitar every night...
After a number of experiences in pyschedelic Blues Rock bands following in the footsteps of Pink Floyd, Hendrix, the Doors, Santana...at 21 he decided to head to Peru for two months. This experience would mark a turning point in his life. One back in France, he took to the road solo, inspired by the "mercernary troubadours" of the Delta blues, whose husky voices would gradually blend with the colors of the Peruvian wilderness..At this point Psychéblues has begun to take shape and is gradually developing. Known as Youri plays the Delta Blues, he settled in Paris and played every night in bars, Blues clubs, jam sessions, and some of the most unlikely performance halls of the Capital, bringing forth haunting overtones of Son House, Skip James, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, John Hurt... with his dobro guitar (Tanglewood) and his wild, savage voice for a diverse yet always enchanted audience. Various encounters led him to perform in Blues concerts and festivals (Autour du Blues, Barbes Tour, Blues Sur Seine, House of Live, Reservoir...). At the same time he recorded a Delta Blues demo, "Love is Over".
Back in his adopted region in 2006 under the name of Youri plays the Psychéblues he introduced Breton audiences to his second demo, "Papillon de Mars" and his first album "Sand of Fairy" , opening for Elliot Murphy, Boubacar Traoré, Joe Bonamassa, Björn Berge...
The purchase of a new acoustic guitar (La Prinzi) marked the beginning of a year of solitude spent absorbing the influences of traditional music from around the world (Li Xiangting, Musa Eroglu, Arif Sag, Amida Boussou, Pandit Ram Narayan...) and classical music (Kronos Quartet, Ravel, Mozart, Yehudi Menuhin...) years which would lead to his 2008 album "Moon Rock My Soul", to be found under his definitive name, Youri Blow.
Since that recording in 2008, Youri has undertaken two years of interior exploration, two years of a solitude necessary to strengthen his own very personal musical style: Psycheblues. This solitude was enriched with an initiatory trip to Mongolia living with the Tsaatane tribe. The evidence is his recording of a new album "The Corridor"; a long tunnel of introspection opening out into light and also a deliberate playing on opposites. Youri succeeds in fact in producing a clear, almost religious sound, in the title song of the album, just as easily as he offers a raucous voice, plumbing the depths of a "Strange History". Various chronicles of the album in magazines (Les Inrocks, Soul Bag, Tradmag, l’Express…) led him to perform in Blues/World Music concerts and festivals (Tour in France: March/April 2010,, in Belgium: Oct/Nov 2010, Festival Les Nuits de l’ Alligator 2011…)
LE PSYCHEBLUES
The meeting of two forces: dream and reality, mixed with madness and realism, pleasure and suffering, Psychéblues is the union of traditional blues with the most modern rhythms (Indian, gnawa, soufi…).
The machines participate subtly to a progressive slide towards the most psychedelic of worlds. They drive in real time natural sounds that have been transformed, altered…
From now on, his concerts will mix the natural sound of his guitar and his dobro with psychedelic sound and smixed video projections.
A combination of raw energy, faith and magic, his music appeals as much to the heart and spirit as to the ears.
CHRONICLES ALBUM THE CORRIDOR
« Youri Blow has created an intricate and elegant album, full of fantastic arrangements and a distinct atmosphere.» The [AU] Review /AUSTRALIA
"The Corridor is an impressive guitar-driven collection defined as "psyche-blues" that will inspire a new generation of blues rock artists to tread the fine line between the utterly familiar and fresh experimental sound techniques. An album that is likely to endure the test of time and continuous play, the sounds meld with the mood rather than hijacking the senses. " The Dwarf/AUSTRALIA
« Real bridge between the Mississippi Delta and the steppes of Central Asia.» L'Express N°3310/FRANCE
“ A travel album between inside and outside , here and elsewhere , haunted by experience and magic."Les Inrocks N°762/FRANCE
" Nice mix of Delta Blues and Indian Songs ... "***Soul Bag N°199/FRANCE
" Advised ears will appreciate this treasure and this clear voice that arouses contemplation …" Longueur d'ondes N°55/CANADA
“ Overall, “The Corridor” takes on a rather explorative nature, a rather uncommon but nonetheless enthralling idea for an album. Très interessant.” Blues Bunny/SCOTLAND
“Youri Blow's talent is to meld all the power and diversity of all these dynamic and elemental horizons into an album that works wonderfully well holistically. ” Plectrum/ENGLAND
“ It's a great discovery and you 'd better not miss this initiatory journey ” Music in Belgium/WALLONIA
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