Blues icon Walter Trout will be coming back to the UK in May for an eleven-date tour, beginning at the Phoenix Arts Centre in Exeter on 9th May and will call through Birmingham, Holmfirth, Sunderland, Glasgow, Liverpool, Cambridge, Ilkley, Gateshead, Manchester and will finish at the Islington Assembly Hall in London on 21st May. Tickets are available from HERE. Support comes from Alastair Greene.
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In August last year, Trout released his 30th solo album, Ride, to critical acclaim (including a sterling review here at SonicAbuse), reaching #2 in Classic Rock magazine’s “Blues Albums of 2022” as well as a slot in our albums of the year. As long-standing Trout fans know, the Golden State has been the bluesman’s home for 47 years. Trout joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers line-up in ’85, before embarking on an acclaimed solo career from ’89 onwards. But before that came his chaotic, self-destructive years as a jobbing lead guitarist, whether for revered-but-tricky blues pioneers like John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton, or an unhinged tenure in an ’80s Canned Heat line-up controlled by the Hell’s Angels.
Trout’s well-documented excess in this era was darker than a young rock star cutting loose. It could all be traced back to his troubled childhood in New Jersey, he explains, where an unstable stepfather – himself the victim of shocking cruelty as a prisoner of war – was a terrifying presence. As ‘Ride’ took form, such memories couldn’t help but flavor the music. “This album is obviously what I was going through mentally and emotionally,” he considers. “All I did was express it. I spent a lot of time crying, because I would dig down into my emotional core. I want my songs to have some sort of truth to them.” Some memories that Trout examines on ‘Ride’ are long-distant but eternally poignant.
Walter Trout is the beating heart of the modern blues rock scene. Respected by the old guard. Revered by the young guns. Adored by the fans who shake his hand after the show each night, and after five decades in the game, Trout remains a talismanic figure.
Trout will be 72 years old when he lands in Exeter on this tour and as a live powerhouse, he still retains that furiosity and fire in his belly to make every singe performance one to remember.
1. Ghosts
2. Ride
3. Follow You Back Home
4. So Many Sad Goodbyes
5. High Is Low
6. Waiting For The Dawn
7. Better Days Ahead
8. Fertile Soil
9. I Worry Too Much
10. Leave It All Behind
11. Hey Mama
12. Destiny
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