Tas Cru
Tas Cru
Original blues from this edgy eccentric singer/songwriter have earned Tas Cru the attention of industry media and growing list of fans. His latest CD, "Grizzle n' Bone" (2009) is already generating blues world buzz well before its official release on March 31st. The CD release comes on the heels of Cru being named by Blues Festival Guide as this year's "Blues Artist on the Rise."
Tas Cru has been dubbed the 'master of the triple entendre." That is, his best songs go a step beyond the blues tradition of the double entendre - the literal and suggestive - to where meaning is more felt than understood. Tas Cru is a rough Quebecois rendering meaning - Raw Potato. Credit for the name goes to an avid young fan who admires Tas' raw-edged vocals and peeled-bare slide guitar. Given Tas' bent on bowing to his home region's Quebecois influence the moniker was not much of a stretch, especially since much of Tas' early career was spent playing Quebec's small cities and towns along the St. Lawrence river from Montreal to Riviere du Loup. Cru is currently based out of Albany, New York.
Tas Cru performs as a solo act or with a backing band and has performed at festivals and clubs throughout the Mid South/West including shows in Memphis, Kansas City, Tulsa, Little Rock, and Topeka. He has shared the stage with a growing list of well known blues artists that includes Buddy Guy, Shemekia Copeland, Willie Smith, Marva Wright, Magic Slim and the Teardrops, Mem Shannon, Kenny Neal, Jimmy Thackeray, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Big George Brock, Bob Margolin and others. Also to his credit include frequent appearances in the Mississippi Delta including at Ground Zero Blues Club, Red's Lounge and Cathead's Clarksdale Caravan Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi, at various Beale Street venues in Memphis (Rum Boogie, Hard Rock Caf??, Black Diamond, King's Palace, The Pig on Beale, WC Handy Park) and on Sunshine Sonny Payne's King Biscuit Radio program on station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas.
Tas' CD, gravi-Tas 2008, that editor Ken Bays at Blues Revue calls a "swirling, hypnotic blues blend," builds on the traditional flavor of his solo acoustic 2006 Biscuit, "gravi-Tas" earned heavy airplay on XM Radio's Bluesville as a "Pick to Click. (April thru July, 2008) The CD was featured in reviews (June/July 2008) in two of the nation's premiere blues magazines - Blues Revue and Living Blues and in the UK's BLUES MATTERS! Blues Revue writer, Genevieve Williams wrote, "Listening to gravi-Tas will create a strong desire to see Cru live . . ., the album is a multi-course feast of the down-home variety: friendly, welcoming, and direct." Living Blues critic Dave Ruthenberg said, "On intricate resonator finger-picking or some smoky electric slide, Cru scores consistently. With equal parts humor and solid musicianship, gravi-Tas is a fun ride -more of a tilt-a-whirl than a Sunday drive."
"Biscuit" (2006) gained attention with "Tired of Bluesmen Cryin'" and "One More Time" which were featured on Dan Akroyd's House of Blues Radio Hour in January, 2008. In August 2007 the song, "Black and Poor in New Orleans" was selected by XM Radio's Bluesville for a special 2nd anniversary Katrina remembrance and featured alongside New Orleans artists Irma Thomas, Mem Shannon and Tab Benoit. Like "gravi-Tas", Biscuit earned very favorable reviews in the US and abroad: "A keeper. Fine resonator work both slide and fingerstyle supports an insightful batch of songs." (Tom Hyslop, Blues Revue) "Tas is a master of the triple entendre, adding dark sparkle and lusty luster to songs that span the spectrum from stark tragedy to delighted hilarity." (John Berbrich, 4th Coast Entertainment" "A solid work by an honest bluesman" (Andrew Baldwin - Blues Matters!).
Tas Cru records on his own burgeoning label, Crustee Tees Records www.tascru.com
He is currently represented by Blind Raccoon LLC, Memphis, Tennessee.
