Sea Unbound - chapter II of Pains And Boogies
- Digital streaming
- Physical copies (ltd edition cassette)
Slow Lightning - chapter I of Pains And Boogies
- Digital streaming
- Physical copies (ltd edition cassette)
Hellothere!
I am a guitarist and composer, from Riga, Latvia. My current three-album project, Pains And Boogies, explores the vitality of fingerpicked steel-string guitar traditions. Working particularly with the forms of early blues and ragtime, I write seemingly old yet entirely new music – material that pays homage to the great originators of these styles and also dares to diverge at its own will.
I am very fortunate to have this work published by dis ce que, whose support and encouragement has been irreplaceable to get this music off the ground! With Slow Lightning published on 2022/02/17 and Sea Unbound on 2023/03/17, the 3rd chapter is expected to see its release sometime in late 2023. The separate instalments are released in cassette & digital formats, with a projected vinyl publication once all three of them are finished. Fingers & toes crossed!
In July 2022 Fonds Podiumkunsten, the Dutch foundation for performing arts, announced their support for Pains And Boogies. They are thus gracefully funding the composition process of the second and third chapters of this trilogy.
If you, dear reader, find fascination in this work that I am doing and are in a capacity to show support – your kind donation will not pass unnoticed!
Below, some third-person writing about my previous lives in music for the extra curious…
Edgars Rubenis emerged on the underground scene in mid-2000’s as the member of Riga’s experimental rock band Mona de Bo. Often considered to be one of the most vital forces on the Baltic scene of the ensuing decade, this ensemble has released 5 albums spanning psychotic indie garage, collisions of free improv and noisy drone rock. After the intense experimental guitar period with Mona de Bo and in an abrasive solo practice, Rubenis moved to The Netherlands in 2012 to study sonology and composition at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.
Prior the experimental turn, Rubenis was a teenage blues-head guitarist in Driving South, an exhilarating blues-improv trio making waves in the Baltics around the turn of the millennium. In this period he also received first hand exposure to legendary players during repeated visits to blues festivals in Norway – first row seat at Buddy Guy’s concert, faraway corner of Duke Robillard’s backstage, and in jam sessions with Oslo’s young greats of that time. A meeting with David Evans in Riga proved to be of unexpected importance thanks to the direct-lineage insights about Mississippi John Hurt’s music shared by the renown delta blues scholar and musician.
