"
[...] At first one might be tempted to simply insert The Blues Against Youth's
sound under "roots rock," but that doesn't quite do it justice.
Nearly, mind you, but not quite.
With
a hollow-bodied electric six-string guitar, kick drum, voice, whistle, hi-hat,
and an unusual piece of stomp percussion he calls his "invisible iron
snare," he has developed his sound from a slower, more organic and
traditional one to what it is now -- raw, gritty blues coupled with dirty,
primitive rock'n'roll and outsider country."
James G. Carlson, one man band examiner
THE BLUES AGAINST YOUTH
country blues primitive one man experiment
Biography
Hailing from Rome (Italy), The Blues Against Youth is a one-man band project led by Gianni TBAY who performs vocals,
guitar, bass drum, hi-hat and whistle simultaneously.
TBAY’s sound, although being deeply rooted in the Outlaw Country and the Delta Blues, has developed over a ten
years career, in different directions. All those trails have been hit,
throughout countless tours that brought Gianni
TBAY to play over 1,000 shows in the whole of Europe and part of the USA. This relentless live activity allowed him to
build a solid fan base, gaining a name in the scene and a reputation as a
rambling man, constantly travelling as a modern troubador driven by some kind of spiritual vocation and a daemonic
possession.
“The Blue Against Youth’s raison
d’être is to distil the essence of the past into something once more pure and
while the sound might well be dirty, the concept is as pure as the driven snow
all the way through these twelve bars.” Bluesbunny.com
An
accurate (backwards) music research is also a distinct feature in TBAY’s music,
as he’s constantly pulling into his sound patterns and styles from a forgotten
past, paying tribute to his heroes as well as complementing his original
compositions. The discovery of John
Fahey, American Primitive Guitar and
Doc Watson was the definitive point
of no return for Gianni TBAY, who has
developed a severe addiction to finger-picking style (“I can’t stop doing it” he would state) and the mindfulness that the
call of the road is just too loud to
not be heard.
In
2014 Gianni moves up north to the city of Turin, and
although he spends the best part of the year on the road, this home base change
will be crucial for his next compositions. The winds from the Alps blow cold,
the sun seems trapped in a grey curtain and the hard rain feeds the city river as
it runs straight-face scanning days, months and quarters. The third album “Apprentice” (Beast Records, 2016) shows up more inner-looking lyrics and
arrangements that toy with the traditional elements, giving shape to “the rarest of the beasts: a blues album
that appeals to purists and neophiles alike” (Harmonic Distortion UK). 
The
one man band formula has been long-explored so that, with his fourth recording
effort “Good Morning, Bad Feeling” (Best Records,2017), TBAY pulls more human elements into the
equation and together with Guglielmo
Nodari (lapsteel /guitar) and Andrea Cruciani (harmonica, washboard) gives birth to the infamous Restless Livers Collective. The intense
touring keeps the “country blues primitive one man experiment” quite busy on
the road for the whole of 2018, bringing around his main project as well as Lost
Heydays, an extemporary duo collaboration with guitar /banjo player Joost Dijkema. In the summer of 2018 Gianni performs at Wild
Dogs Festival in Hannover, got an opening slot for Bob Wayne at Academy Islington in London and embarks on a little US incursion
playing Chicago, Nashville, Austin and a few bluesmen graveyards while travelling
through Mississippi all the way to New Orleans.
Being exposed to so many different and new musical
influences pushes TBAY to write “Evil Flatmates”, his 5th
full-length album . This time round Gianni TBAY teams up with Stefano
Isaia (Movie Star Junkies, Lame)
who sits behind the drums, and together they arrange ten new songs, enter Rubedo Recording Studio in Torino and
nail them tracks down on tape with the guidance of Manuel Volpe (Rabdomantic
Orchestra) at the mixing board. Other friend musicians are involved in the
recording session: Manuel Volpe (bass), Maria Malloy Mayo (backin
vocals) and Max Scocca (guitar noise) from Lame, Victor Sbrovazzo
(harmonica) from Dirty Deep and Craig
Bjerring (backin’ vocals) aka Oldseed.
Evil
Flatmates marks yet another trail in TBAY’s production and leads to new
territories, musically and lyrically.
Gianni
TBAY still holds tight the country/blues
and occasionally takes some steps out of his comfort zone with
unpredictable and engaging results. The sound is fat and obscure and the
atmosphere in constant change. The past and the future are melt down into one
another as they’re both unknown to most and the whole compound conjures up
ghosts and memories from highways, gas stations and railroad tracks.
Salmon Roastbeef Jr.
Greenwich, 1971
Discography:
“BECOME
THE WHYSKEY” – 7” (Brigadisco, Burning Sound, 2010)
“SPLIT
W/ THE RIBEYE BROTHERS” – 7” (Escape From Today, 2011)
“PURE
AT HEART BLUES” – LP (Primitive Records, Sonatine Produzioni, 2011)
“YOU
SAID I PRAISE THE DEVIL?” EP– 7” (Deer It Yourself, 2012)
“TRAPPED
IN THE COUNTRY” LP (Off Label Records, 2013)
“DOTTED
WHITE LINE” SPLIT W/ THE CYBORGS – 7” (Bloody Sound Fucktory, 2014)
“APPRENTICE”
– LP
(Beast Records, 2016)
“BARBED TIMES” – 7" (Skronk Records, 2017)
“GOOD MORNING BAD FEELING / DEPRECATION ROAD” - 10" (Beast Records, 2017)
“EVIL FLATMATES” – LP (Annibale Records, 2019)
“EVIL FLATMATES” – LP (Annibale Records, 2019)
