"Alar Kriisa, any punk rock blues kid should be able to appreciate his gruff vocals. He sounds like Leon Redbone piss drunk and fronting an Alice Cooper cover band and this is a good thing, a very good thing. The lyrics ramble shamelessly like Dylan, but latter-day Dylan, "Love and Theft" Dylan, which, again, is a good thing, a very good thing," writes Blues In London critic Eric Gebhardt. "Any purist should be able to appreciate the fantastic guitar playing of the great Andres Roots. /---/ Andres plays with a soul that feels to be as old as the music he's playing, behind a rhythm section that reminds me of Tom Waits' "Bone Machine" at times."
Having first established their musical partnership in 2000 in the Mother River Delta of the Estonian South, Kriisa and Roots adopted the Bullfrog Brown moniker in 2003, recruiting Üllar Kärt on harmonica. Sharing stages with the likes of Honeyboy Edwards, Dave Arcari, Deltahead and Black River Bluesman, Bullfrog Brown have appeared live in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, France, England and Scotland.
The band's recording career took off with the 2005 album "Snakes and Devils" that continues to receive airplay on four continents; its follow-up EP "Uncooked" was nominated for the "Deed of the Year" award in the group's hometown of Tartu and included as the only post-1971 and non-American recording in the History of Slide Guitar programme compiled by Radio Melibokus in Germany.
In 2007, Bullfrog Brown became the highest ranking blues band in ubl.com's Ultimate Band Competition, placing 6th in a 2-year race with thousands of international pop, rock, and hip-hop bands. Another EP, "Tundra", was introduced at the Floating Cockroach alt.blues festival in Helsinki, Finland in September 2007. Parting ways with Kärt, Bullfrog Brown then returned with the duo recording "Mother River Delta", launched with four London shows in April 2008 and declared "Best European Release" of the year by Canada's Blues Underground Network.
Official bootleg "Twelve Live Warthogs" followed in October, combining live tracks from December 2007 and June 2008 and - according to Blues Underground Network editor John Vermilyea - containing "what is certainly to be considered their best work to date." 2009 has seen three live appearances on the Estonian national television ETV, including a guest appearance on the Estonian Eurovision finals programme, as well as the band's first French tour.
Hailed as "bullseye" by Blues-Finland.com critic Auvo Laaksonen, the latest album "Bullfrog Brown with Steve Lury" was released in February 2009 during a Finnish-Estonian tour and features England's Steve Lury on harmonica and long-time collaborator Peeter Piik on bass.
Festivals played include: Le Blues Autour du Zinc, France (2009), Puistoblues, Finland (2006); Augustibluus, Estonia (2003-2008); Bliuzo Naktys, Lithuania (2005, 2008); Floating Cockroach Alt.Blues Festival, Finland (2007, 2008); Fontaine Festival, Latvia (2008); Savonsolmu Beach & Blues Party, Finland (2007); WRA InterContinental Resophonic Guitar Festival, Czech Republic (2005); Kaavi Blues, Finland (2007); Baltic-Nordic Harmonica Festival, Estonia (2008); Bluza Krustceles, Latvia (2004); Fiesta de la Guitarra, Estonia (2006); Soodoma Rock, Estonia (2004); RockTrip, Estonia (2004); Lindalevi, Estonia (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007); Jannen Jamit, Finland (2006); WintFest, Estonia (2003); Supilinna Päevad, Estonia (2004, 2006)...
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