2025 – Jörg
Britsch
By Phillip
Smith; Feb. 23,
2026
As Jörg Britsch explains,
he “didn’t grow up in juke joints or Southern back rooms. He grew up on a small farm near Esslingen,
Germany — and came to the blues the long way around”. He didn’t pick up a guitar until the age of
fifty-two, two years after losing his life partner. A 2023 trip to the USA in
which he traveled the Blues Trail from Memphis to New Orleans was
the inspiration for recording his debut album Written by Life, Created by
Coincidence at The Blu Lounge Studio in Urbach, Germany. The album consists of twelve original tracks
written by Britsch who delivers a most unique brand of deep blues
delivered with spoken word poetry and guitar.
With the sound of whipping wind and the ethereal sound of his instrument, Britsch recites a deep insightful poem “I’m Alright”. The point being stressed that when someone tells you they’re alright, the majority of the time, the truth is quite the opposite. With every listen of “Bluestrail Blues”, I’m reminded of my own experiences in the Mississippi Delta. Starting in Memphis, Tennessee, Britsch makes his way through to Helena, Clarksdale, and on to New Orleans. A saxophone accompaniment adds a sultry taste of Bourbon Street jazz to this beat-poet piece which Britsch performs on guitar and harmonica. The experience is indeed a life changer, and as Britsch bluntly states in his words, ‘you will never be the same’. I dig the slide guitar on “Gator Blues”. Much like the dangerous swamp-dwelling reptiles, this track is ominous and intimidating. We all go through circumstances of unpleasantry, and in back-to-back songs “When the Going Gets Tough” and “Move On”, shared experiences and straight-up advice are what we need to hear. Britsch takes the listener deep into Mississippi swamp-country for a cool-as-hell experience slathered in slide and doused with harmonica in “All That I’m Asking (Give Me a Mojo Hand)”. Life is a journey which constantly moves forward with the past reflected in the rearview mirror. That’s the message I get out of Britsch’s “Railway Redemption” which brings the album to a close with a moment of reflection and hope for the future.
---
