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Blues Element


Welcome to the home of Blues Element!

That’s right music lovers - the name of the band is "Blues Element".
Meaning, there’s an element of blues.
We LOVE the blues, so it's a very BIG element, but there's some other stuff mixed up in there too.
Depending on where you're sitting you might find us to be “more jazz than blues”,
unless you are one of those who thought "more blues than jazz".
You may notice some pop, funk, and country. But not much country; Iain tends to turn that into funk.

Anyway... if you have an open mind and ears,
 and if you’re interested in checking out some original 21st century jazzy blues tunes,
(we have 2 cd releases to date with enough new songs for the next 2 releases
ready to record)
 then you’ve come to the right place!
Or, to one of the right places....

  Visit us on MySpace
For breaking news, pictures, and blogs
 
Spring 2009 News:
Blues Element is featured on the
House of Blues website and Radio Hour, March 2009!

Winter 2009 News:
"Are You Ready" voted #6 in the CHMR 93.5 FM 2008 Blind Lemon Top 20 Canadian Blues Albums!

Summer 2008 News:
"Good Strong Drink" is included on 272 Records' cd compilaton Blues Highway Vol 1!

Spring 2008 News:
Blues Element is happy to announce that our music is now available in hard copy from CD Baby!
(and as of Winter 2009, also digitally at CD Baby)

(For digital downloads from other online stores please see ourShoplink.)


Buy the CD
BLUES ELEMENT: Baby's Got The Blues
click to order


Buy the CD
BLUES ELEMENT: Are You Ready
click to order


Radio spins from the new album that we know of so far:
Norway, Italy, Spain, Australia,
Belgium, Portugual, Germany, France, and the U.K.,
Georgia, Texas, New York, Michigian, California, Kansas, Florida & Nebraska in the U.S.
,
Kamloops, Kelowna, Montreal, St. Johns,
Sudbury, Waterloo, Ottawa, Oshawa, Thunder Bay, Hanover, London, and Toronto in Canada, and a few other places too it seems, at least according to this chart we found online....
and so on, to be followed soon by the rest of the world! :)

Then again, since some of the stations playing our songs are internet stations that broadcast worldwide,
you can already conceivably hear Blues Element anywhere on the planet.
So instead let's say to be followed soon by the rest of the galaxy! :)

  We have come across or recieved evidence of airplay for each of the 22 songs on our first 2 releases!
As a result we've had visitors to our websites from some very unexpected places.
And that is SO amazing! A big thanks to all the djs!



BLUES ELEMENT BIO

Are You Ready

At the heart of Blues Element is the songwriting team of Jamie Browning and Iain Green.

The songs keep pouring out... they didn't mean to put a band together, and were in fact temporarily out of commission as a live act while they searched for a replacement for their beloved guitarist Kenmi, who had to jet back to Japan and will be there indefinitely. Before he left they whipped into the studio and put most of the beds to bed for their 2nd release, and then began the search for a new guitarist*.

The newest album "Are You Ready" features 12 new original jazzy/blue future standards written by vocalist Jamie & drummer Iain, and brought to life at Wellesley Sound in Toronto with the help of Kenmi Chank - guitar, Garfield Stoddart - guitar, Jason Wilson - piano, Rhodes and B3, Justin Snikkar - bass,  Rebecca Campbell - background vocals, Jeff McCulloch - Engineer, and Yohann Francoise and Jeremy Cowie - Assistant Engineers. Jamie and Iain then had the good fortune and pleasure to record the vocals and then mix and master at Silverbirch Productions with amazing Mix Engineer Ted Onyszczak and Mastering Engineer Andy Krehm.

The cd release party was held January 13, 2008 at the Cadillac Lounge in Toronto. As the new cd continues to make its way to radio and into online digital stores updates will be posted as to its reception. (Likely a page to post reviews and feedback will be created, although an entire overhaul and redesign of this site is imminent and very much needed...)

In other news... at the time of writing this all 10 tracks from Blues Element's 2005 release "Baby's Got the Blues" are also still on the air somewhere near you!
jamieiain
Recorded in the fall of 2004, this album was a whirlwind fun miracle that brought together the incredible and diverse talents of some of the best players in Toronto's sprawling musical community including Alec Fraser, Rod Phillips, Michael Fonfara, Michael Keith, Dave Powell, Bryan Huntley, and Kenmi Chank.

Recorded and mixed at Liquid Toronto with blues maestro Alec Fraser (Jeff Healey, Jimmy Bowskill, Broken Joe) wearing the engineer and producer hats, "Baby's Got The Blues" was originally to include one cover 
song. That recording had to be put on the back burner due to an unsuccessful search to locate one of the publishers in order to obtain the licence to release it.  Jamie and Iain may one day attempt the search again, but for now they've agreed that it's less trouble to write their own tunes.

And that is certainly something they are happy to do, deep into writing and preproduction now for cd # 3.

Since the pair's music has been so well received by radio, traffic to their websites has been increasing on a daily basis, as have the sales of digital downloads. In 2006 BGTB track “It’s Not You” was included on the soundtrack of the feature film “Chicknapping”, and AYR track "(In) The City" has been selected for the soundtrack of 2009's "In Fear and Faith".  2009 has so far also brought the good news of their #6 spot on the Blind Lemon 2008 Top 20 Canadian Blues Albums and a feature on the House of Blues Radio Hour.


*Live Blues Element continues to be an evolving entity, but the show always starts with a fun, sexy and very danceable mix of original tunes plus mid 20th century R&B, funk, blues, and jazz. Artists covered include Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, James Brown, Louis Jordan and more.  The 2008 hometown line up in addition to Jamie & Iain featured Adam Rawski on lead guitar and Jason Farrar on bass. The "away games" line up brought to the stage Dave West on lead guitar and Andrew Stewart on bass. 2009 is shaping up to be an interesting mix including Justin on bass again and Russel Williams on guitar, alternating with the Adam/Jason team,  Adam/Justin, and Russell/Jason... sure to keep everyone (including Jamie & Iain) on their (tappin') toes. A few special performances will feature both guitarists.

And... it will be interesting to see which bunch joins Jamie and Iain in the studio for cd #3.... stay tuned...





Are You Ready cover photo byLeann Parker
Baby's Got The Blues cover photo by
Graham Kennedy
Need great cd artwork & design? Contact Chris Fairbairn.                              
Also check out one our favourite artists, and one of Canada's secret weapons - Julian Fauth

This site was hacked together so as not to crash yer 'puter by Iain.

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