World-renowned American blues and roots music guitarist Toby Walker is set to tour the UK for the first time in several years.

The fingerstyle guitar virtuoso and songwriter – known for his exceptional musicianship and his highly entertaining performances – can’t wait to cross the Atlantic again in September.

Walker, who has toured the globe many times, blends blues, ragtime, country, bluegrass, rock and old time jazz into his own unique style, wowing the public, the critics and his peers alike.

His passion for  blues, rags, folk, and other traditional American  music drove him to leave an apartment crammed full of recordings, books and instruments for the Mississippi Delta, Virginia and the Carolinas where he tracked down some of the more obscure – but immensely talented – music makers of an earlier era. He learned directly from Eugene Powell, James ‘Son’ Thomas, Etta Baker, and R.L Burnside, among others.

Also performing his own slot on each night of the tour is Blue John (John Gregory), a fingerpicking guitarist and singer from the Isle of Man. John has opened for music giants such as Duck Baker, Ari Eisinger, Joe Filisko and Eric Noden, Michael Messer, Martin Taylor, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and many others. He has performed as part of the blues duo Blue John and Papa Cass for eleven years and has also teamed up for several concerts with Dr Phil – Mississippi John Hurt’s biographer Dr Philip Ratcliffe. In April 2018 John flew to Chicago to play his hero Big Bill Broonzy’s 1946 Martin guitar.

Steeped in folk storytelling tradition, Sam Jefferson draws equally from his family’s jazz and blues background to create songs that “…bring a story to life” BBC Radio Sheffield.

Sing Beneath the Sun, Sam’s latest album, has earned him concert performances at The Bridgewater Hall, Imperial War Museum North, Ypres with the Royal British Legion, and supporting Ralph McTell at the RNCM, earning Ralph’s praise of “Outstanding Musicianship.”