Wolf Mail
Encyclopedia
Wolf Mail is a Canadian blues-rock
guitar
ist/singer and songwriter. Wolf Mail has been described as “way out in front of blues guitarists around the world” (Linda Fisher, The Times
), “...the missing link between Jimi Hendrix
and Stevie Ray Vaughan
” (Pete Wallace, National Blues Review) and “...The undisputed heavy weight champion of electric Blues” states the L.A weekly.
Tom Branson of Blues Rockers magazine says “Mail's guitar work bears the unmistakable marks of the normal SRV
/Hendrix
/Clapton
influences. However, I pay him the ultimate compliment by saying that, though he has obviously been influenced by the normal guitar gods, he bears a striking resemblance to none of them, as his sound is strictly Wolf Mail.”
Wolf Mail’s music style is a blend of traditional blues with electric, rock and soul. His voice is very distinctive and particularly suited to the blues. The Australian Southern Star Newspaper wrote, “The man has a voice that will raise chicken skin down your back”.
, Canada
, raised in the South of France and California
, Wolf Mail grew up as a traveling nomad. “My main inspiration always came from discovering new cultures and people” he says. “My attempt is to translate those feelings into the music”.
Mail picked up the guitar at the age of 10, listening to Elmore James
and Ray Charles
records.One of Wolf’s uncle gave him his first electric guitar, a Fender Telecaster
replica, similar to the one he is currently playing. He was self-taught until the age of 10 before convincing Canadian guitar master David Goodman
to give him some lessons. He played his first professional gig at the age of fourteen and by seventeen was touring Europe
. Restless touring have become the basis of Wolf’s hard work ethic.
, after jumping on a bus from Montreal
to New York city
to Los Angeles
. He had less than $500 in his pocket, and decided to invest in a vehicle and bought his first car (1963 Chevy nova station wagon). This would also be his home for his first few months in the city of Angels. ” The Whisky club in Los Angeles
used to have this jam on Mondays, they would bring in pizzas and cold beer from the Rainbow bar up the street, to all musicians backstage, it was a great place to check out new talent.”
At 19 years old, after a jam session at The Troubadour Club in Los Angeles
with Randy Castillo
, Wolf was invited to play with Randy’s current project, the infamous Ozzy Osbourne and band. During this time Wolf was solicited by rock singer, Billy Idol, to replace Steve Stevens as a guitar player and even Cher. “Although flattered by these requests I always knew my heart and soul was into the blues” he recalls. He spent thirteen years playing the west coast bar scene from San Diego to Eureka, building his own personal musical style.
for three weeks and had fans declare their “favorite love song of all time”. Blue Fix followed this. Mail then embarked to the great North and recorded a live CD and DVD Live Blues In Red Square, which contains a great cover of The Sky is Crying. Mail’s fourth album Electric Love Soul was recorded in LA in the famous Doghouse studios by Grammy Award winner BB “Chung” King and legendary producer Dennis Walker. Wolf latest album The Basement Session is set for release mid 2011. Details are available on the website: www.wolf-mail.com > music.
His live performances are legendary. During one of his performances with the Fabulous Thunderbirds at the Narooma Blues festival in Australia
, Tony Jagger from the ]Southern star has said “Words simply cannot describe the intensity and clarity that comes out of this man’s guitar.” Ron Edmonds from Exclusive Management puts it “You always get something out of a Wolf Mail show.”
Mail particularly enjoys playing the blues in places that do not get a lot of opportunities to hear that type of music. “From the mountaineers of Siberia
to the Moroccan Tuareg or the Australian Aboriginals, there is a tremendous source of universal knowledge that comes from these people and having been able to interact with them has been a very enriching experience”.
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist/singer and songwriter. Wolf Mail has been described as “way out in front of blues guitarists around the world” (Linda Fisher, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
), “...the missing link between Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
” (Pete Wallace, National Blues Review) and “...The undisputed heavy weight champion of electric Blues” states the L.A weekly.
Tom Branson of Blues Rockers magazine says “Mail's guitar work bears the unmistakable marks of the normal SRV
SRV
SRV may refer to:In computing:*SRV record as used in the Domain Name System*/srv, a directory on Unix-like computer systemsIn music:*Stevie Ray Vaughan, American blues musician...
/Hendrix
Hendrix
Hendrix may refer to:* Hendrix ** Jimi Hendrix, musician* Hendrix , a lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side* Hendrix, Oklahoma* Hendrix College, a private college located in Conway, Arkansas...
/Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
influences. However, I pay him the ultimate compliment by saying that, though he has obviously been influenced by the normal guitar gods, he bears a striking resemblance to none of them, as his sound is strictly Wolf Mail.”
Wolf Mail’s music style is a blend of traditional blues with electric, rock and soul. His voice is very distinctive and particularly suited to the blues. The Australian Southern Star Newspaper wrote, “The man has a voice that will raise chicken skin down your back”.
In the beginning
Born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, raised in the South of France and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Wolf Mail grew up as a traveling nomad. “My main inspiration always came from discovering new cultures and people” he says. “My attempt is to translate those feelings into the music”.
Mail picked up the guitar at the age of 10, listening to Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
and Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
records.One of Wolf’s uncle gave him his first electric guitar, a Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
replica, similar to the one he is currently playing. He was self-taught until the age of 10 before convincing Canadian guitar master David Goodman
David Goodman
David Goodman may refer to:* David Goodman , member of the Ohio Senate* David Goodman , Australian Paralympian* David A. Goodman, American writer and producer* David G. Goodman, American Japanologist* David S...
to give him some lessons. He played his first professional gig at the age of fourteen and by seventeen was touring Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Restless touring have become the basis of Wolf’s hard work ethic.
LA days
At age 17, he emigrated to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, after jumping on a bus from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
to New York city
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He had less than $500 in his pocket, and decided to invest in a vehicle and bought his first car (1963 Chevy nova station wagon). This would also be his home for his first few months in the city of Angels. ” The Whisky club in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
used to have this jam on Mondays, they would bring in pizzas and cold beer from the Rainbow bar up the street, to all musicians backstage, it was a great place to check out new talent.”
At 19 years old, after a jam session at The Troubadour Club in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with Randy Castillo
Randy Castillo
Randolpho Francisco Castillo was best known as Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999-2002.-Early years:...
, Wolf was invited to play with Randy’s current project, the infamous Ozzy Osbourne and band. During this time Wolf was solicited by rock singer, Billy Idol, to replace Steve Stevens as a guitar player and even Cher. “Although flattered by these requests I always knew my heart and soul was into the blues” he recalls. He spent thirteen years playing the west coast bar scene from San Diego to Eureka, building his own personal musical style.
Singing the blues
It is with blues music that Mail paved his way through the music industry. He recorded two independent albums in the mid 90’s before signing up with ZKS records in 1999. Since then he has released three studio albums to critical acclaim. Solid Ground was universally praised. It contained the ballad “Hello” which stayed in the best selling music charts in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for three weeks and had fans declare their “favorite love song of all time”. Blue Fix followed this. Mail then embarked to the great North and recorded a live CD and DVD Live Blues In Red Square, which contains a great cover of The Sky is Crying. Mail’s fourth album Electric Love Soul was recorded in LA in the famous Doghouse studios by Grammy Award winner BB “Chung” King and legendary producer Dennis Walker. Wolf latest album The Basement Session is set for release mid 2011. Details are available on the website: www.wolf-mail.com > music.
Touring
Wolf has toured extensively throughout the US, Japan, Europe, Australia and Russia. He averages hundreds of shows per year and when he says “I enjoy traveling to new places as much as I enjoy playing” he ain’t kidding .His live performances are legendary. During one of his performances with the Fabulous Thunderbirds at the Narooma Blues festival in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Tony Jagger from the ]Southern star has said “Words simply cannot describe the intensity and clarity that comes out of this man’s guitar.” Ron Edmonds from Exclusive Management puts it “You always get something out of a Wolf Mail show.”
Mail particularly enjoys playing the blues in places that do not get a lot of opportunities to hear that type of music. “From the mountaineers of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
to the Moroccan Tuareg or the Australian Aboriginals, there is a tremendous source of universal knowledge that comes from these people and having been able to interact with them has been a very enriching experience”.
Discography
- 2002 – Solid Ground
- 2004 – Live!Live!Live!
- 2005 – Blue Fix
- 2009 – Live Blues In Red Square
- 2010 – Electric Love Soul
- 2011 – The Basement Session
DVDs
- Live Blues In red Square was released in 2009, and recorded at the Jazz Town Theater, in Moscow, Russia.