You see the Mississipi isn’t the only river, or the only delta. Cotton isn’t the only crop. For that matter Chicago isn’t the only urban space. The late, great Eddie ‘Son’ House once said that there is only one kind of blues, that that occurs between a man and a woman. While this is debatable, it is certainly true that the blues has always contained universal truths.

Kris was born to the swampy marshes of the Medway delta, and the rural isolation of the Isle Of Sheppey on the estuary, growing up in the late 60’s and early 70’s listening to the sounds of the British blues revival. Clapton, Beck, Page, and Richards, and so back to Muddy, John Lee and the ever present figure of Robert Johnson. A professional musician his whole adult life, Kris’s career used to be one of sideman. As a session guitarist, a gun for hire, he saw the world standing alongside musicians as diverse as del Amitri, The Godfathers, Eileen Rose, The Dammed and even Adam Ant. But you can only play for others so long before you have to step up and play for yourself. And that’s just what Kris has done. Combining all the music he has always loved with the abilities hard learnt on the road for so many years, he slowly evolved a self possessed repetoir. His live shows incorporate the great and the good of the past, (Charlie Patton, Bukka White, Rev. Gary Davis, etc.), together with his own evolving songwriting. It’s in him and it’s got to come out!

For those who care about these things, the whole album was recorded live with very few overdubs. Mostly just Kris, in a room, with a bunch of microphones. Three tracks feature Wolf Howard, (The Buff Medway’s, The Solarflares, The Chatham Singers) on drums and percussion. No rehersal, no click track, just two guys in a room feeling their way through the music. The album also features the virtuosity of engineer Jim Riley on harp and vocal harmony. Also a spontaneous rip through one of producer Stuart Turner’s songs,The North Kent Post Industrial Blues also to feature Stuart on back up guitar and vocals. But perhaps the key song to the album is the second track, ‘Brother Ray’. A driving and insistent piece, haunted by the death of an old friend, but walking away from the past, incorporating Indian figures in the play out solo, this is the music of his surroundings.

02/01/1978 is the mark of where Kris stands now. Predominately his own material, this is his attempt to take the music he loves past where he found it. A blues record for now, and for here.

Written by: Stuart Turner

Kris Dollimore is one of the finest exponents of electric and acoustic guitar the UK has yet produced and he emphatically re-states his case for a wider audience beyond cult status with an electrifying debut album called ‘02/01/1978’. The cover photo of ‘02/01/1978’ shows Kris Dollimore playing his first electric guitar on his 12th birthday and the gritty, authentic music contained on his first solo album perfectly encapsulates his life-long passion for the roots of rock’n’roll, blues, country and folk.

After honing his skills with various local Kent groups, in 1985 at the tender age of 19 Kris became a founder member and lead guitarist with the legendary English rock’n’roll group The Godfathers. The Godfathers enjoyed a fanatical cult audience worldwide and Kris Dollimore’s ferocious guitar sound and wild stage performances enhanced their reputation as a must see live act. Kris recorded three classic albums with The Godfathers (‘Hit By Hit’/’Birth, School, Work, Death’/’More Songs About Love And Hate’) and was co-author of such rocking gems as ‘Birth, School, Work,Death’,‘Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues’ and ‘This Damn Nation’.

Kris left The Godfathers in 1990 to become a much sought after session guitar for hire. He played on former Dead Boys singer Stiv Bators solo album (‘Last Race’) along with Johnny Thunders and Dee Dee Ramone and toured the globe with 80’s idol Adam Ant. He then joined punk rock pioneers The Damned and alongside original members Dave Vanian and Rat Scabies recorded their ‘I’m Alight Jack And The Beanstalk’ album, as well as performing several world tours. After teaming up with Scots rockers Del Amitri for the top 30 album ‘Can You Do Me Good’ and the top 10 ‘Hatful Of Rain’, Kris also produced and played lead guitar on several tracks for American country-rock singer Eileen Rose (the ‘Shine Like It Does’ and ‘Long Shot Novena’ albums).

In 2004 Kris abandoned his session guitarist persona to concentrate on writing, performing and singing his ever-growing repertoire of original material. Directly inspired by his love for his favourite blues artists (John Lee Hooker, Fred McDowell and Robert Johnson) ‘02/01/1978’ perfectly captures Kris Dollimore’s highly individual take on the blues.

A mix of stunning original compositions such as the haunting ‘Miss Emma Jane’, the driving, insistent ‘Brother Ray’ (a furious guitar and stomp-box work-out about the drug related death of a close friend) and the dirty, delta blues stomp of ‘Caned’ are fused alongside expert covers of John Lee Hooker’s ‘Groundhog’, Reverend Robert Wilkins’ ‘Rollin’ Stone’ and a spine-tingling blues version of Iggy and The Stooges’ ‘T.V. Eye’ that has to be heard to be believed.

Kris also blasts through producer Stuart Turner’s magnificent ‘The North Kent Post Industrial Hillstomp Blues’. Other stand-out original Dollimore numbers include the aching country-blues ‘Cry For Me’ and the pent-up frustration of the immaculately cool ‘Loved Up Blues’ – a chilling vocal performance from Kris Dollimore who handles the vocals superbly throughout, proving himself to be a singer (as well as a guitarist) of great distinction. ‘02/01/1978’ concludes with the beautiful instrumental ‘East Of England’, a heavenly acoustic homage to his birthplace on the Isle Of Sheppey, Kent.

Kris Dollimore’s debut solo album ‘02/01/1978’ – modern, British blues music for today, tomorrow and forever.

‘02/01/1978’ - the first release on the Sun Pier label.

‘Groundhog’/’Brother Ray’/’The Enemy’/’Miss Emma Jane’/’Loved Up Blues’/’The North Kent Post Industrial Hillstomp Blues’/’Take What’s Mine’/’Cry For Me’/’Caned’/’Rollin’ Stone’/’T.V. Eye’/’East Of England’

Kris Dollimore - ‘02/01/1978’ - official release date 1st November 2006.