https://artsfuse.org/99638/fuse-music-interview-mavis-man-guitarist-rick-holmstrom-on-backing-mavis-staples-with-taste-and-space/
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After the busy fall 2013 tour, Mavis’ successful knee surgeries and the holidays, 2014 is starting to shape up. Lots of highlights, but the highest looks to be a couple of European tours and Mavis headlining this summer’s Newport Folk Festival around the time of her 75th birthday! If there’s […]
Willie G. Moseley wrote this story about Rick for the latest VG magazine. Also thanks to Aigars Lapsa for the photo from Cazorla, Spain that was taken when RHB played in a bullring at 3 am, under full moon, for a crowd of rabid Spaniards. No wonder the whole town […]
Not sure how this happened, but Cruel Sunrise is the # 1 CD on BB King’s Bluesville (Sirius/XM radio)! Thanks to Bill Wax for spinning the record so enthusiastically. And thanks Edward Spinelli for the photos.
Rick Holmstrom: Cruel Sunrise (M.C. 0070; 50:53 ****) With his first headlining album since 2007, Rick Holmstrom – also Mavis Staples’ bandleader – constructs an exemplary showcase for his formerly under appreciated charisma. The fetching tones of Holmstrom’s vocals combine with the warm atmospherics of the rhythm section to lure […]
Premier Guitar Magazine editor Andy Ellis raves about Cruel Sunrise… http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2012/Nov/November_2012_Staff_Picks.aspx#ixzz2Erw7Wzgm
Rick Holmstrom Cruel Sunrise (M.C. Records) Even when he was the hot new guitar slinger on the scene in the nineties and known by the hip moniker “L.A. Holmes,” Rick Holmstrom had a way different mojo going on. The blues were obviously the bedrock of his musical foundation as displayed […]
Chuck Prophet weighs in on his favorite guitar player: http://chuckprophet.com/blog/rick_holmstrom/
Thanks to Bliss Bowen for this great review: RICK HOLMSTROM, Cruel Sunrise (M.C.): **** Recorded between tours backing Mavis Staples, LA guitarist Holmstrom’s in-demand trio — Holmstrom, drummer/percussionist Stephen Hodges and bassist/saxophonist/slide guitarist Jeff Turmes — expand beyond the bar-band blues of 2007’s “Late in the Night.” Songs like “It’s […]
Dan Forte reviews Cruel Sunrise in January, 2013 Vintage Guitar Magazine: Rick HolmstromCruel SunriseM.C. Records The late Cub Koda wrote that Rick Holmstrom’s “inventive ideas are top- notch,” comparing him to the great Earl Hooker. That was in reference to Holmstrom’s solo debut, released in ’96, when he was 31. […]