Oli Brown is a British

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has released three studio albums and one live album.

History

Brown was signed to the German

label,

Ruf Records Ruf Records is a German independent record label, which was founded in 1994 by Luther Allison’s manager, Thomas Ruf, to promote Allison's career. The motto of the blues label is "Where Blues Crosses Over". The company's office is located in Lin ...

, in January 2008. He released his debut album, ''Open Road'', in July 2008 to good reviews. Oli's second album, ''Heads I Win Tails You Lose'', was released in 2010, and was produced by Mike Vernon. In the same year, Brown made his debut at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

. ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

'' magazine voted ''Heads I Win Tails You Lose'' the number 3 blues album of 2010. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' voted it the number 4 blues album of 2010. At the 2010

British Blues Awards The British Blues Awards were inaugurated in 2010. The prize was awarded in various categories, such as 'Male vocals', 'Female vocals', 'Guitarist', 'Bass player' and 'Keyboard player', 'Blues band', 'Young artist', 'Blues album', 'Blues festival' a ...

, Brown was named 'Best Male Vocalist' and 'Best Young Artist'. In the 2011 British Blues Awards, Brown won the 'Best Band' category and ''Heads I Win Tails You Lose'' was named 'Best Album'. He was also runner up in the 'Best Male Vocalist', 'Best Guitarist' and 'Best Young Artist' categories. Following a 25 date tour of the UK as the opening act for

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

, Mayall asked Brown to step into the lead guitarist role of his band, when Rocky Athas was unable to attend the Indonesian Blues Festival in December 2011. Brown's third album ''Here I Am'' was released on 23 April 2012, and featured Scott Barnes (bass), Wayne Proctor (drums and percussion) and Joel White (keyboards) with guest performances by

Dani Wilde Dani Wilde (born 25 August 1985, in Hullavington, Wiltshire, England) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist who fuses roots genres including blues, country, gospel, soul and Americana into popular song. The American periodical, ''Blues B ...

and Paul Jones. ''Here I Am'' was number one in the Amazon, HMV and iTunes blues charts and was released in the United States in June 2012. Brown was nominated for Best Guitarist and Best Young Artist in the 2012 British Blues Awards. On 3 June 2013, at the Grand Rex in Paris, he opened for

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

and released a live album, entitled ''Songs From The Road'' on 14 June 2013. In 2014 he formed rock trio

RavenEye RavenEye are an English rock band formed in Milton Keynes in 2014. The band consist of blues guitarist Oli Brown on vocals, bassist Aaron Spiers and drummer Adam Breeze. Their sound is reminiscent of and rooted in modern garage rock and blues ...

with bassist Aaron Spiers and drummer Kev Hickman. In 2022, Brown announced new project 'Oli Brown & The Dead Collective'. He also contributed to the album ''Recipe For Change'' by UK rock band The Mentulls, adding backing vocals.

Equipment

Brown uses a Hamm-tone Rail-car electric guitar, built from an old C.P. Rail car floor board and a neck from black walnut that was struck down by lightning in 1978, it is equipped with Filtertron pickups and a proprietary secondary pickup which can double as a bass guitar. He also uses frankenstein telecaster he fashioned together himself using choice parts, a Taylor acoustic guitar and a Hofner hollowbody electric. One other guitar he uses is a personal signature edition of the "Legend" solid-body electric guitar by Vanquish Guitars. The guitar features two P90 Humbucker-sized pickups and a combination of Tune-o-matic bridge and Stop-Tailpiece. Brown usually uses a

Blackstar ''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of ''T ...

Combo Amp and

Shure Shure Incorporated is an American audio products corporation. It was founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of mi ...

Beta 58A Microphones. He also uses an Volt Overdrive Super OB100.

Discography

*''Open Road'' (2008)

– RUF 1139 *''Heads I Win, Tails You Lose'' (2010) Ruf Records – RUF 1160 *''Here I Am'' (2012) Ruf Records – RUF 1178 *''Songs From The Road'' (2013) Ruf Records

References

External links

Official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Oli Living people British male singer-songwriters British blues singers British blues guitarists 21st-century British singers Ruf Records artists 21st-century British male singers 1989 births