Black Label

An amazing solo blues project with an amazing history. It begins as a tale of two musicians in the best of times and the worst of times. The story starts with Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson, a fabled musician who lived a haunted life. According to the most romantic of myths, he sold his soul at a country crossroads at midnight in order to play guitar and sing the blues. He died young at the hands of a jealous husband who poisoned Johnson's whiskey, leaving behind but a handful of songs. The legend of Robert Johnson has grown stronger---and certainly more fanciful---with time, but there's no denying the astounding music that he made, music that has influenced everyone from Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton. And R.J Remko. Remko grew up in Belgium at the Missippi Schelde as a good boy who dreamed of playing the blues. He may not have sold his soul, but he was obsessed with music and practiced until he could play like the devil. After he learned to play the harmonica he began playing the Robert Johnson songs on his national steel guitar. The song struck him like lightning! The result is this new blues project. Beyond the story of BLACK LABEL through the music of Robert Johnson, one of the things that makes this project so good is that Remko doesn't try to ape the originals. Instead, he plays the songs his way. Sure, there's Johnson telltale slide licks and copped vocal inflections at times, but in the end, this is a BLACK LABEL project. The Robert Johnson songbook includes covers of many Johnson greats on slide and fretted guitar but also songs by Son House, Charley Patton and Tommy Johnson. All the songs are acoustic with sometimes harmonica – enjoy the delta blues with black label and the Robert Johnson songbook!