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Vasja Ivanovski left a comment for elias zaikos
Hi Elias,
Greetings from Skopje! Pls note my new e-mail address: unaluna499@gmail.com
Let me hear from you.
Best,
Vasja
elias zaikos updated their profile photo
elias zaikos updated their profile
BILLY BLUEZZHEAD left a comment for elias zaikos
EYXARISTW POLY GIA THN APODOXH!!!
MATHENA.....MATHAINW......KAI THA SYNEXISW NA MATHAINW PRAGMATA, AKOYGONTAS TO APISTEYTO "OFF THE BOX'!!!!!!
KAI TO PERIFHMO "BETWEEN SPIRIT AND TIME"!!!!!!!
OPWS EPISHS KAI OLES SOY TIS DOYLEIES…
elias zaikos left a comment for Eri Kourbali
ti na sou po Eri,
mia akoma fora s'efharisto
herome pou perases kala, itan orea vradia gia olous mas
otan ta kataferete me ton Saki tha haro poly na volepsi na vrethoume
take care
ez
Vasja Ivanovski left a comment for elias zaikos
Thanks for info EZ! Keep in touch.
Best,
Vasja
elias zaikos left a comment for Vasja Ivanovski
Hi again my friend! Would be great to come back with the new Blueswire line up! You know best, when things are smooth, let me know. The DVD and new acoustic CD are on the way. All my best to Alen (what a great and talented guy!). My email ad. is :…
Vasja Ivanovski left a comment for elias zaikos
Good to hear from you my friend! I sure miss Blues Wire gigs and hanging out together in Skopje and Thessaloniki So we need to make up for the lost time in the meantime! let me know your phone number and e-mail address, so we can be in contact more…
Profile Information
- About Me:
- ELIAS ZAIKOS
Elias Zaikos was born in 1960 in Thessaloniki, Greece, where he is permanently based. During his early teen years, he showed relatively little interest in music and listened mainly to Greek traditional and popular songs. Sometime around 1976, he was introduced to soul and to rock and roll music. Little by little he got so involved with music that being a listener just wasn't enough. A friend of local rock musicians, he followed them on to their gigs and got a first hand knowledge of the pleasures - but also the difficulties - that are all part of a musician's lifestyle. He soon found out what it really means to express oneself through an instrument. As he turned twenty, he picked up the guitar for the first time. The six strings became his constant companion and he devoted his time to practicing and playing. Around the same time he discovered the blues, the musical genre that had such a powerful and profound effect on him that he dedicated himself to it completely. A self-taught musician, Elias Zaikos developed a particular technique on the guitar, using a thumb pick together with the bare fingers of his right hand – something he saw for the first time on a live Muddy Waters video.
In the early eighties, Elias Zaikos founded Blues Wire (or Blues Gang, as they were initially named). In 1983 the band recorded the first blues album in Greece, which paved the way for a long series of successful albums that followed.
Performing an average of two hundred nights every year in a small country like Greece is an achievement indeed, but Blues Wire have done just that, confirming thus the band's hard work and also its enduring popularity. All these years, Blues Wire have been constantly active in countless jam sessions, backing and supporting famed bluespeople, like Katie Webster, John Hammond, Albert King, Otis Rush, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Larry Garner, Carey Bell and many others: They were all amazed by the authority and style of these Greek blues players.
Europe was the obvious next step for E.Z. and Blues Wire. The band has played in clubs and festivals in most European countries and received a well-deserved enthusiastic response from audiences everywhere. Renowned guitar players such as Buddy Guy, Louisiana Red and Gypie Mayo have been impressed by E.Z.'s chops and style, and so were
the diverse audiences throughout Europe while E.Z. was handing them his fiery and passionate solos: from the singing crowd of Athens to the dancing gig-goers in Trieste and the standing ovation in Austria.
Over the last fifteen years Elias Zaikos has worked together with a great number of artists and earned the respect and admiration of his fellow musicians and peers. Nowadays he is considered to be the most important blues musician in Greece - a guitarist of rare talent and expressiveness, a strong and passionate singer and a charismatic performer. The elements that prevail in his live and recorded work are his complete love for the guitar and an endless quest for the passion and spirit behind the music at all times away from ego trips and other pretensions.
In early 1997, E.Z.’s first solo album, the critically acclaimed Off The Box, was released. It is an instrumental effort, which occasionally breaks away from the standard blues format and adds an emphasis on melody and composition. Between Spirit and Time, his second solo album was released in late 2000. An eclectic collection, Between Spirit and Time features recordings from three different periods in styles ranging
from traditional acoustic blues to contemporary electric rock/blues ballads. This was followed by a recent live recording, Jimi Jam (2003), which is a tribute to the music of Jimi Hendrix. Additionaly, Elias Zaikos performed as an actor (the leading role of Socrates) in a theatrical adaptation of Aristofanis' classic "Nefeles" and also had a small role as a monk in the movie film "Doxombus".
Around 2000, inspired and organized a show entitled "Story of the blues", a musical trip to the many sounds and styles of the blues through time, starting from the raw rural acoustic songs of late 19th century to the electrifying stages of today's scene. The show was filmed for Greek national TV and recorded in Athens, waiting to be released as a double album sometime in the near future.
2005 found the band recording and filming their first DVD (out on Smile records) while E.Z. began to teach blues guitar at NAKAS conservatory of music, Greece’s biggest and most famous organisation for studying and practicing musicians.
In 2007 released "Take my hand to the sky" which is a collection of all original songs and featuring many unreleased tracks.
These days Elias Zaikos continues to be the leader and the driving force of Blues Wire, keeping his weekly radio show for more than 10 years now and planning to record another solo album as well as the new Blues Wire album.
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Comment Wall (14 comments)
- At 7:58am on April 7, 2010,
Vasja Ivanovski said… - Hi Elias,
Greetings from Skopje! Pls note my new e-mail address: unaluna499@gmail.com
Let me hear from you.
Best,
Vasja
- At 3:41pm on July 22, 2009,
BILLY BLUEZZHEAD said… - EYXARISTW POLY GIA THN APODOXH!!!
MATHENA.....MATHAINW......KAI THA SYNEXISW NA MATHAINW PRAGMATA, AKOYGONTAS TO APISTEYTO "OFF THE BOX'!!!!!!
KAI TO PERIFHMO "BETWEEN SPIRIT AND TIME"!!!!!!!
OPWS EPISHS KAI OLES SOY TIS DOYLEIES ME TOYS BLUES WIRE!!!!!!!
....PARADIDONTAS MATHIMATA DEXIOTEXNIAS ME ARISTOYRGHMATIKO TROPO GIA TA ELLHNIKA DEDOMENA!!!!
NA'SAI KALA!!!!!!!!!
KALO KALOKAIRI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- At 3:22am on April 3, 2009,
Vasja Ivanovski said…
- Thanks for info EZ! Keep in touch.
Best,
Vasja
- At 9:55am on April 2, 2009,
Vasja Ivanovski said…
- Good to hear from you my friend! I sure miss Blues Wire gigs and hanging out together in Skopje and Thessaloniki So we need to make up for the lost time in the meantime! let me know your phone number and e-mail address, so we can be in contact more often. Say hi to Sotiris!
Also when something is happenning in Thessaloniki (like Louisiana Red...) drop me a line. We'll try to arrange some gig for you here after this political situation gets smoother, OK?
Live At Vega is good name for CD, Alen gave me a copy and sounds excellent plus you guys are cooking, so it would be good for more people to hear it!!
Keep in touch and best regards,
Vasja
- At 4:24pm on March 27, 2009,
Vasja Ivanovski said…
- Hi Elias,
Vasja here from Skopje! Small world! How's everything? Check my profile: http://www.livebluesworld.com/profile/VasjaIvanovski and add yourself as friend! Check my photos too, there's a cool picture of Blues Wire in club Vega, remember that gig?
Best,
Vasja Ivanovski
- At 3:15am on January 14, 2009,
Silvershark (Steve Krikas) said… - Have a blues rockin' day Elias!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for your music
- At 10:52pm on January 2, 2009,
Sakis Dovolis said… - hey Elias! Happy new year man.wish you luck!!!
- At 5:28am on December 25, 2008,
Eri Kourbali said… - thanx elias, just keep on playing and it's automaticly a gift to us...
:)
- At 9:44pm on December 22, 2008,
Sakis Dovolis said…
- geis sou hlia.kat'arxein se euxaristw geia to add kai kata deuteron pou uparxeis,eisai ellhnas kai mporw na erxomai na se vlepw pantou kai panta, kai na mathainw kathe fora kai kati kainourgio apo sena.euxaristw kai pali....
- At 10:55am on October 13, 2008,
Cliff Schaumburg said…
- Hey Elias,
Yes, we have had our share of great guitarists. In addition to Buchanon, Gatton and the others the DC area was also home to Roy Clark and Charlie Byrd...must be something in the water. Whatever "it" is, it apparently doesn't work for everyone. Oh well.
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