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The Blue Stones
Listening to the larger-than-life, but tight and precise blues-rock of The Blue Stones on their debut “Black Holes”, it is astonishing to discover all that sound and fury is created by just two people.
Guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Tarek Jafar and drummer Justin Tessier have known each other since high school, but it wasn’t until attending university together that they decided to start a band.
From the slap back echo and the Rolling Stones’ “ooh-oohs” in the gut punching “The Drop,” through the tribute to perseverance in the catchy, bluesy “Rolling with the Punches” and the acoustic-to-electric dynamism of the title track, Black Holes shows a band blasting into outer space and leaving “Solid Ground” behind. It’s the voyage of a group beginning to find its way, emerging from isolation to inspiration, reaching an audience waiting to be tapped.
It took seven long years - and two independently released EPs - for The Blue Stones to hone their approach. As Jafar describes “Rolling with the Punches,” which is the group’s usual, rollicking set-closer, “It takes a lot to be a success. You have to stay determined and focused. And it’s always fun to have people sing the words you’ve written and just sit back and take it all in.”
With the release of Black Holes, The Blue Stones are ready to raise the stakes and turn up the heat.
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Coca-Cola Stage
July 12: 8 p.m.
