Adrian Adioetomo

Adrian has been and continues to be a pioneer in Indonesia’s blues scene.

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He’s collaborated with everyone from Jubing Kristianto and Tartika Jahja to Franki “Pepeng Naif” Indrasmoro and is a founding member of RAKSASA.

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While he’s often labelled a Delta bluesman, his style blends rock, alternative, and dark country. His debut album, “Delta Indonesia,” was recognized as one of the best albums of 2008 by Rolling Stone Indonesia. With a sound simulating an old phonograph record, the album pays tribute to the great Mississippi Delta bluesmen of the 1930s.

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He is something different: a lone wolf reaching for untouched frontiers while remaining rooted in the American blues tradition and his Javanese heritage. On the 2013 album “Karat & Arang,” Adrian blends his unique style and deep understanding of the blues with unpredictable, fresh sounds; the result, much more experimental than his previous work, takes listeners beyond the blues entirely. His most recent EP, 2016’s “Apaan?”, pushes the boundaries even further with its razor-sharp lyrical commentary about life and the world we live in. Adrian won an Anugerah Musik Indonesia award for the EP’s hit “Tanah Ilusi” in 2017. 

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“Burning Blood, Cold Cold Ground” dropped in February 2021, in the middle of the global pandemic. Adrian's latest music allows unspoken feelings to rise and roll like a tumbleweed.