LATEST NEWS: No News is Good News - Untile this Website is re-designed and re-vamped, Please keep up with Otis thru the Facebook pages.
(as of Jan , 2011) The release of the new Otis Grand CD -"Blues '65"- has been slightly delayed by Bliss Street Records. Please keep an eye on the Blues press for promotional announcements. A Promotional Single of one (surprise) song off the CD is also being planned. EXTRA !!!! In July 2009, Otis Grand recieved the Presidential Merit Award from the President of the Lebanese Republic Mr Michel Sleiman for his contributions to Arts and Culture in Lebanon. Other recipients include Paul Anka, Danny Thomas, and a host of other classical musicians. This is the first highest State award ever given to a Bluesman . A Great Honor for Blues worldwide.. Otis Grand has also completed the recording of his new CD - tentativley titled "Blues.'65" also for the BLISS STREET RECORDS Imprint - his 3rd output for this rising Record label. The CD ,with 13 trax of mid-sixties Blues and other platters, was recorded in Limoges France with the help of his long time friends Sugar Ray Norcia, Greg Piccolo, Monster Mike Welch and the ever-popular Bluetones from Boston. Otis produced a new CD for Little Charlie Baty for the Bliss Street Records Label. The Cd sees Little Charlie out of retirment after quiting the Nitecats to record a set of dazzling Guitar Instrumentals covering Blues, Swing and jazz. release is for Nov 2009. Otis Grand has now joined the 21st century and has a Myspace Page up and running - www.myspace.com/otisgrand . This site is designed and independently Administered by Gareth Morgan of Pappalouza Productions and is full of unseen archive photos and full MP3s. + Check it Out + Now that the statute of Limitations is up, Otis Grand fesses up: he played Pedal Steel Guitar in the 1995 James Bond Movie ' Goldeneye'. Otis was hired to play the role of the Steel player in Robbie Coltrane's girlfriend Minnie Driver's Russian C&W Band singing "Stand By Your man". This was the Stalingrad bar scene.Director Martin Campbell and producer Barbara Broccoli loved the sound of Steel Guitar but insisted that the band played Russky-Style - Bad!! Otis spent 3 days recording and filming, but most of it ended up on the cutting floor. .At least the sound track remains in the final cut. Otis says: "Robbie Coltrane was great and an avid & knowledgeable lover of the Blues. Brosnan was aloof and only looked good from the waist up.Minnie was a good singer but was required to sound awful".. Note from the Website Administrator: We have changed Servers. After a lengthy battle with the previous ISP providors over the ownership of domain name otisgrand.com, we have finally resolved these issues and are back online again. We apologise to all fans and visitors....... please continue to visit as these pages will be also re-designed and re-vamped. Otis signs deal with Proper Distribution plc for Worldwide distribution of his Hipster Blues CD. This means that Hipster Blues will now also be available in stores nationwide, as well as European and N. American. More good News : In the new March 2007 issue, Guitar Magazine selected Otis Grand as one of the Top 10 Blues Guitarists in Britain along side Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Alexis Korner. Hipster Blues is receiving critical acclaim in the UK.......
Reviews in Blues in Britain Magazines gives it a 10/10. It is No. 1 in the Blues charts in Blues Connections , whilst the Influential Blues & Rhythm Magazine chose it as CD of the month..... Hipster Blues is now available only online thru cdbaby.com in the United States and Canada, and Amazon.co.uk for GB and Europe. We are also working to get it posted on-line by other progressive e-shops. This process takes a little more time than expected, so please check progress regularly. As of now, it will not be available through the normal stores. Otis Grand receives sponsorship from Fender Europe for the Guild Starfire IV Guitars. This re-issued masterpiece, which was played by Buddy Guy in the mid-sixties, is now part of the Fender custom issue series. Otis now officially endorses Fender products, and plays this pretty Cherry red Guild Starfire on all live performances. Check it out. More details and photos soon. Otis is now in the middle of a heavy recording schedule, finishing off his long-awaited new CD - HIPSTERS BLUES. It is a helluva recording with 15 tracks and features US and UK players . Jimmy Thomas is vocalizing on several songs, and B3 wizard, Young Jonny Henederson is back and layed down some incredible organ licks. The great Pee Wee Ellis is also featured, as well as old buddies Curtis Salgado and Sugar Ray Norcia. Kevin Hayes, the great Drummer from the Robert Cray band, also plays on 2 trax. Otis is excited about this release - It should be out very soon. As of today's date, Otis has permanently returned to England , and is looking forward to touring again.Otis will shortly return to the studios to complete his long-awaited new CD - " Hipster Blues". Tours of Canada and the United States are now also planned. Mitigating Family matters have been positively settled,and ......." love is gonna Live here again" . Th As of today, Otis is still commuting between Winston-Salem , NC and Europe to fulfill performance engagements and will continue to do so for some time. As they say, Blood runs thicker than Water...... even if it is the Atlantic ocean. Agai, raising funds for the American Cancer Society and related Agencies has been of paramount priority for Otis and his friends in NC. meanwhile, Otis has been invited by Fender Europe to perform a series of Stratocaster Guitar Clinics throughout. Due to Family commitments, Otis has spent several months last year in Winston--Salem, North Carolina. This has Imposed a delay on the Release of his long awaited new CD Hipster Blues on Bliss Records - Furthermore, although nearly completed, no new date for this release has yet been scheduled. During his stay in N. Carolina, Otis has continued to perform benefits and fund-raisers for the American Cancer Society. This July, Otis Grand has been presented with a special Award for the "Advancement of Blues Music in Spain". This trophy was awarded to him by the Blues Association at the Cazorla Blues fest. Earlier, Otis celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Stratocaster with Fender Guitars by giving a free Master Class to a theatre packed with young guitarists. Otis Grand and the Big Blues band have been touring heavily, and aside from the usual "road news" which we feel is not essential to include here, everyone is having a good time. Jimmy Thomas is doing great too and has been gettin' down with the real blues. Otis was in the USA for 6 weeks recently, and managed to make several appearances in Greensboro and Winston-Salem , North Carolina with W.C. Clarke, Neil Gouvin, and Soul Bluesman Roy Roberts (The Ohio Players fame - he also played on Electric Express' million-seller, 'The Real Thing'). Otis headlined a Charity event for the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY held at North Carolina's premier live music venue Ziggy's in W-S. which drew a tremendous blues-loving crowd in a normally Bluegrass based territory. The Venue freely donated it's premises and staff,and Several local musicians and Businessmen, notably Bo Davis , Rick Busch & Carol Mansfield organized the event. John Tatum and his band played a great rockin' set and later backed Otis. Otis also attended the Annual Merle Fest at Wilkeboro, NC, and met some of his "other" guitar-picking heroes - Doc Watson ,Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas. Good Stuff. Checkout the February edition of British GUITAR Magazine (Vol 14 No.10) which features Otis talking to Lars Mullen about his Guitars, Amps, and how to get that Blues Tone that everyone is looking for. The article is long and informative with many great photos of vintage Fender Amps that are used on the road by Otis. Otis Grand Has won the award for BEST BLUES GUITARIST- EUROPE Category once again for the year 2003. This is the 3rd Time he has been Voted the prestigious Award by the BLUES ASSOCIATION OF FRANCE. Vive la France! Otis Grand inks deal with new label BLISS RECORDS. This label is owned by people who believe that Blues Artists must get a fair deal. Look out for first Otis Grand release on this label in Feb./March 2004. Check out Otis' DESERT ISLAND 5 on Mymusic . Old NEWS you can use Otis Grand has signed up for a 32 date tour of theatres in April/May 2003 covering England and Wales as part of the American Festival of the Blues tour. This package tour is the brainchild of Dave kelly (The Blues Band) and is organized by the UK's leading Agency GTA. Included on the package is the rarely seen, but great Bobby Parker (Watch your step), Louisiana Red, and Deitra Farr, the Blues diva from Chicago. All the Blues, All the time ....For more information of the venues, please go to Tour Schedule. Sanctuary Records will release a 2 CD, 34 track best-of Compilation of Otis' 5 Studio Recordings. The label has created a well-packaged and informative product containing the best tracks with many special guest artists. The Box is titled "In Grand Style", and will be on release worldwide in September, 2002. Read a Review by Craig Ruskey on Blues Onstage Website. www.mnblues.com Read a recent and extensive interview with Otis By Birgitta Larsen at www.bluesmusicnow.com Otis Grand and Joe Louis Walker will be touring the UK in support of their Duet CD release titled "Guitar Brothers" on JSP records. The tour will start May 20 and end June 1, 2002. Any promoters interested in booking this band, please contact Otis for more details. Veteran Blues vocalist , Jimmy Thomas , will be shouting the Blues with Otis for this year. Jimmy, who is from St Louis, started his career with Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm and also done the vocal chores with Albert King. He currently lives in London , and we are glad to have him with us. Check him out singing " I smell trouble ". Incidentally, Jimmy stepped in to help whilst Brother Roy Oakley takes badly needed time off the Road for personal circumstances which dictates that he spends time at home. Brother Roy can still be seen with the band on all local concerts in London . Otis Grand has completed recording his new CD in San Francisco last month ( August 2001). This new one, produced by Otis, is a duet recording with Joe Louis Walker, and entitled "Guitar Brothers" to be released by JSP records in Jan / Feb 2002. Otis Grand has been named by the British Guitarist Magazine in it's Jan 2001 issue as one of "The 50 Greatest Blues Guitarists of all Time". This is an honour, and a nod of recognition from this well respected Journal. Check out Otis Grand's Live performance at the 2000 Bishopstock Blues Festival on Virtuetv. The Blues Association of France has voted Otis Grand "BEST Blues Guitarist- Europe" for the year 1999. Otis has already won the award for 1998. Thanks, fellas... Hot News: Well....6 hours of Bliss Blues ... the Otis Grand AllStar Extravaganza was sold out to an enthusiastic Blues audience, and the band and special guests went for it. High lights of the day was the vocal duet with Joe Louis Walker and Curtis Salgado doing " You Gonna Make me Cry ". For Great shots of the highly successful Night please go to the festival's excellent site at: 11th Annual Great British R&B festival. Otis Grand will be releasing a new CD in April, 2000. This is a Live recording entitled "Live Anthology - vol. 1", and is a compilation of hot Guitar tracks from the past, personally put together by Otis. Look out for it in all the shops and also on the internet through Mystic Records. Hot News: Otis has been asked to bring the Allstar Revue back to the 11th Annual Great British R&B festival at Colne for 28 August 2000. Artists already confirmed for this spectacular Blues revue are: Joe Louis Walker; Curtis Salgado; Jimmy T99 Nelson; Roscoe Gordon; Sugar Ray Norcia; Karen Karrol and many others. Another 4 hour extravaganza is on the way to you. The package is also available for bookings in Europe. Interested Major Festival Promoters should contact the email address below. Otis put together a phenomenal Band which is still the talk of the town for last year's Colne Great R&B festival held on August 30, 1999. The All Star Band featured Steve Cropper, Kim Wilson, Sugar Ray Norcia, Joe Houston, Jimmy T99 Nelson, PeeWee Ellis, Debbie Davies. See the photos of the event in the Gallery. Otis Grand was featured on the CNN Global news Network . The Interview and live performance was broadcast on Saturday 1st May, 1999 at 7.30 pm UK time (8.30 Central Euro Time). The program is titled "World Beat". It was repeated twice on Sunday 2nd May (8.30am & 12.30), and then the following Tues (4.30 pm). CNN USA will show it on Sat. at 12.00 (ET) and again Sun.at 3.30 ( ET ) DNA/Valley Media Records has released "Grand Union" on a nationwide domestic basis for the USA & Canada and South American Market. This CD is also available for purchase on the internet. Otis Grand, Anson Funderburgh & Debbie Davies are available for touring Europe as the "Guitars on Fire" Band. Any promoters interested in booking this super group should email us. Finally......If you want to book or get in touch with Otis, drop us a line to let us know what you're thinking, Contact:Otis Grand
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