DAVE FERRA

 

Blues, Spirituals and ragtimes with guitar, slide and rack harmonica. Playing in England and the Continent he has supported The Blues Band, Kirk Fletcher, Paul Lamb, Babajack, Nine Below Zero, Billy Walton and The Spikedrivers amongst others and is a regular at London's Ain't nothin but the Blues Bar.

 

First things first; this is a wonderful acoustic album. Ferra's second outing, following

the critically acclaimed debut 'Bad Luck Blues', 'Ain't No Hand Me Down' again

features slippery slide work, hairy Harp and vibrant vocals in a 12-track CD of about

half and half self-written material and great covers.

From the opening track, Son House's old 'Preaching Blues' through a dash of

Taj Mahal ('The Loving In My Baby's Eyes') to Eric Bibb's evergreen, 'Where The Green

Grass Grows', this album flows  effortlessly with several of Ferra's own interspersed

compositions oozing quality and style with a strongly rhythmic ragtimey feel

throughout. Ferra's own 'Meet Me Down The Alley' and 'Tailor Made Woman' both

stand out as well-honed, skillful songs classily and clearly capturing the essence

of the ragtime era. This is a trick few can pull-off with clarity - Roy Book Binder,

springs to mind. Ferra's  barely half his age but already seems to have the knack.

Positively recommended. I, for one, already look forward to this guy's next offering.

Iain Patience, Blues in the South

 

“excellent delta bluesman” – Blues in Britain

 

“great guitar and spot on for style” – Blues in Britain

 

“such a brilliant voice, guitar and harp – the man got it all!” – Katie Bradley

 

 

“Fabulous night; Best this year. Dave had a fantastic rapport with the audience and the whole group transmitted a convivial atmosphere. Well done and thanks for bringing them to Deal – Phil Healey (Audience member at Spooner’s Blues Club)

 

"The Thirty-Nine Steps was privileged to host a superb and highly versatile musician. His command particularly of the ragtime and spiritualist genre, leads to a holistic, motivating and highly enjoyable set. Dave’s easy-going style and undoubted matter-of-fact talent allows him to easily involve the audience, culminating, not surprisingly, in a joint rendition of ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’." – Andrew Pook

 

http://daveferra.tripod.com/home.html