Friday, 05.08 / 23:00 / Main Stage @Castle

Deemed a ‘modern day guitar hero’ by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of ‘ten best rock guitarists in the world today’ by Music Radar, Ariel Posen’s virtuosic talent has clearly not gone unnoticed, both by mainstream media and by Posen’s fans alike. 

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Posen got into music during his earliest years, while spending most of his childhood on the road with his parents – both professional musicians. He started out on piano but decided to fully commit himself to playing guitar after he got hooked on 90’s rock and grunge, as well as The Beatles. Being raised in a musical environment with support from his parents, gave him the foundation he needed to really pursue a career as a guitarist.

His soulful work, use of open tunings, and improvisational approach that he masters so brilliantly, comes from hours of listening to legends like Kevin Breit, The Beatles and Stevie Ray Vaughan to name a few. Ariel Posen’s music occupies the space between genres. It’s a rootsy sound that nods to his influences — heartland rock & roll, electrified Americana, blue-eyed soul, R&B, Beatles-inspired pop — while still moving forward, pushing Posen into territory that’s uniquely his own. 

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Friday, 05.08 / 20:45 / Main Stage @Castle

• One of the leading voices of modern soul-blues music.
• 10 Blues Music Award nominations.

From his Manhattan roots and his Indiana and Chicago musical upbringing, Tad Robinson has caught the attention of the music world with his ten Blues Music Award nominations (the Grammys of blues music) and his many recordings on Severn Records and Delmark Records. He’s a veteran of countless national and international tours, having played in over twenty countries, performing at many of the most important international blues festivals. With harmonica chops influenced by Big Walter Horton, Sonny Boy Williamson, Junior Wells and James Cotton, among many, and vocals that compare to Otis Redding, Syl Johnson, Al Green, and Teddy Pendergrass, Robinson, according to DownBeat magazine, “places near the top of the list of finest living singers of soul blues”.

Tad’s new album, Real Street, (2019) on Severn Records, continues his high-level artistry. On the ten tracks on Real Street, Robinson is backed by the architects of the southern soul sound, the Hi Rhythm Section.

“Just a few manage to perfect the art of soul-blues singing. Robinson is one of them.” – DownBeat 

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Friday, 05.08 / 21:45 / Main Stage @Castle

Laura Reed and Laur Joamets are Lore, a genre-bending Nashville duo mixing elements of metal, grunge, blues, and rock into raw, electric Americana anthems. Pairing Reed’s gruff, bluesy alto wail with Joamets’s effortlessly agile guitar, Lore’s satisfying fusion feels completely attuned to the current moment: part smooth sailing, part careening chaos.

South African native Reed started songwriting as a street musician, later collaborating with funk icons George Clinton and Karl Denson before launching her solo career. In 2019 while recording a solo project at Sputnik Sound, she met Joamets, a classically trained Estonian guitarist who’d toured with Sturgill Simpson and Drivin N Cryin and was recording an instrumental record. The pair formed a natural partnership based on a shared love for roots, blues, and gritty rock’n’roll. By 2020, they’d combined their separate projects into one.

Lore’s soulful mid-tempo debut single “Surrender” premiered on Rolling Stone in October 2020, followed by the buoyant, anarchic “Gifts of Destruction and Disorder” in December. In October 2021 they released “I Walk Alone,” a driving, intimate track evoking the rough-but-delicate sound of Karen Dalton, and in November dropped “Woven,” a bracing psychedelic-grunge tune with howling vocals and revolving guitar riffs. Lore’s debut album, co-produced by the band with Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton) and Dave Schools (Widespread Panic, Hard Working Americans), is set for release in spring 2022. 

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Friday, 05.08 / 19:45 / Main Stage @Castle

The Cinelli Brothers is a project born out of a common passion for the electric Chicago and Texas blues from the 60s and 70s when Marco (guitarist, singer, and composer) and Alessandro (drummer, backing vocalist, and arranger) decided to form an explosive team showcasing original repertoire in the style of Chess, Stax, and Motown.

The Cinelli Brothers champion a new generation of passionate musicians sharing in the love of Blues, Soul, R&B, and the true authentic sounds that have made the blues a cornerstone of music history. 

In 2018 Marco Cinelli was nominated best guitarist of the year.

In 2019 “Babe Please Set Your Alarm” reached number 2 in the IBBA (Indipendent Blues Broadcasters Association) and Marco Cinelli was nominated best guitar player of the year by Music Republic Magazine.

In 2020, 2021, and 2022 the band was nominated for the UK Blues Awards as “Blues Band Of the Year”.

Marco Cinelli – vocals, guitar
Alessandro Cinelli – drums
Enzo Strano – bass
Tom Julian-Jones – harmonica, guitar

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Friday, 05.08 / 18:45 / Main Stage @Castle

Spookyman & The All Nighters on laulja-kitarrist Giulio Allegretti, multiinstrumentalist Simone Scifoni, suupillimängija Andrea Di Giuseppe ja kitarrist Stefano Malatesta poolt loodud Itaalia rhythm’n’blues-bänd. Bändi stiilne eelmise sajandi 50ndate ja 60ndate hõnguga looming kutsub sisse elama inimlikesse probleemidesse ja kompama emotsionaalseid sfääre, mis meid kõiki argielus puudutavad.

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Friday, 05.08 / 18:00 / Main Stage @Castle

Powerful and engaging Ziggy Wild is a rock band formed in 2012 that has remained true to the old-school sound. The four-piece band is characterized by versatility, audacity, and wild energy. Snappy female vocals of spectacular Laura Prits add some sheen to the masculine core energy of the group.

Ziggy Wild has been a support act for big names such as Carlos Santana, Status Quo, Operation: Mindcrime and has performed at various festivals in Estonia, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and Poland.

In 2020, Ziggy Wild participated in the Estonian Eurovision song contest with their single “Lean on Me”.

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Saturday, 06.08 / 21:15 / Main Stage @Castle

Award-winning guitarist, singer, and songwriter Devon Allman is the son of the legendary Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers. The Devon Allman Project is a six-piece super project in which Allman joins forces with two of today’s most notorious blues-rock guitarists Larry McCray and JD Simo.

Over the past 20 years, Devon Allman has played in several weighty blues-rock projects, including Honeytribe, The Royal Southern Brotherhood, and The Allman Betts Band, and also played with his father in The Allman Brothers in the late ’80s.

Born in Arkansas and living in Michigan, Larry McCray is an award-winning guitarist and singer who plays in the best traditions of the Three Kings: BB King, Freddie King, and Albert King, and with whom he has had the privilege to perform during his more than 30-year career.

Born in Chicago and residing in Nashville, JD Simo is one of today’s most exciting and versatile blues rock-inspired guitarists. His sound is authentic, raw, and honest, his technical skills are original and extremely resourceful. JD has worked as a songwriter, guitarist, and producer with Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson, Dave Cobb, and many others. As a solo artist JD Simo is a frequent headliner at European and American festivals.

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Saturday, 06.08 / 18:00 / Main Stage @Castle

This is about blues music in Hungary. And if we must refer to a name, this is Fekete Jenö, veteran guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Above all he is a blues lover, more than three decades paddling in the more than unusual panorama of this music in his country, with bands like the pioneers Muddy Shoes, along with other prominent musicians in the Hungarian musical underground or forming a duo joining to another blues forward, the harmonica player Horváth Misi. T. Rogers is Jenö’s latest project, a meeting of crazy bluesists claiming the most consecrated Chicago blues paying homage to Little Walter, Willie Dixon, Junior Parker, or Sonny Boy Williamson, opening the album with “Born In Chicago” in an obvious show of reverence to Paul Butterfield. 

Fekete Jenö – guitar, vocals
Kovács Ferci – guitar
Szatai Zsolt – bass
Baráth Béla – drums
Stew Hay – harmonica

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Karl-Erik Taukar’s career began in 2012 as a finalist of the Estonian version of the  “Idol” show. Today the singing bass player has become the country’s most sought-after male artist who has given thousands of concerts all over Estonia and released two studio albums. On streaming platforms, his songs have been listened to more than 25 million times. Taukar has received various awards and recognition in the field of music and TV. 

Among them are six Estonian Music Awards and four Annual Hit awards, just to name a few. 

“Blue Saturday: Taukar Goes Blues” is a unique special project, where Taukar and special guests present a selection of exciting arrangements from the best pieces of the Estonian blues heritage.

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Saturday, 06.08 / 17:00 / Main Stage @Castle

Provocative, quasi-political, and downright braggy, somewhat refined while teetering on the edge of tawdry, Estonia’s best (albeit only) vaudeville blues band Kaisa Ling Thing casts a passionate message into dynamic musical form. The future grand old lady of Estonian blues Kaisa Ling blares deep blue and flippant songs on elective childlessness, masturbation, and repressed grandfathers while pianist Rene Paul, double bass player Argo Toomel, and drummer Peep Kallas shuffle staunchly through historic rhythms and harmonies, modernizing and translating.

The debut album “Plug Ugly Man” was published in 2018, followed by “Waves of the Western Worry” in 2021. In cooperation with the social scientists of Tallinn University, they have created Estonia’s first bluesical “A Nimble-Fingered Handy Man”.

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Saturday, 06.08 / 19:00 / Main Stage @Castle

In 1998, Ilkka, Markku, and Häkä started a trio, playing acoustic country music and western swing.

In the spring of 2020, Thomas joined the band as the drummer. The music is currently more danceable with more influence from jazz, blues, rockabilly, the Great American Songbook, and Kurt Weil. The band assumed its new name: Country & Western Dekadenz.

Ilkka Merivaara, the vocalist, is better known as an actor, performing on stage and in several TV shows over the years.

Markku Kanerva, guitar, is a true guitar virtuoso. He started his career as a teenager with Wigwam, Finland’s best-known progressive music band. He has also played in the legendary Pekka Pohjola Group. Markku was awarded a Jussi statue (Finnish Oscars) for Best Music in 2009.

Häkä Virtanen, bass, is a living legend: he plays jazz, rock, pop, you name it. He is the most recorded bassist in Finland.

Thomas Rönnholm, the drummer, is a multi-talented and experienced professional percussionist. Thomas has played in various ensembles, from big bands to intimate indie bands, including Pepe & Saimaa.

Ilkka Merivaara, vocals
Markku Kanerva, guitar
Heikki ” Häkä” Virtanen, bass
Thomas Rönnholm, drums

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Saturday, 06.08 / 13:00 / Puhvet Terrace

Autt Of Office is a blues-rock band, established in 2002 in the prolific swarm of Tartu Blues Club. All members, some of them hobbyists, have decades-long experience in performing in various Estonian bands. The band plays their own compositions as well as some covers from great masters of the past, while also promoting Estonian rock and blues classics, appreciating the Estonian language. The band’s second album will be released before Augustibluus.
Urmas Kõrgesaar – guitars and vocals
Eiko Kuusik – leading vocal and acoustic guitar
Aavo Valtna – percussion
Üllar Kärt – harmonicas, guitars
Peeter Jaska – bass, fretless bass2

Saturday, 06.08 / 15:00 / Railway Station

Esa “Blues Minister” Kuloniemi is a Finnish blues guitarist and singer, and a long-time radio journalist specializing in blues music at Yleisradio (Finnish Broadcasting Company).
He is a founding member of the band Honey B & T-Bones, which has achieved institutional status, and is also active in a number of other blues ensembles (e.g., Dr. Helander & Third Ward, specialized in hard core blues).

Kuloniemi has hosted various blues music-related programs at Yleisradio since 1986. This activity has taken place on a weekly basis since the establishment of Radiomafia channel in May 1990 and has continued at the same pace since 2003 on Yle Radio Suomi channel.

His journalistic work has also included writing for magazines and translation work, being a distinguished translator of black music biographies and histories (B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin ‘Wolf, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Marvin Gaye, etc). In 2009, Kuloniemi was awarded the Jemma Prize by Pirkanmaan Blues Lovers Association for his extensive knowledge of a wide range of roots music, his musical skills, and his work as a translator. In 2019, he was invited to become an honorary member of the Finnish Instrument Builders’ Guild in recognition of his significant work for the Finnish handicraft industry.

In the August Blues 2022, the Blues Minister will perform both acoustically and semi-acoustically, showcasing his skills as a solo artist within the spectrum of blues.

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Saturday, 06.08 / 13:00 / Rootsituru Restaurant

Räpina Jack is like a fresh breeze in the Estonian cultural landscape. It’s a wonderful example of how two completely different artists can create a rock show that fits on any sized stage – from stadiums to living rooms. The roots of the music are in rock’n’roll, yet decorated with bits and pieces from genres ranging from folk and country-western to modern hip hop.

Räpina Jack got started in the fall of 2020 when they released their eponymous debut single, which quickly led to a collaboration with a local men’s health campaign “Pikema Sõpruse Päev”. They wrote and recorded the anthem of the campaign titled “Hei Sõbramees” and quickly followed it with their first music video. At the end of 2020, they released their debut EP.

The summer of 2021 was extremely busy for Räpina Jack. Alongside numerous concerts, they recorded two very different music videos. The video for the song “Kullalaane Blues” which is a tribute to the beautiful forests of our homeland, was done in partnership with an NGO called Uralic Centre and local (Otepää) nature activists, to bring to attention the unfair management of local forests by the governmental organisations. It was very well received by audiences, helping to make Räpina Jack a more household name. To close off the year, Räpina Jack won a local band competition organised by Stanford Music and Barbar (a local rock club).
Räpina Jack is composed of two legendary members – Hash and KillBaba.
Hain Hoppe a.k.a Hash is a fiery guitar hero, whose roots riffs, melodic solos, and a tongue-in-cheek cocky attitude on stage leave no person unbothered. Kill Kaare a.k.a KillBaba is an excellent wordsmith, whose clever and often comical lyrics open an urbanised yet deeply rooted world to the listener. The lyrics are often melodic, often rapped, sometimes very contemporary but at the same time very mystical.
That, dear friends, is contemporary, modern rock’n’roll!!

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Saturday, 06.08 / 14:00 / Puhvet terrace

As the name suggests, Vello Jurtom & AllJam is a jam band. They enjoy playing for themselves, but in rare cases, they go out and play for the crowd as well. The band was initiated by Jurtom and Arula –  at first as a duo, playing mainly Bossanova and jazz standards. As the repertoire increased the band started to grow as well. Now it’s a 5-piece band playing mostly blues, and as they say themselves, the goal is to offer the audience a blues with a trick!

Vello Jurtom – guitar, vocals
Jaak Arula – guitar
Argo Toomel – bass
Mark Chagall – drums
Ülari Kirsipuu – saxophone

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Friday, 05.08 / 16:30 / Rootsituru Restaurant Terrace

Enn Vei Blues Band came together in 2015. These “boys” share an affection for the blues of the 1950-60s and it clearly reflects in their music. Their repertoire includes tunes from the legendary blues masters, such as Jimmy Reed, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter.Enn Vei Blues Band is Priit Kald on drums, Priit Part on the guitar, Sergo Sorrok on the bass, and Enn Vei on the harmonica and vocals.

Saturday, 06.08 / 14:00 / Rootsituru Restaurant

Panic Groove Sound Machine is an Estonian band, formed in 2021. It unites musicians who have common respect and love for rhythm and blues music, mixing it with both, hard rock and funky sound. They play both originals plus interpretations of the wide world of rock and roll and blues evergreens.

Line up:
Aivar Niiholm- vocals
Meelis Saueauk- guitar
Tamur Marjasoo- guitar
Sven Valdmann- bass
Jaanus Salm- drums
Andrus Kanter- keys

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Friday, 05.08 / 15:00 / Puhvet terrace

Sulev Kalder is probably the most mysterious Estonian blues guitar player who reveals his tasteful skills not too often and only in a chosen company.

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Saturday, 06.08 / 15:00 / Rootsituru Resto terrace

Rosie & The Rude Grooves is a band based in Tallinn, Estonia, playing classic blues/rock/jam covers from the 60s and 70s. The band consists of Kristjan Pärkson on the guitar, Taaniel Pogga on the keys, Deniss Korepanov on the bass, and Toomas Lubja on the drums.

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Friday, 05.08 / 15:00 / Rootsituru Resto terrace

Juri Rosenfeld is one of the blues forerunners in Estonia. Rosenfeld started playing the blues already in the ‘70es and has never stopped, even though he has been working as a phychiatrist in Finland for the past 30 years. 

Rosenfeld about himself: “I always loved the blues, from my early days on. Used to play it a lot with different bands while living in Estonia. Thirty years of working as psychiatrist really took me away from the blues, but although you can take a man away from the blues, you can’t take the blues away from the man. And that’s exactly what I’m going to prove this time as a solo artist.”

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Friday, 05.08 / 16:00 / Puhvet terrace

Randal Randoja is a blues troubadour from Tartu, Estonia. His creation comes from life and includes stories from his and his friends’ lives. Randal sings in Estonian and in English of what his ear hears, his eyewitnesses and the nation speaks about. He is also an active member of different bands, but performing as a solo artist along with his guitars and a foot drum is closest to his heart. For the past years, he has had many opportunities to perform as a solo musician in smaller and bigger concerts and festivals around Estonia.

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Saturday, 06.08 / 13:00 / Railway Station

Rubundi is a world that singer, songwriter, and guitar player Liisa Tetsmann has created for her music. This creation, mainly inspired by the floods of nocturnal inspiration, hides in itself some rogue charm, a pinch of melancholy, a hint of dizziness, as well as Gavroche-like nimbleness. Songs about the complex inner world of the human soul have been touched by dusty jazz, blues, and folk, and entice the listener into the hidden corners of their minds that can only be accessed by stepping off the busy main street, laying down on the damp grass and letting their minds wander in the charming maze of being.

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Friday, 05.08 / 16:00 / Culture Centre

Bluule is a special program of a poetry concert series “Romantic Poetry”, happening only once a year at the Augustibluus festival. This year’s “Romantic Poetry” poetry concert is performed by Georg Merilo – the initiator of the poetry concerts, Estonian film actor Rain Tolk and American saxophone player Steve Vanoni.

The word “bluule” (blues + poetry) is a term specially created by Georg Merilo, showing respect for the Augustibluus festival. This format is presented only once in Haapsalu during the Augustibluus festival and only once with those people. All Bluule concerts have received ovations from a full house. Merle Palmiste, Raivo Trass, Kärt Kross-Merilo, Juss Haasma, and Hardi Volmer have previously performed poetry in the Bluule concerts, with the help of talented musicians Raul Vaigla, Alar Kriisa, Vilho Meier, Mai Agan, Lauri Liiv, Ain Agan, Carlos Ukareda, Gaute Kivistik, and Taavi “Taff” Aavik.

Sunday, 07.08 / 14:30 / Haapsalu Cathedral

Rebecca Kontus is a singer- songwriter from Estonia whom is difficult to categorize by only one genre, since she likes to experiment in various styles. Rebecca has a voice that can be softly low in jazz, but can also have a strong metallic timbre, when necessary. In her music she enjoys the fusion of jazz and other styles (classical, soul, funk).

So far she has released 5 solo albums, which include her own compositions, but also classical pieces and chorals arranged into jazz.
At Augustibluus Rebecca will perform together with one of the best guitarists in Estonia – Paul Daniel – and will play her own compositions, but also arrangements of most beloved chorals in Estonia.

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Sunday, 07.08 / 12:00 / Villa & Restaurant Soffa

Carlos Ukareda is a young Estonian singer, guitar player, and songwriter whose popularity is on a fast rise. Starting out by performing cover songs on his Youtube channel, Carlos became widely known after becoming a finalist in the Estonian Idol TV show in 2018. Music has been an inseparable part of his life since he was born and he plans to continue with that until he can. Despite his young age Carlos has been singing for 6 years and playing the guitar for 11 years. He has already had a chance to perform together with many legendary Estonian artists and even sing a duet with Ed Sheeran.

People believe that Carlos Ukareda is the Estonian music industry’s bright future and his breakthrough in the wide world is just a matter of time.

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