Blues - Kent Duchaine

Robert Johnson has been called ‘the father of rock and roll’ an influence on everybody from the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin, THE blues guitarist, who only recorded 11 tracks on 78 before dying in 1938, but left a legacy as wide as the Mississippi. In the 30’s a young guitarist called Johnny Shines tagged behind Johnson, learnt everything he could from him, and became a legend in his own right. Between 1989 and 1992, Shines toured with a young white American who played a 1934 National Steel guitar, and reminded him of Johnson. The guitar is called Leadbessie, the guitarist is called Kent Duchaine, and they are both playing at the Lansdown tonight.

Duchaine is a class act and he does a great show, peppering his track list - Johnson, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, some of his own songs - with anecdotes about the story of his life, playing Leadbessie like you will never have seen a guitar played before. This is real Delta Blues from one of its best living practitioners. It might only be the corner of Friar’s Walk and Station Street, but expect a big dose of Crossroad Blues. DL