Elli de Mon may not be so well-known in the UK, but for the best part of the past decade she’s been thrilling blues audiences across Europe with her unique take on the form. To say she’s a blues singer or blues guitarist is putting it too simply: rezophonic guitar, drums, bells, voice and saturated sound – she is, in every sense, a real one woman band.
Strongly influenced by the primordial blues tradition (Bessie Smith, Fred Mc Dowell, Son House) crosshatched with primitive garage punk, Elli’s sound is shaped into a lysergic journey through her soul. Sharing stages with the likes of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Reverend Beatman and Cedric Burnside, she’s released six albums since 2014, most recently a split release with the wonderfully-named psych-blues trio Daily Thompson.
During her pregnancy Elli wrote a book about the women blues artists of the 20s. The book Countin’ The Blues: Indomitable Women was published in February 2020. Elli decided to record the songs that she wrote about in the book, in tribute to these great women, whose art has been forgotten by most.
Her first album for Area Pirata Records, Countin’ The Blues features ten songs: some, such as Elizabeth Cotten’s ‘Freight Train’ or Bessie Smith’s ‘Blue Spirit Blues’ might be considered standards.
But the album contains also some lost treasures, unearthed by Elli and brought back into the light of day.
Recorded at Lesder Studio, Treviso with engineer Tommaso Mantelli, Elli accompanied herself on guitar, lapsteel, organ, drums and sitar. She arranged the whole album in a new key, close to her personal punkish style. A modern Ma Rainey playing dirty rock‘n’roll!
Area Pirata Records CD/LP/DL
Release Date: 18 June 2021
A truly wonderful album – a strong contender for album of the year 2021
To be featured on:
- Aural Delights 10th June
- Overflow 13th June
Different Noises 