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“This disc kicks with all the power of a mule gone berserk.” Terry Mullins, Blues Blast
“McKnight & Bogdal give the blues a shot of adrenaline as Zombie Nation is guaranteed to hypnotize you.” MJ, Skunk Magazine
“This is music to start a mosh pit for.” Maverick Magazine (UK)
"✰✰✰1⁄2 Stars. Mission Accomplsihed." Frank John Hadley, Downbeat
“A magnificent achievement!”
Blues & Co magazine (France)
“A more than remarkable daring album, deeply rooted in southern black music, mixed with hypnotic, repetitive, electrified Delta blues and touches of 'hill country' and avant-garde alternative sounds..” LA Hora Del Blues(Spain)
“Both Bob and Elam keep their performances tied to the songs with grandstanding happily absent, and sound like they've spent the last 15 years playing their way out of back alley brawls.” Dave Gallaher Host of Talkin' the Blues on WLRH
“This music kicks ass, like Hill Country blues on steroids! These guys rock, but the music is blues all the way – played in a raw and intense manner, very deep.” Przemek Draheim, National Radio (Poland)
"Zombie Nation is one of the best Albums of its style [that] I have listened to so far this year.“ John Vermilyea, Blues Underground Network, British Columbia, Canada
“Zombie Nation carries you to one of those smoke filled places with that whiskey smell. [This album] gives us reason to get excited about deep south blues again.” Tannehill Trader
"McKnight separates himself from many of his predecessors and contemporaries with thoughtful and insightful observations of today's world” Jon Norton, Program Director, WGLT(Peoria/Normal, IL)
✰✰✰1⁄2— Accomplished blues musicians Elam McKnight and Bob Bogdal have joined forces in hopes of expanding their respective fan bases. And if the excellent “ZombieNation” is any indication, the strategy should pay off for them." Jeffrey Sisk, Pittsburgh Daily News.
“I loved Elam McKnight’s previous release, Supa Good, but I think Zombie Nation, his recent collaboration with Bob Bogdal, may be even better. Seek this one out at all costs.“ Graham Clarke, Blues Bytes
“This is of the better blues CDs from the genre I have heard in the last few years.” Alfons Maes, Keys and Chords (Belgium)
“Zombie Nation is the result of a collaboration between two exceptional blues talents. At such an exceptional level that we will not hesitate to put forward this CD as one of the best we have in this genre in recent years.” Luc Meert, Roots Time (Belgium)
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BUY ZOMBIE NATION
Elam McKnight
For Immediate Release
March 8, 2011
ELAM MCKNIGHT AND BOB BOGDAL TEAM UP ON ZOMBIE NATION
Blues veterans target a broader audience with their debut
They’ve made quite a name for themselves as individual musicians, but now Elam McKnight and Bob Bogdal have teamed up to release Zombie Nation, a debut album that melds the rural Mississippi blues of the Delta with the hard-charging electric style of the Hill Country. “They say the first step in a journey is the most important, and that’s the approach we’re taking with this album,” says McKnight. “As a songwriter, you are constantly creating material. I have all kinds of songs that, before, I might not have felt they fit the direction I was going. But now, their time has come to be heard.”
Both McKnight and Bogdal bring impressive credentials to their partnership. McKnight’s solo debut, 2003’s Braid My Hair, was hailed by critics as a breath of fresh air in the sometimes-stale climate that is predictable “bar band” blues, while his second album, 2005’s The Last Country Store, found a spot on many blues charts internationally and in America. McKnight’s most recent release, 2007’s Supa Good, earned notoriety when the opening track, “Devil Minded Woman,” was voted by fans as the Best Blues Song in the Musician's Atlas sponsored 7th Annual Independent Music Awards. Bogdal, meanwhile, boasts 20 years of Blues expertise and harmonica playing. His haunting 2005 debut, Underneath the Kudzu, serves as a reflection of his personal vision into the mystery of the Delta, and he’s currently recording his next album, Shadow of a Darkened Moon. “It is a joy to have someone who wants to make a go at something as a unit, talk things out, bump heads, come to agreements, and hit it until what you wanted to get accomplished is accomplished,” McKnight says. “We are both driven in that way and I am fortunate to have someone who is not scared of rolling his shirt sleeves up and putting in the sweat equity.”
The more stripped-down sound of Zombie Nation marks a departure of sorts for McKnight, which is just fine by him. “The sounds we have on this one are very warm and strong,” he says. “While Supa Good was not totally lo-fi, Zombie Nation is as far from it as you can get sonically.” McKnight and Bogdal hope their hard work and distinctive sound allows them to shed any restrictive labels and therefore introduce their music to a broader audience. “I am a songwriter first and I hope to get my music out there to as many people as possible,” he says. “We are both really proud of this work and look at it as one of many to come.”
For more information, please visit www.bigblackhand.com.
Publicity:
Mike Farley
Michael J. Media Group
608-848-9707
mike@michaeljmedia.com