I'm Glad I Met You

Raw songs from Brno's Band of Heysek blues band are enriched by Omer and his Hammond Organ. The new record is called “I’m Glad I Met You” and continues on the dirty gravel road they headed down on their debut album “Shovel & Mattock”. The trio added keyboards by Omer Blentić from Sarajevo and an extraordinarily emotional blues rock album was created. Thanks to this international cooperation, the overall sound moved toward a more colorful sound.

Band of Heysek is known as the dirtiest blues of the contemporary Czech music scene. That's exactly how their first album "Shovel & Mattock" sounds and the vibe of their energetic and spontaneous concerts. The trio consisting of experienced musicians, singer and guitarist Jan Švihálek, drummer Lukáš Kytnar and bassist Mojmír Bob Sabolovič decided to stay the course. In order to preserve the rawness of the new material, they recorded in an unusual environment. “For a few days we moved recording equipment and sound master Bronek Šmid to a log cabin in the Orlické Mountains.” March weather offered persistent rain and pleasantly set the atmosphere. Lukáš Kytnar enthusiastically remembers the time spent. “It was a real touch of music! We have never experienced anything so intense in our musical lives. The harmony of the four of us - atmosphere, rawness, animal dirt, the dynamics of emotions, mistakes, pressure, mood… an incredibly powerful experience. We believe it is notable from the recording as well.”

We can only agree with sound master Bronek Šmid, who has been cooperating with the boys since the first album. "The songs the boys play, weep, roar, bloat, threaten, bubble and roll to eventually merge into one totally wonderful blend." Band of Heysek recorded a total of fifteen songs and released eleven of them. Four tracks are offered as a bonus only on the vinyl double album. The reason is given by Jan Švihálek, singer and guitarist. “Almost eight minutes of ‘My Baby Gotta Go’, it just didn't fit the format of the record, so we decided to release this only on vinyl. It is an exceptional song and we feel that it is beyond the rest of the album. The fourth side of the double vinyl offers plenty of space and we believe that fans who buy a record on this format will welcome our intention.”

In many ways ‘I'm Glad I Met You’ is still a direct follow-up to the debut enjoying a specific blues style from Hill Country in Mississippi. The passion for this type of music made Band Of Heysek travel this summer to the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic where they played in this American festival. The band used their travels as an opportunity to record once again, so they went to the studio with exclusive guests (Kenny Brown and R.L. Boyce). We can look forward to a lot of buzz around this band.