Over the course of six albums and a decade of touring, JJ Grey‘s grimy blend of front porch soul and down-home storytelling has taken him around the world and back again. Beating the streets on nearly every continent, he and his band Mofro have sewn a continuous thread of laying-it-on-the-line shows that move folks to dance and at times to tears.

JJ released his sixth album, This River, in April this year. Named for the St. John’s River near Jacksonville in Florida, This River flows from freewheeling celebrations to dark inner journeys, from late night, beer-soaked testimonials to heartfelt ballads of the almost-forgotten, and ends with the title track and a singularly devastating vocal performance.

“Grey’s blues’n’soul seems tilled from the same soil as The Black Crowes, found near a crossroads between Southern rock and Memphis soul.”– Q

JJ Grey is supported by Big Boy Bloater, a British R&B and Blues guitarist and front man who’s celebrity fans include Mark Lamarr and Craig Charles. Big Boy Bloater has headlined major Blues and R&B festivals all over the world, is one of the major players on the retro music scene and the guitarist of choice for visiting 1950s artists.

“I love this guy, he has a voice that sounds like it’s been soaked in turpentine for the last decade!”– Craig Charles, BBC 6 Music