When Ian Siegal was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the contemporary album category, it was the first time ever for a British artist in this category. The Blues Music Awards– made annually in Memphis TN– are the blues Grammys. This followed aseries of awards in the UK, and the accolades continue. Following his most recent CD– Candy Store Kid, recorded in the hill country of North Mississippi– Classic Rock magazine described Siegal as a “national treasure.”
It has been said that had Siegal been around in the sixties he would today be accorded the same reverence as artists such as Van Morrison and Joe Cocker. Instead, he is a child of the seventies who dropped out of art college in the late eighties to go busking in Germany. From the streets of Berlin Siegal progressed to clubs around Nottingham, then to London and ultimately to major stages around Europe.
Siegal’s forte is playing to an audience. He takes command of the stage in a way very few artists alive today can match. Sweat, humour, passionate guitar playing and a soul-infused voice big enough to fell trees have combined to win him an ever-growing following of fans
