Blues, Boogie, Bayou & Ballads THE DANIEL SMITH BLUES BAND
with special guests Alan BARNES, Alan GLEN and Jaelee SMALL.
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WHAT THE PRESS SAY!
BLUES IN BRITAIN UK
'DS is on top of his game [as he] brews up a tasty gumbo!'​

BLUES IN THE SOUTH UK
'A fine... very entertaining album! Certainly worth checking out!'​

BLUES MATTERS UK
'Fine stuff... with earworm factor!'​

JAZZ JOURNAL UK
'An eclectic album - an impressive range of genres! Classic British Blues... could have been written by John Mayall in the 1970's!'
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First released 2023, on CD.
Digital release 2024, celebrating 25 years of The DDBB 1999-2024!

ORIGINAL SLEEVE NOTES BY DS
“Blues, Boogie, Bayou & Ballads” is an album born out of adversity, logistical challenges and very low ‘completion-and-release’ odds. That the project has come to fruition is testament to Daniel Smith Blues Band members, Andy Jones, Peter Miles and Pete Emery’s phenomenal skills, flexibility, patience and faith. With incisively wonderful stellar ‘special guest’ appearances by Alan Barnes, Alan Glen and Jaelee Small, the album has a sprinkling of musical magic that could not have been imagined at its inception.

After marrying, and moving from Scotland to my wife’s native Spain in 2017, I wrote ‘G-Force Blues’, ‘Kiss You Quick’, ‘Luna De Miel’, and ‘Walking In The Rain’ and on honeymoon in Italy, 2018. They were subsequently ‘musically-filed’ and forgotten for two years.

Then Covid 19 hit. The lockdown period from March 2020 saw my father pass away in Scotland (replete with internet funeral), me hospitalized for a week in Spain (a non-Covid-related health issue) and, simply to keep my sanity with all gigs cancelled, my writing of ‘Boogie Or Bust’, ‘Crescent City Crescendo’; ‘El Arte Del Amor’; and ‘Sam Knows Best’. Despite the pandemic and being in different countries, Andy Jones and I started working on these eight numbers, communicating from London and Huelva, Spain respectively.

On returning to Scotland in 2021 to care for my mother, I reformed The Daniel Smith Blues Band, even though we had no gigs! Andy Jones and Peter Miles were ‘in’. Our long-standing guitarist was unfortunately unable to commit due to his own family care priorities. Hence, at Peter Miles’ recommendation, we contacted Pete Emery, oft member of The Dave Kelly Band & The Blues Band… who entered the slightly surreal fray with gusto and aplomb!

With London being home to 3 band members; Andy Jones’ home-recording-studio; as well as to the special guests… there then followed 6 months of phone-calls, Skype chats, email documents and 900-mile round-trips by car, Scotland to London, to record the project throughout 2022. Until here we are, with an album born in Italy, matured in Spain, given wheels in Scotland, produced in London, released physically in 2023 and digitally in 2024!

Happily, touring has started in the interim, as we embark on promoting the album. Stylistically, it is rooted in ‘BLUES’, contains a ‘BOOGIE’ (as always), has a New Orleans salutation (‘BAYOU’) and a romantic ‘BALLADS’ element right from its conception.

Hence, “Blues, Boogie, Bayou & Ballads”.
We hope you enjoy it!
Daniel Smith, Scotland / Spain.