The blues really had a bit of a comeback in the USA in the '90s – right when Luther Allison came out there big time. The US has a great blues festival circuit. It’s the baby boomers that keep the blues scene alive there. Since a couple of years now it’s changing again. Bars close left and right or stop having live blues acts. Gigs are drying up stateside. The blues festival circuit in Europe is growing again. Right now it seems stronger over here; but it goes in cycles.

There seem to be more and more women playing blues guitar these days, Erja Lyytinen from Finland for example, and you've just come from a recording in Minnesota with three women. There have always been women vocalists, but is this something new for there to be women guitar players?

Bonnie Raitt, Sue Foley, Debbie Davies, Deborah Coleman were among the first ones on the electric guitar in blues. The Blues Guitar Women CD gives a good overview of the current performers. It used to be a bit harder in the beginning for women, as the guitar was a man’s world. Nowadays I think it's easier for women. There are in fact more and more coming up. Basically because there are just too many GUYs out there wanting to make a living playing guitar. I mean thousands and thousands. And they are all good. More musicians than there is work.

The English blues musician is nothing new, that dates back to the early days of the Rolling Stones, but now it seems like more and more Europeans aside from the Brits are taking to it. Is this a recent development or are we in North America just finally hearing about it because of the efforts of people like you?

Well, I tried to promote a couple of European performers, but it does in fact not really work. You can sell American and British blues in the USA, Germany, France or Japan. But you cannot sell a French blues artist in Germany, or a German artist in Sweden, a Swedish in Spain. It doesn't work. There are hundreds of European blues bands and they are incredibly good, some of them truly original.

The small country of Norway for example must have at least 200 very solid blues bands. There is a young blues player in every town. Only you never hear about them, as they cannot be picked up by international labels. Erja and Ana are exceptions to the rule. They offer the press something of an exotic story, a new story to be told, paired with the right amount of sex appeal and pop appeal (this is the marketing guy talking now).