We first came across Ronny Rast by chance on Instagram. One of those moments where you stop scrolling without really knowing why, then stay a little longer because something feels different. He was young, yet the way he played and sang didn’t feel borrowed or imitated, there was something grounded in it, something that felt like it came from much further back.
That stayed with us for some time, along with a simple question in the back of our minds. Would that same feeling still be there on a real stage, in a real room, without the frame of a short video?
When we saw that he was playing on Friday at the Blues Festival Basel, it felt like the right moment to find out.
Simi had been listening to his EP all week leading up to the show, but six months into the pregnancy, she didn’t feel well enough to come that night. Before I left, she made me promise one thing, to bring back a signed CD, and later that night Fred and I made our way there.
Walking into Atlantis Basel always has a particular feeling. You step in from the old town and leave everything else behind. You enter a place that feels like a piece of music history. The atmosphere stays warm and almost cosy, and that night the room felt full without ever feeling crowded.
The Blues, Moving Through Time
The first song confirmed what we had already sensed. The voice was strong, the guitar tone sat right, and everything was in place. As the second song began, something shifted in the way we listened. Instead of just taking it in, we started following it more closely, almost like trying to understand what he was saying through the guitar.
What stood out was how naturally he moved through his influences. One phrase would make you think of Albert King. Before you could settle into it, the next turned somewhere unexpected and landed closer to SRV. It never felt like imitation, it felt like a language being spoken, as if blues legends were replying to each other and telling a story in real time.
Each phrase carried more than notes, it carried emotion.
At one point, the groove opened up into something looser, with a subtle funk feel that shifted everything without breaking the flow. For a brief moment, it felt like another voice stepped in, as if Prince passed through for a phrase before letting B.B. King take over again.
As the set unfolded, it felt like moving through the history of blues itself. It moved from Delta to Chicago, through the British explosion and into blues rock, then opened into something more modern. Everything flowed naturally and never felt forced.
It Got Quiet for a Reason
That same feeling reached the room.
During the first song, the atmosphere felt unusually quiet. Not because there was no energy, but because people listened. Some knew what they were about to experience, while others discovered it in real time.
When the song ended, the reaction came instantly. From there, the energy built naturally and followed what happened on stage. The whole set felt like a film unfolding, with shifts in tension and release, moments of calm, then intensity, then something more fluid again.
Looking around, it was striking to see such a mix of people. Different ages and backgrounds, all drawn into the same moment without anything needing to be explained.
Not Performing, Just Being
What made it even more striking was how effortless it all felt.
At first, he seemed almost reserved, but that disappeared quickly as the set settled in. Not in a dramatic way, just a quiet shift into something very clear. This is where he belongs.
You could see it in his face. Each phrase meant something. A small reaction, a slight smile, a moment where the guitar seemed to say something and he followed it. It didn’t feel like an act, it felt like his language.
We Just Looked at Each Other
Fred and I kept looking at each other more than once, almost in disbelief at what we were hearing. Some moments don’t need words, because everything already feels clear.
After the show, I found him, got the CD signed for Simi, and brought it back home to her. She hung it in our studio, where it now sits with a few other pieces from musicians we’ve crossed paths with.
If you had to put it into words, one concert of Ronny Rast feels like a journey through the history of blues, with moments that drift into soul, Motown, and funk, where the language is not spoken, but played.
If you care about music, you’ll love Ronny.
Do yourself a favor and visit his website, follow him on Instagram and give it a listen.
Blues Festival Basel and Atlantis
The Blues Festival Basel has become a key moment for blues in Switzerland. It brings international artists and emerging talents together over several nights in a single room. That format keeps everything close and gives the whole event a strong sense of continuity.
Atlantis has shaped Basel’s music life for decades. It started as a café in the late 1940s and grew into a venue that has hosted generations of artists across jazz, blues, and rock. Today, it still offers something rare, a place where the distance between stage and audience disappears.
Want to hear more artists like Ronny? Check out our Rising Tones Bands to Watch Playlists!