music.wikisort.org - Musician

Wolf Mail (born 1972) is a Canadian blues rock guitarist and singer. Mail has recorded 6 full-length albums, internationally distributed and has toured in over 26 countries. He is influenced by blues, jazz, soul and country.[3]

This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. (August 2022)

Wolf Mail
Wolf Mail performing at the Suwalki Blues Festival in Poland 2016[2]
Background information
Birth name	Wolf Mail
Born	1972 (age 49–50) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Origin	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Blues-rock, soul rock, jam band
Occupation(s)	musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, writer, columnist
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1999 (1999)–present
Labels	ZYX, LEA, BSMF
Website	www.wolf-mail.com

Early years

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and raised in the South of France and California, Mail spent much of his early years traveling. He began playing the guitar at the age of 10, heavily influenced by Elmore James and John Lee Hooker.[4] Later, Mail received some guitar lessons from David Goodman, and went on to perform his first gig at 14. He left home at 17 to tour with his own band.[5]

Career

Mail recorded two independent albums in the mid-'90s before signing up with ZYX records. Since then he has released nine albums.

His first effort, Solid Ground, included the ballad "Hello" which stayed in the best selling music charts in Japan for three weeks and had fans declare their "favourite love song of all time".[6][7]

Blue Fix followed up which was recorded with the help of the Steve Miller Band[8]

Mail then recorded a live CD and DVD Live Blues in Red Square in Moscow, Russia.

His fourth album Electric Love Soul was recorded in 2009 in LA at Doghouse studios by Grammy Award winner BB "Chung" King, and Robert Cray producer Dennis Walker.

His follow-up The Basement Session was recorded in Sydney, Australia, at the Basement, which has hosted artist such as Prince and Albert Collins.

His sixth album, Above The Influence, was released in October 2013. Rhythms Music Magazine said it "sees Mail return to where he cut his teeth, our teeth, everyone's teeth – again, searing electric blues."[9]

International

Mail has played several world tours during his career, with Russian and European tours in 2009 and 2010, and Asian and Australian tours in 2010 to 2012.[10] Mail has a global presence and has played to sell-out tours around the world.[11]

Awards and recognition

Player Magazine Japan selected Mail as the "Close-up" artist of the month in June 2005.[12] Other artists have included Robert Cray and Brian Setzer. MusicOz Australia gave Wolf Mail best top 10 international performer of the year award for 2012.[13]

Musical instruments and gear

Wolf uses Mark Gilbert WM1 signature bearing his name and Mark Gilbert BC electro-acoustic guitars[14] and Fender 1957 vintage Telecaster and Greg Bennett Blackbird semi-acoustic guitars. Wolf is endorsed by Carvin amplifier, and was one of the first artists with Joe Walsh to use the Carvin Bel Air vintage series. Wolf has been using the Bel Air since 1993.

Discography

Wolf Mail

• 2002 – Solid Ground[15]
• 2004 – Live!Live!Live! (unofficial release).
• 2005 – Blue Fix[16]
• 2009 – Live Blues in Red Square[17]
• 2010 – Electric Love Soul[18]
• 2011 – The Basement Session[19]
• 2012 – Soho Strays
• 2013 – Above The Influence[20]
• 2015 – Oseana Auditorium[21]

Collaborations

• 2015 – Blues Christmas (with Leslie West, Eric Gales, Kenny Neal, Pat Travers, Joe Louis Walker, Chris Spedding).[22]
• 2018 – Live at the Lazy (with Milena Barrett)[23]

DVDs

• Live Blues in Red Square was released in 2009, and recorded at the Jazz Town Theater, in Moscow, Russia.[24]
• Oseana Auditorium released in 2014 was recorded during Wolf's 2013 tour of Scandinavia, while supporting Blues legend Johnny Winter.

Bibliography

• Rock my world Canada by Mike Carr.[25] A reference and collector's guide on Canadian Blues artists.

Record labels

• Japan/ Asia – BSMF Records
• Europe – ZYX Music
• North America – Cleopatra Records

References

External links

• Official website

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