Santiago, CHL, 2018-11-08

A Man Needs a Maid (Neil Young)

"You don't sound like anyone else," said Danny Thompson - renowned bass player for Nick Drake and Joe Strummer - about English musician Conil.

The GRAMMY-winning engineer for Tom Waits and Elvis Costello, Tchad Blake said: "Strange Part of the Country is an awesome album! I still listen to it."

Fleetwood Mac legend Peter Green liked Conil's music so much he stopped by Conil’s house to record with him. They recorded a version of Conil's homage to the jazz greats "Round Midnight". 

Strange Part of the Country never conformed to any current trends and has remained timeless. Now, people are discovering this album and it is becoming an all-time favourite. 

When the album was released in the UK, it received some amazing press. Britain's biggest selling music monthly Q magazine gave it: "Four stars - Q Recommends". Blues Matters magazine wrote: "One of the most original artists out there". In the next issue, Blues Matters put him on the front cover.

Conil left London after Strange Part of the Country was released and has spent the last ten years living in the United States and Europe - including New Orleans, New York City, and Berlin.

Songs from the edge of somewhere. A place that doesn’t announce itself. You step in and can’t tell if you’ve walked into a protest, a party, or the end of something.

Conil’s music comes from the blues and from the life that followed it. A voice marked by the places it’s been.

People heard it early.
Danny Thompson said, “You don’t sound like anyone else.”
Tchad Blake still plays Strange Part of the Country.
Peter Green walked into the studio one afternoon and cut a track.

The record didn’t arrive with noise. It surfaced—four stars in Q Magazine, a Blues Matters cover, a single reaching number three on the U.S. Alternative Radio Chart.

The early years were England. Then came New Orleans, New York, Berlin, the Himalayas, Kilimanjaro.

The second album is close now. Marc Ribot on guitar. Danny Thompson’s final sessions. Tchad Blake in Wales.

Some things reveal themselves only at the end.

A Man Needs a Maid (Neil Young)

mercury rev 2008-11-08