Bio
The Real Si-B is a UK Swamp Country Folk & Roots Singer songwriter & and One Man Band who's improbable live performances seek to create the best noise achievable utilising all five limbs simultaneously with vocals drums and guitars choosing not to use anything pre programmed but instead relying on raw human skill alone. With a deep love for the simple authenticity & story telling traditions of the Blues Country and Folk songs of early 20th century America, and songwriting influences ranging from Lead Belly to David Byrne ; the artfully inventive musical explorations of The Real Si-B will often take you down a Country road less expected. And are often shot through with a vein of something distinctly quirky & British. Simon F Baker formerly front man of BBC6 music playlisted 'Luckyhorse' decided upon becoming a one man band in 2014. "It was a nightmare trying to find anyone dependable to work with who was on the same musical wavelength and who had the necessary level of commitment. So it just seemed like a logical natural progression. But I was also inspired by people like Ben Prestage & Bob Log III to find out what my version of a One Man Band would sound like & what the limitations and constraints of writing and performing in this way, would give rise to creatively" say's Simon. After playing a small festival gig in late 2014 Simon was approached by Finnish music producer Jerry Icon. They subsequently struck up a friendship and an international working collaboration ensued. In Spring 2015 The debut EP 'Give yourself a Medal' was released on Jerry's newly formed label Nu Steam Productions. The idea behind it being to treat the recordings as a separate medium & employ a little artistic licence according to what best suited the song, but without over egging or betraying the core concept of the one man band. Simon who was born on a rough Croydon estate & subsequently brought up in Suffolk country Commune is no stranger to oddity & contrast - " I've had a pretty weird musical journey so far, toured half the globe as a percussionist in high heels & flares, coming very close to a successful career, if you can call it that with one particular band, had a son stolen away from me, suffered a virtual breakdown, pulled my life back out of the gutter, fallen in love again & become a husband & proud dad. All just normal stuff for people, but you gotta put it somewhere! I never planned to write Country or blues stuff - it just started coming out like that & even though not entirely conventionally, I realised something was trying to point me in a certain direction. So all I want to do now is play people my Blues my Country my Folk with all the skill and passion I can muster ; and to try to make something which touches a few souls. Something that they've never heard before, that's memorable, - fun, dark, uplifting, whatever, as long as it's profoundly honest from my life". During late 2016 exclusive Limited prereleases of new songs were leaked to fans for free download. The feedback from this included ... "The Real Si-B is one of the best artists you've never heard" Folk Union UK "We love this" – Brighton source magazine. And 'Alabama Mambo Blue' was selected for BBC introducing South's track of the day. The debut album 'Lost in the Hug' has now been officially released digitally 17/07/2017 and is available to stream or buy from all major digital platforms.
