BRANDON ISAAK & the Saints of Swing

• Top Blues Guitarist of the Year Award
• Top Electric Blues Recording of the Year Award
• Top Electric Blues Song of the Year Award

"The big winner on the night was Brandon Isaak, who earned three awards – for blues song ("Walkin’ With The Blues"), electric blues recording (Walkin’ With The Blues) and blues guitarist of the year." —Billboard Canada

Brandon Isaak, the Whitehorse-born bluesman known for his gravelly voice and deep respect for tradition, returns with Walkin’ With the Blues — his most authentic and electrified blues album to date.

Recorded live off the floor with minimal mics, vintage gear and a soul soaked in the genre’s deepest roots, the record is a love letter to classic blues — gritty, emotional and defiantly old-school.

“This is the most straight-up blues record I’ve ever made, and I could not be more pleased with how it turned out,” Brandon shares. “I wanted to make a record with strong lyrics, soulful playing, and zero tolerance for wanking — and I think I’ve achieved this.”

The lead single and title track, “Walkin’ With the Blues,” captures Brandon Isaak’s hallmark songwriting style — equal parts heartbreak and hard-won wisdom. Lyrics like “With the blues as my companion / down this long hard road / we’ll keep on walkin’ / and share this heavy load” show Brandon’s emotional range, drawing listeners deep into his world of lost love and gritty perseverance.

Themes throughout the album stretch from life and love to death, sex and even M**der — all delivered with what Brandon calls “gusto and passion.” Each track is infused with the vintage tones of electric blues, channeling the spirit of legends like T-Bone Walker and Ronnie Earl.

“I’ve always dreamed of making an electric blues album that captures the feel of the records I grew up on,” he says. “This one’s for the guitarists I worshipped as a kid.”

A true blues craftsman with more than 37 years on the road, Brandon has toured across three continents and earned accolades including a 2024 Juno nomination for Blues Album of the Year. His performance résumé includes 13 European tours and four nominations at the 2023 Maple Blues Awards, where he was recognized for Male Vocalist of the Year, Album/Producer of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Acoustic Act of the Year.

—Eric Alper, ROOTS MUSIC CANADA

Here in the U.S. we’ve got Keb Mo’, Sweden has Eric Bibb and up in Canada they have Brandon Isaak. Isaak showcases his love for acoustic blues, a vintage “lo fi” sound and simple arrangements on Bluesman’s Plea". It’s traditional guitar blues and it appeals to the soul as well as the ear. What’s even more impressive is that Isaak isn’t serving up old songs. These are all new, original songs written by Isaak. They 'play’ out like a biography, which is exactly what they are. True stories of love, life and death and a few stops, bumps and revelations along the way. There’s some great blues music coming out of the frozen north and Brandon Isaak is leading the pack.

The Twisters’ outspoken guitarist tones things down and strikes Yukon Gold. Fans of Vancouver’s Twisters already know of Brandon Isaak’s powerful guitar and vocal contributions to their hard-swingin’ definition of blues. It’s for this reason alone that Bluesman’s Plea demands full attention, if not some degree of shock. Isaak, ably assisted by his brother Chris in their Yukon-based studio, has turned in one of the best traditional blues albums in years – detouring from the West Coast swing and R&B-based blues sounds he’s known for – sounding so completely comfortable in this newfound role as to make you wonder if it’s the same player. Who knew?

The Yukon’s short hours of daylight surely force one to focus, while extra hours of night provide the luxury of time to plot one’s course, write for multiple parts and to fully capitalize on a brother’s studio skills. Whatever the reason, this combination proves deadly as this bluesman brings forward 14 originals that sound like he’s been playing this way all his life – or should be. Of course, no blues album would be complete without its shot of sexual innuendo and the final track, “Water Your Garden” doesn’t disappoint. He’ll have a lot of work to do come the spring. An outstanding release as Isaak stakes a fresh claim to somewhat tired territory, transforming it in the process.

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Unity Centre, 5840 Oak Street, Vancouver, Canada

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