On a cold Saturday night last weekend, blues rock band the Kid Colling Cartel was doing more than its part to fire up the crowd at Den Atelier with a show marking the launch of their debut album, In the Devil’s Court, and a performance that burned with passion, polish and raw, finger-blistering talent.
The album is the expression of founder-member Stephane Colling’s rovings through memories, hopes, regrets, loves lost and bonds that fell by the wayside told in the language he knows best, the blues, blended in with healthy measures of jazz, funk and rock to create something lighter and livelier, yet laced with the same reflective tendencies and virtuoso guitar solos. It is a deeply personal collection that bares Colling’s soul to the devil’s scrutiny then basically tells the devil to go take a jump, in the way only a real bluesman can, though Colling draws a distinction between his style and the blues legends of old.
“I don't consider myself a true blues player,” he told The Luxembourg Chronicle. “It’s coming from the blues, but it’s different, more modern. Even people who don’t usually listen to the blues can like it because it’s got different things in there.”
The songs often seem to cast Colling in the role of an outsider looking in, wondering where his place is, not least the soft-toned Don’t Worry Mama, where the singer, songwriter and guitarist sets out to address and reassure the woman who gave birth to him before abandoning him 32 years ago that he’s alright. Whatever drove her to it, it led Colling to a journey from Colombia to the Clervaux family that adopted him when he was just a year old and a life that smiled while leaving questions that will never be answered.
Years later, Colling was at a gig in Montreux when Blues Hall of Famer Luther Allison took to the stage, and life changed again. “I didn’t choose the blues; the blues chose me. I felt it immediately and I was sold. It comes from your soul, and on stage that’s how I express myself."
The launch marks the beginning of what should be an interesting year for Colling and fellow band members Vincent Charrue, David Franco and Florian Pons. A big summer tour — dates to be confirmed — will help them to take the album and the band further abroad, and a couple of gigs lined up for France and Paris in the next few months will keep them sharp. But Colling is really stoked to have been selected to represent Luxembourg at the European Blues Challenge in Denmark this April.
“It’s like a Eurovision for blues,” Colling explained, “It’s a showcase gig and a great chance to present the album to an audience that will include a lot of bookers and labels.”
This is the opening of a new chapter for a band that has thrived on a vibrant blues circuit that flourishes without the benefit of radio play that favours other genres — genres that conversely don’t enjoy the thrills of a live music scene. It seems they weren’t even 100% sure how well last Saturday’s gig would pan out given the difficulties of pushing a “niche” musical style, though no one seems to have told the high-spirited crowd of such concerns.
“It was like a bet actually. I guess some people thought it may not work. But the night was a success and we had a lot of fun. That proves that this kind of music has a following, that it can work. It’s different. Real music still has its place, and especially local music has its place,” said Colling.
That much was clear last Saturday, with support from Heavy Petrol and the Fred Barreto Group and a stunning duet with Remo Cavallini for a cover of BB King’s How Blue Can You Get, Kid Colling Cartel lit the house with a show that rolled between rollicking and gently reflective hitting a host of notes in between and the crowd danced their joy while Colling danced his way out of the devil’s jurisdiction, the show itself a thumb in the bogeyman's direction.
“The blues will never die, that’s for sure,” said Colling. “It’s just about sharing the music and sharing our stories. That’s what we do. And as long as it’s honest and it comes from your soul, I think people feel it and that’s what it’s all about.”
Photo by Lugdivine Unfer
