“Most 20-year-olds haven’t heard of ‘Hoochie Coochie Man,’” shares the Middletown, Connecticut–based artist. “But I bring an energy and a life force to the music and people connect with it. I’d love to be the person in my age group who brings this music back.”

Today, Amani is stepping out from behind the screen with his debut album, Roots & Wings, to be released in May on acclaimed blues indie Blind Pig Records. Several singles are scheduled prior to the album release. The 12-song collection crackles with groovy blues-rock riffs, cosmic solos, lyrical phrasing, stinging vibrato, and soulful vocals. Roots & Wings was produced by and co-written with label head Jeff Schroedl.

Since starting on social media in late 2023, Amani has amassed more than 109,000 followers, 3.9 million likes, and 25 million cumulative views on TikTok. On Instagram he has 89,300 followers, and he recently launched a Facebook account with several videos already going viral. His videos have caught the attention of many prominent musicians including Ted Nugent.

Amani is a song-oriented artist who writes tough, tuneful blues-rock with introspective, free-spirited lyrics. Roots & Wings is a classic blues-rock power-trio record, largely built around a single guitar track running from beginning to end. Think Clapton, Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, and Robin Trower, but for a new generation.

Throughout the album, Amani effortlessly shifts between rhythm and lead guitar. Much of his greasy fluidity comes from a unique technique: he plays using his right-hand thumb instead of a pick, allowing him to blaze through lead runs and dig into aggressive, syncopated chordal riffing. The approach recalls fingerprint stylists like Jeff Beck, Wes Montgomery, and Curtis Mayfield.

The title Roots & Wings reflects Amani’s connection to his African heritage. Born in Ethiopia, he was adopted at a young age and raised by a loving family in Connecticut. His father is a music fanatic, and some of Amani’s earliest memories include watching live footage of the Beatles and Chuck Berry—his first guitar hero—on the family computer. From there, he branched out to Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Bob Dylan, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Amani began his musical journey on drums, inspired by Gene Krupa. Guitar was something he dabbled in on the side until the COVID lockdown, when he fully committed. He spent years hunkered down, voraciously practicing and writing songs, many of which appear on Roots & Wings.

Ready to share his work, Amani began posting videos on Instagram of himself playing with his power trio. The “Hoochie Coochie Man” clip proved to be the turning point, earning his highest engagement to date and a flood of new followers. One of those connections led to Blind Pig’s Jeff Schroedl receiving a DM alerting him to Amani’s work. Schroedl officially signed Amani in spring 2025, and that fall the pair, along with drummer Ray Hangen and bassist Matt Raymond, headed into Carriage House Studios (Paul Simon, Gov’t Mule, Johnny Winter, Marcus King) in Stamford, Connecticut to record the album.

It’s fitting that Amani’s first album opens with a song called “Fastlane,” as his career has been pedal to the metal. In just a year and a half, he went from posting guitar clips on social media to landing a record deal. It’s a testament to both the resilience of the blues and the fervent passion it inspires across generations. “Blues, like nature, has to keep evolving,” Amani says. “You can trace heavy metal, prog rock, grunge, everything, back to it. I want to be a part of that evolution.”