British Blues cheer Dan
There will be no #Brexit for South African blues rock artist Dan Patlansky now that he's been nominated for a British Blues award. The 34-year-old guitarist was nominated in this year's "overseas artist" category and will go up against US artists like Kirk Fletcher, Mike Zito, Buddy Guy and Dana Fuch. Others in the category include Thorbjorn Risager and Buddy Whittington.Patlansky, who has been touring the UK for the past three years, said the nomination was "fantastic" because it showed that "many years of hard work" have paid off.Having just returned to South Africa from headlining 16 of his own shows in the UK and performing as the supporting act for award-winning band King King, Patlansky isn't home to take a break.This weekend he'll be performing in Durban before returning for shows in Johannesburg followed by his eighth annual Guitar Weekend next month in Clarens, Free State.Patlansky said: "Touring is the only way to get your music out there as a musician, to take your music to different places."Although his sights are set on the UK and Europe, Patlansky hasn't abandoned his local fans and says he enjoys his annual guitar weekends where he gives lessons to a small group of aspirant musicians."I've been doing the guitar weekends for almost a decade and I love them. It's an opportunity for me to give back and connect on a more personal level with my fans," he said.From the Free State he will return to Europe to perform in Germany."It's fantastic to tour the UK and Europe because it grows our following there. The South African blues scene has grown tremendously but it will never be as big as pop music. Blues is never going to die, it goes through different levels of popularity and right now it's at its peak in the UK and Europe."Even though he identifies himself as a blues artist, Patlansky says genres are merely a guideline."It's a question I get asked often, and my answer is definitely yes. At the core I'm a blues artist, but a modern form. But the idea of genres is a bit silly; it's a basic guideline but people always want to put musicians in a pigeonhole."..
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