Oli Brown Band
Barely out of his teens, Oli Brown is being hailed as the great white hope of British blues, with glowing reviews for his live and recorded work. Uncut magazine describes his guitar-playing as a cross between Rory Gallagher and Steve Cropper.
In 2006 Oli Brown was told by Carl Gustafson from the American blues band Blinddog Smokin' that he should form his own band in his own name. At jam sessions in Norwich, Oli met drummer Simon Dring, whom he really admired and invited to join the band. Oli's next task was to find a bass player. Luckily, Simon knew of a talented bassist and recommended that Oli give Fredy Hollis a call. January 2007 saw Oli, Simon and Fredy start rehearsals, and on March 1 2007 The Oli Brown Band performed their first gig at The Walnut Tree Shades in Norwich.
After that first gig, the rest of 2007 saw them playing up and down the UK. A major highlight for 2007 was recording a live session for BBC Radio 2 for the Paul Jones Blues Show which was transmitted 14 May 2007. Other notable events that year included supporting acts like Walter Trout, Aynsley Lister, Devon Allman and Ian Parker, as well as performances for various local radio stations.
2008 was exciting and extremely busy: In January Oli signed to Ruf Records and went to Germany to record his first Ruf Records album, titled Open Road, released that June to great reviews.
In February 2008, whilst in America, The Oli Brown Band were invited to record at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis, by John Fry himself (Ardent Studios have been involved with the recording of albums by artists such as REM, The White Stripes, Led Zeppelin, Isaac Hayes, ZZ Top… the list goes on and on). Oli and the band recorded a couple of tracks and then performed a live session for "The Ardent Sessions". The hits on the website for The Oli Brown Band set exceeded 1.4 million in three weeks.
Oli went back to the States in August 2008, where he performed with Blinddog Smokin, Sherman Robertson, Miss Blues, Billy Branch - and did his own Oli Brown set too!
The Oli Brown Band secured support slots in 2008 with artist such as Jon Cleary, Johnny Winter, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robben Ford, Walter Trout and Devon Allman, as well as having Oli Brown Band headline gigs. All of the gigs saw them playing in larger venues and increasing their rapidly growing fan base.
Early 2009 saw Oli perform as a member of the legendary Blues Caravan Tour of Europe, an annual event put on by Ruf Records which visits many countries including Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, Lithuania and Poland.
2009 was also when The Oli Brown Band carried out their first major UK tour. This was the Open Road Tour, presented by HMV in association with Rhino Agency and was a great success.
The rest of 2009 had the band performing at various festivals both in and out of the UK and ended, following requests from fans, with a further UK tour.
Fredy Hollis left the band at the end of 2009 and Roland Bacon, bassist from the American blues band Blinddog Smokin' joins Oli for 2010. Oli has gigged with Roland on numerous occasions in America and is looking forward to working with Roland as part of The Oli Brown Band.
The follow up album to Oli's debut, Open Road, is in progress with legendary 60s British blues producer Mike Vernon (Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown) at the helm. It is hoped the album will be released April/May 2010.
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