Geoff Achison – Another Mile, Another Minute
€13,50 €12,10
Description
Landslide Records is proud and excited to announce the compact disc release of ANOTHER MILE, ANOTHER MINUTE, a vibrant new set of rockin original compositions from Australian blues/roots guitar sensation Geoff Achison . Produced by Achison with Rob and Ben Harwood, the album combines elements of blues, funk, soul and jam-band music and features his band, the Souldiggers (Roger McLachian, bass; Gerry Pantazis, drums, and Richard Tankard, drum). ANOTHER MILE, ANOTHER MINUTE was recorded for Achison s Jupiter 2 Records at HS45 Studios in Melbourne, Australia and represents his 14th release as a solo artist. Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame said of Achison, Geoff is among the finest blues guitarists that I know with a completely individual style. Since first arriving to tour in the U.S. in the mid- 1990s, he has garnered consistently strong reviews. Down Beat magazine lauded his music as catchy, intelligent songwriting...he spills out blues guitar phrases that shed further light on various emotional states. Elmore Magazine said, Achison seems more like a singer/songwriter s soul in Jeff Beck s body. And the Times of London called him, One of the most gifted musicians to arrive on the scene ... his playing verges on the miraculous. A hardworking road warrior, Achison is set for spring/summer USA and European tours at festivals, theaters and clubs.
Track Listing:
1. High Wire - 3:38 2. Delta Dave - 4:00 3. Working My Way Back Home - 4:34 4. I'm Gonna Ride - 3:29 5. A New Bad Habit - 5:17 6. I Wish You Were Mine - 3:56 7. Another Mile, Another Minute - 4:30 8. Make No Mistake - 5:42 9. Dreaming I'm Awa ke - 5:24 10. Sum Peeples Got All da Fonk - 5:34 11. Baby Come Back - 4:20 12. I Need Help - 4:00 13. Make My Stand - 3:06 14. Front Porch Farewell - 3:39
Personnel:
Geoff Achison (guitar) , Roger McLachian (bass) , Gerry Pantazis (drums) , Mal Logan (keybords) , Chris Wilson (harmonica on 4) , Lloyd Spiegel (vocal on 6) , Shannon Bourne (guitar on 8), Susie Ahern & Steve Romig.
Biography by Tom Demalon
Australian-born Geoff Achison earned a reputation in the mid-'90s as one of the more acclaimed young blues guitarists, including winning the Albert King Award for most promising guitarist in 1995, leading to an endorsement deal with Gibson Guitars. Born in Victoria, Achison made his way to Melbourne and learned the blues from local artists. His recorded debut arrived with Big Machine in 1994 and the record garnered strong notices from critics and fans alike. Following his Albert King Award win at the 12th Annual International Blues Talent Competition in Memphis, Achison released the solo acoustic album Mystery Train, earning him more critical accolades. Gettin' Evil (1999) featured his U.S. touring band the Soul Diggers backing him and Live at St. Andrews and Souldiggin' in the U.K. were issued over the next two years (the latter being a live studio recording). Keeping a relentless touring schedule, Achison spent a portion of 2000 on the road in the States with Hot Tuna and has taught at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Guitar Ranch.
Reviews:
1. Elmoremagazine.com - Jim Hynes - March 3rd, 2017
Geoff Achison hails from Australia and this album is nominated for Album of the Year in the 2017 Australian Blues Awards. It may be categorized as a blues album, but it is brilliantly eclectic and wide ranging, clearly one of the best albums I’ve heard so far in 2017.
Long hailed as one of the world’s top guitarists, Jorma Kaukonen has had Achison as a guest instructor at Fur Peace Ranch for 17 years and guitar teacher at his online school BreakDownWay.com. Achison also displays a great flair for genre-crossing songwriting that touches on all forms of roots music. His gravelly voice reminds me at times of James Maddock and Malcolm Holcombe. His guitar solos are imaginative and often carry a tone that lies somewhere between Ronnie Earl and Carlos Santana.
This is Achison’s 14th release but first in ten years. He is the front man for his quartet, the Souldiggers, but adds notable Australian session players on horns and background vocals. Bassist Roger McLachland and keyboardist Mal Logan were early band members of the Little River Band. The grooves are memorable as tunes shift between adventurously electric to acoustic to churning funk, riveting in its many different directions and tempo changes. Even on a predominantly acoustic tune like “Delta Dave,” Achison adds his atmospheric electric guitar to add depth. The band gets funky on “Working My Way Back Home” and the Dr. John- like “Sum Peeples Got All Da Fonk.” Three tunes feature some of Australia’s most notable musicians. Chris Wilson’s solos on harmonica in “I’m Gonna Ride,” Lloyd Spiegel takes the gritty main vocal on “I Wish You Were Mine,” and Shannon Bourne takes the outro guitar solo on “Make No Mistake.”
Among the many outstanding tracks, is “Dreaming I’m Awake,” which showcases Achison’s soaring guitar technique and gorgeous tone. The closer, the acoustic “Front Porch Farewell,” couldn’t help but remind of that similar effect “Little Martha” had on the iconic Eat A Peach album. Comparably, just as that album took you to so many emotional and musical places, so does Achison here. The acoustic tune is practically necessary, to calm it all down. Trust me, you’ll be giving this one repeated listens. Also look for Achison on tour in the U.S. and UK in March through May.
2. Rootstime.be - Eric Schuurmans
Singer-songwriter, gitarist Geoff Achison woonachtig in Melbourne, Down Under, is een artiest die zich vooral focust op blues, blues rock en soul. Achison treedt als solo artiest akoestisch op en als bandleider als zanger / gitarist. Achison werkte van 1989 tot 1996 als lead gitarist samen met de Nederlands – Australische blues man “Dutch” Matthew Tilders. Daarna ging hij solo verder en richtte hij zijn eigen band The Souldiggers op. In 1994 debuteerden ze met ‘Big Machine’. In 2002 bestonden The Souldiggers uit drummer Gerry Pantazis en twee ex Little River Band leden: bassist Roger McLachlan en keyboardspeler Mal Logan.
Achison is al sinds 1998 gitaar instructeur tijdens het ‘Fur Peace Ranch guitar camp’ dat door Jorma Kaukonen jaarlijks georganiseerd wordt. Geoff Achison kreeg al meerdere awards. Een bloemlezing: in opdracht van de Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society ging Geoff naar de International Blues Challenge in Memphis en won er de Albert King Award als ‘most promising guitarist of the finals’ (1995); 'Mystery Train' werd ‘Jazz FM's Album of the Month’ (1999); tijdens de Australian Blues Music 'Chain' Awards werden de Souldiggers de 'Group of the Year' (2007); ‘Little Big Men’ won de ‘Kweevak Music Magazine's Readers' Choice Award’ (2008); door de lezers van 'Guitar Player' werd hij gekozen als één van de ‘top 10 Hot New Guitarists’ en door de Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society: ‘Male Artist of the Year’, ‘Album of the Year’, ‘Song of the Year’ en ‘Band of the Year’ (2012).
Na méér dan een decennium brengt Achison een nieuw studio album, zijn veertiende solo release, ‘Another Mile, Another Minute’ uit. Hij stond hiervoor in Melbourne in de HS45 Studio’s samen met zijn enkele leden van het eerste uur van The Souldiggers / Little River Band (Roger McLachan & Mal Logan) en enkele bijzondere gasten: Chris Wilson (harmonica: ”I’m Gonna Ride”), Lloyd Spiegel (zang: ”I Wish You Were Mine”), Shannon Bourne (gitaar: ”Make No Mistake”), Susie Ahern & Steve Romig.
Tussen de veertien (originele) tracks is er één opvallende track: ”Baby Come Back”, de re-make van een van zijn oudere nummers uit '94. Het nummer werd toegevoegd gezien het succes dat het nummer kende tijdens eerdere tours in de States. Van de overige tracks zijn dit de “uitschieters”: de opener ”High Wire”, ”Delta Dave” (een nummer met een hoog Americana gehalte), de titel song en mooie ballade ”Another Mile, Another Minute”, het funky ”Sum Peeples Got All Da Fonk”, de shuffle ”I Need Help”, de Southern rocker ”Make My Stand” en de (aparte knappe akoestische) afsluiter ”Front Porch Farewell”.
Geoff Achison bracht vorig jaar na een lange pauze in Australië en nu ook bij ons, niet alleen een blues album, maar ook een album met veel gitaar uit. Met ‘Another Mile, Another Mile’ laat hij opnieuw van zich horen en is hij klaar om opnieuw “on the road” te gaan. In de UK zal hij deze zomer te zien zijn, wij moeten het doen met zijn nieuwe album, wat op zijn minst een aanvaardbare muzikale troost kan zijn!...
3. lahoradelblues.com - 2017.07.02
Australia es sin duda uno de los países que aporta más músicos de calidad al panorama del blues internacional. Uno de ellos es Geoff Achison que ahora vuelve al mercado discográfico después de un silencio de más de diez años sin haber editado nada, y lo hace con un nuevo trabajo bajo el brazo que se convierte en su disco número catorce. Con material fresco y jugoso de nueva factura y respaldado por su banda habitual The Souldiggers además de un puñado de invitados, Geoff reaparece con fuerza inspirándose en algunos de los nombres legendarios del blues y el soul para crear una atmósfera y un estilo propio en donde mezcla con acierto el blues, el rock, la música Indie, el funk y el folk. Con todos estos ingredientes en la cabeza, este cantante, compositor y guitarrista desmenuza con acierto un discurso claro, sabroso y efectivo en un total de catorce canciones. El álbum nos da también la oportunidad de comprobar que, durante todo este tiempo de sequía, Achison ha madurado como compositor y productor, dejando tras de si la estela del trabajo bien hecho. MUY BUENO.
Certainly Australia is one of the countries which usually contributes to the blues scene with a large amount of quality musicians. One of them is Geoff Achison who, after a silence of more than ten years without a single album, now comes back to the record market with his new work on hands, the fourteenth one in his career. With fresh juicy new material and backed by his usual band The Souldiggers and a handful of guest musicians, Geoff appears again with force, getting inspiration in some of those blues and soul legendary names but, at the same time, creating a special atmosphere and a personal style blended with blues, rock, indie, funk and folk. With all these ingredients on mind, this singer, guitar player and songwriter develops a clear, tasty an effective speech along the fourteen album songs. The album will also give us the opportunity to realize that, during this long period of silence, Achison has matured as composer and producer, leaving behind him the trail of a well done work. VERY GOOD.