Here’s a refreshing record packed with catchy, gritty, and stimulating blues/rock – introducing 13 by Edmonton, Canada’s Van Funk.

Van Funk is a 4-piece powerhouse of talented musicians and songwriters, including: Jordan Funk, Jessica Fedorek, Darrell Guay, and Stu Murland.

Jordan and Jessica’s unique chemistry has been slowly evolving over the past 13 years. Historically a duo, the addition of Darrell and Stu has been a recent entry in the journal of Van Funk.

The band’s first show happened on a Friday 13th in 2011. They finished recording their album on Friday, July 13th, 2012 and they released their debut on December 13, 2013.

The name of album…? 13 – of course.

Independently financed, managed, produced, and promoted by the band; this group also shoots and edits their own videos as well as design the artwork for albums and gig posters.

With that said, it should be emphasized how difficult of a process it is to handle all of that business and still manage to create such amazing blues music.

With Jessica’s sultry and soulful voice backed by the gritty riffs of Jordan’s guitar, your ears are in for a real treat. My favorite songs include: “Blues Chords”, “Art of Escape”, and “Young Winds”, but I would be doing an injustice by not stating these are the best 13 blues songs I have enjoyed in a long time.

13 is a solid record. Van Funk is a solid band. Known locally (in Edmonton) for their live shows, they have been listed at #62 on EmergingIndieBands.com, they were nominated for Best Blues Recording at the 2014 Edmonton Music Awards, and they stay busy with a queue of festivals, benefits, and Canadian tour dates.

This is the soul of Bob Dylan mixed with the grit of Howlin’ Wolf and the rock appeal of Jack White. Van Funk is blues rock like you haven’t heard it before.

Go grab your copy of 13. You can connect with the band on Twitter or Facebook.