Release date: September 27, 2026
The funky side of the blues is coming.
Featuring
Boo Boo Davis · ElectroBluesSociety · miXendorp · BLu ACiD
More soon.
Author: admin
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Bluestronica Funk
Bluestronica Funk is the newest addition to the Bluestronica playlist series.
This time the focus is on the funky side of the blues: deep grooves, soulful rhythms, electric guitars and electronic beats. Music that starts with blues roots but takes its own route through funk, soul and contemporary production.
The playlist brings together tracks from the Black & Tan Records catalogue and related Bluestronica projects, looking for that common thread: the groove.
It’s blues, but with a funky attitude.
Listen to Bluestronica Funk on Spotify and discover another side of Bluestronica.
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Bluestronica in Blues in Britain
Bluestronica was recently featured in the UK blues magazine Blues in Britain, with writer Norman Darwen taking a closer look at the project and its connection with Black & Tan Records.The interview explores the idea behind Bluestronica: placing traditional blues recordings in a modern electronic production setting, without losing the connection with the original music.
We also talked about the Black & Tan catalogue, the response from blues artists and listeners, the Bluestronica playlists, other artists working in a similar area and some ideas for the future of the project. One thing that remains important to me is the connection with the original recordings. If someone discovers a Bluestronica track and then goes back to listen to the original blues recording, that’s a good result. The interview appeared in the print edition of Blues in Britain.
Thanks to Norman Darwen for taking the time to explore the project.
Blues in Britain August 2026
Interview by Norman Darwen
More press about Bluestronica → Press
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Working with Early Blues Recordings: More Questions Than Answers
Over the years I’ve been working on lots of tracks that are built around, very early blues recordings.
At first I thought the copyright situation would be fairly straightforward. Many of these recordings are almost a hundred years old, so I assumed it would simply be a matter of checking whether they were in the public domain.
The more I looked into it, the more complicated it became.
There is the copyright in the composition, the rights in the original sound recording, restored or remastered versions, different rules in different countries, archive recordings, record labels, publishers… and sometimes very little reliable information.
A good example is recordings collected by Alan Lomax or other field recordists. The performances themselves may be very old, but that doesn’t automatically answer the question of who owns which rights today.
I’ve also found that different releases of what appears to be the same recording can have different copyright notices. Sometimes the information is clear, sometimes it isn’t. Even after spending hours researching a single track, I’m not always confident that I’ve reached the right conclusion.
As an independent label, I’d rather spend my time making music than trying to untangle legal questions. At the same time, I don’t want to release anything unless I’m reasonably sure that I’ve respected the rights of everyone involved.
So, for now, a lot of finished tracks are simply staying on the shelf.
I’m curious how other people deal with this.
Have you worked with pre-war blues recordings, field recordings or other historical material?
Have you found reliable sources for researching rights? How do you decide when you’ve done enough research to move forward?
I’m not looking for legal advice as much as practical experience. If you’ve been through a similar process, I’d be interested to hear what you’ve learned.
Feel free to leave a comment or send me a message.
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Bluestronica review on Zicazic.com
One of the most rewarding aspects of creating music is when someone understands not only the sound, but also the vision behind it.
Bluestronica has recently received an extensive and thoughtful review from Fred Delforge, published on the French music website Zicazic.com. Although the review discusses Swinging Electric Roots, what really stood out to me is that Fred recognized the broader concept behind Bluestronica.
One passage perfectly captures that vision:
“This is not a compilation, but a new vision: a blues that moves forward, breathes, and continually reinvents itself without ever abandoning its roots.”
Another wonderful observation describes Bluestronica as:
“A sonic postcard from a future where Muddy Waters traded his amplifier for a sampler.”
Since the beginning, Bluestronica has never been about simply adding electronic beats to blues music. The goal has always been to create a meaningful dialogue between traditional blues, roots music and contemporary electronic production.
It’s encouraging to see that this artistic vision is being recognized beyond the Netherlands.
Many thanks to Fred Delforge and Zicazic.com for such a thoughtful and inspiring review.
Read the original French review here.
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new release – Global Electric Soul
Every Bluestronica album starts with a simple question.
This time it was: what happens when blues meets rhythms and sounds from different parts of the world?
That idea became Global Electric Soul. The album mixes electronic blues with desert grooves, world percussion and cinematic textures, while keeping the guitar at the centre of the music.
There’s no concept to explain or message to decode. Just a collection of tracks inspired by different places, different rhythms and a shared love of the blues.
We hope you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.
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What is Bluestronica ?
People sometimes ask me what Bluestronica is. To be honest, I don’t have one fixed definition. For me, Bluestronica is music where blues and electronic music meet. Sometimes the blues is clearly present, sometimes it is hidden deeper in the music, but there is usually something from both worlds.
A Bluestronica track can contain blues vocals, guitar, harmonica or a traditional blues groove. At the same time, it may use electronic beats, loops, samples, effects or synthesizers. There is no standard formula and every artist approaches it differently. That is one of the reasons why I find it interesting.
Some people see Bluestronica as a genre, while others see it as a combination of influences. Personally, I don’t think the label matters very much. What matters is the music. If a track takes something from the blues and combines it with modern production techniques, it probably belongs somewhere in the Bluestronica landscape.
The blues has never stood still. Acoustic blues became electric blues, and blues has influenced rock, soul, hip-hop and many other styles. To me, electronic music is simply another chapter in that story. New technology creates new possibilities. Sometimes the results work beautifully, sometimes they don’t, but the exploration itself remains interesting.
What makes Bluestronica difficult to define is that it covers a wide range of sounds. Some artists stay close to traditional blues, while others move towards trip-hop, ambient music, dub or electronica. Two Bluestronica tracks can sound completely different from each other. The connection is often found more in atmosphere, rhythm or feeling than in specific instruments.
The best way to understand Bluestronica is not through definitions but through listening. On this website you’ll find playlists, archives, artists and projects that explore different sides of the blues-electronic connection.
Listen, explore and decide for yourself what Bluestronica means.
This article is part of an ongoing exploration of the connection between blues, roots music and modern production techniques.
You can also follow updates and new articles through LinkedIn, or explore the wider blues and roots catalogue at Black and Tan Records.
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new Release: Bluestronica — Swinging Electric Roots
A new Bluestronica release brings together blues grooves, roots influences and electronic production in a relaxed, rhythm-driven collection of tracks and remixes.
The release features music from artists including Boo Boo Davis, Blu ACiD, Mississippi Big Beat, ElectroBluesSociety, Roscoe Chenier, Bacon Fat Louis, Harrison Kennedy and miXendorp.
The tracks combine blues vocals, harmonica, guitars and roots grooves with electronic beats, subtle production layers and downtempo influences. Some songs lean more toward electro swing and groove-based remixes, while others stay closer to traditional blues feeling with a modern touch.
Rather than treating blues as a museum style, this release approaches it as living music that can still connect with contemporary sounds and audiences.
Several tracks are built around strong grooves and rhythmic loops, making the release suitable not only for blues listeners, but also for fans of lounge, roots electronica, nu-jazz and alternative groove music.
The combination of organic instruments and electronic production creates an atmosphere that works equally well for listening at home, late-night radio, playlists and relaxed club settings.
With this release, Bluestronica continues exploring the space between roots music and modern groove culture — without losing the raw and human feeling that makes blues music timeless.
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recording process BLu ACiD and ElectroBluesSociety
A new archive page has been added to the Bluestronica website, documenting part of the remote production process behind several BLu ACiD and ElectroBluesSociety recordings.
The page focuses on long-distance collaborations with guest vocalists including Boo Boo Davis, Steffen Morrison, and Jan Hidding, and explains how vocals, arrangements, edits, and atmospheric production layers were often created separately across different locations and time periods.
It also highlights the unusual workflow behind the ElectroBluesSociety and Boo Boo Davis collaborations during the COVID period, when recordings were exchanged remotely between East St. Louis and the Netherlands through indirect communication channels.
The archive page includes various listening examples as well as rare studio footage from the BLu ACiD recording sessions for What Kind Of Shit Is This.
Explore the archive here:
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New Watch Section Added to Bluestronica
I recently added a new Watch section to the Bluestronica website.
The goal is straightforward: creating a single place for video clips, live fragments, visual experiments, and other audiovisual projects connected to Bluestronica.
Over time, different performances, edits, and experimental pieces ended up scattered across platforms and posts. The new section makes it easier to bring those together and present them in a more organized way.
Bluestronica has always been about combining blues influences with technology, modern production, and experimentation. The Watch section reflects that mix quite naturally — from live material to more atmospheric and visual work.
More content will be added over time, but the section is now online and available to explore.
Visit the Watch section: