Diesel (Mark Lizotte) returns with a vital and exhilarating collection of blues classics and rarities, playing every instrument on his first completely solo album, Alone With Blues. The first single, ‘Six Steel Strings’, co-written with Ross Wilson (Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock) is out now. Alone With Blues will be released on 16 July. Listen to ‘Six Steel Strings’ and pre-order Alone With Blues here.

On Alone With Blues, Diesel pays tribute to giants like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Otis Rush, Sam Cooke, Leadbelly, and Magic Sam. It is 11 tracks of veteran virtuosity from Mark Lizotte, the multiple ARIA award-winning singer and guitarist, augmented by double bass, blues harp, cello, percussion and more, all played and recorded solo at Diesel’s own Sydney studio during the 2020 COVID go-slow.

The lead single ‘Six Steel Strings’ had, until now, been lost for 30 years. “It was 1991”, says Diesel, “I think Ross (Wilson) saw me as a young bluesman in a long tradition. He asked about my background and put details into the lyrics, a tongue-in-cheek take on my life story in demo form that we knocked up together in an hour. It was only rediscovered when he moved house last year, and the timing couldn’t have been better because it’s such a perfect fit.”

Fans will see him play tracks from the new album onstage when the Greatest Hits/Alone With Blues tour begins on 16 July at The Factory, Marrickville, before heading throughout New South Wales. If you have ever witnessed a solo set from Diesel, you’d know it is delicate and visceral at once, a pure exposé of an artist still exploring the possibilities of his 2 instruments, at times sounding as bombastic as a whole band, all the while making the most of the intricacies of a theatre environment.