Manitoba
Hal Brolund is a multi-instrumentalist and the
consummate blues ukulele man. The gift of a ukulele from his
grandfather 15 years ago changed the course for this guitar
playing songwriter. "That ukulele changed everything
for me. It was the gift of music. I had to learn to read charts
and think of music differently" says Brolund.
He
is a powerful vocalist, with a voice as smooth and sweet as
tupelo honey but he can growl like a hurricane on a hot Louisiana
night. He can hold his own singing Novetly Jazz tunes from the
1920s and 30s or growling a down home blues.
Hal
is charismatic and engaging on stage leading the audience in
a journey through juke joints and roadside chicken joints. Old
gospel songs are played alongside stories of lost love and murder.
Hal has a songwriter's roots in eerie folk - murder ballads
and killer floods - and a players roots in the deep, dark, fixin'
to die blues. This is a man who can sing the word "lonesome"
like he means it, and no mistake.
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ARTIST
PRESS ITEMS
"The
impressive part about Come the Ruination is how many rich musical
elements come into play, with a mess of acoustic stringed instruments
all played by Hal."
Penguin Eggs
"Manitoba
Hal Brolund is a bluesman of the traditional variety...Come the
Ruination captures Hal's spirit as he fingerpicks his way through
10 acoustic blues tracks here. Highlights include the jaunty Keep
on Singing and Whiskey Blues, which features Brolund serving up
some searing slide work."
Uptown
"...one
of Western Canada's top acoustic blues players..."
Saskatoon Blues Society
"Give
the man a guitar and a microphone, sit back and listen to him
inspire you with his tremendous skills and his gritty blues lyrics.
Winnipeg Sun
"...when
Hal Brolund launches into a prison song, as he did last Wednesday
evening at the Kootenay Gallery, his plaintive vocals and slippery
slide guitar will quickly make you believe that it is 110 degrees
in the shade, and that you are listening to Mississippi not Manitoba
Hal..."
Dale West - Castlegar News
"Listening
to Manitoba Hal on his just released This Condition CD, you would
never guess he is only 37. Nor would you realize this guy really
only turned to the blues in 1995. There is a maturity to Brolund's
blues sound that goes deeper than his age and experience would
allow."
Calvin Daniels - Yorkton This Week
"...seemed
like an old friend before he even started into Jimmy Reed's ageless
Big Boss Man. His voice has a real nice tone and his locomotive
fingerstyle guitar was most impressive. A Highlight was Hal's
treatment of a ukelele (shaped like a little Fender Telecaster
electric guitar)."
Jim Sinlcair - The Gazette
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