SAVE £4 with a Weekend Pass! 2 days of the very best in UK blues; Al Hughes, Three Card Trick, The Brian Rawson Band and Easy Does It perform over 15th & 16th September at the 2nd annual Blues Weekender festival. Great choice of local beers, gin, vodka, rum and whisky too!

Friday 15th

Easy Does It
Local legend Easy Bob Reid plays classic blues tunes on the harmonica. Easy is still going strong at 80 and is always jazzing up any space his music reaches.

Three Card Trick
Gary alongside his brother Dean and their pet drummer Gibby formed 3 card trick for venues and events that were looking for something a bit different. Having 20 years experience in the music industry, Three Card Trick have recently completed successful tours of France, Spain and USA promoting their original albums. Gary appeared on Chicago's JBTV in Oct 2019 plus UK supports with the Darkness and Wheatus and USA shows with Manny Torres and Mike Wheeler Band.

Saturday 16th

Al Hughes
Rooted in Blues and soul tradition, like so many Scottish singers, Al writes from his own perspective on topic which are very much of today. His influences can be clearly heard, but his songs are, modern, relevant and gathering praise from growing number of well respected figures on the British music scene. Comparisons have been made- by more than one reviewer- to both Chris Smither and Townes Van Zandt. His haunting, smoky voice, described by one reviewer as sounding "aged in oak casks" is supported by a variety of guitars, including a huge sounding custom built 12 string resonator, and his slide playing has been described as "eerily atmospheric". Al's vocal abilities have led to a bust schedule as a session musician, and he now combines studio work with playing clubs concerts and festivals all over the UK. 

Brian Rawson Band
Brian was the guitar player in Belfast band, The Tearjerkers (Good Vibrations/Phonogram) who opened for Thin Lizzy on their Chinatown Tour, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Doll by Doll and Rachel Sweet. He played guitar with Jimmy Bain (Rainbow/ Wild Horses/Dio) on demo’s for the band, Rogue Male on which Jimmy produced and played bass before relocating to the U.S. where he played guitar on singer/songwriter Jon Lacabanne's album "Amen", The Groove Monsters debut album and Gary Stipe & Whiskey Hill’s E.P. He recorded all the guitars on Irish singer/songwriter, Deidre Cunningham's album "Sunny Days" and returned to the U.S. to play a one-off gig in Nashville with "Handsome" Mick Rowe's band, "Nineteen88" before returning to the UK where he joined Brian Connolly in "Sweet" for a UK tour. He formed the Brian Rawson Band eight years ago in Glasgow and the band has clocked up hundreds of gigs throughout the UK including major festivals such as the Maryport Blues Festival and HRH Blues (Twice) and the Norfolk Blues Festival to name but a few.

The current line-up consists of Brian Rawson – Guitar/vocals, bass player, Doug Heede, of the Scottish band, Sinister Flynn (who have released three albums to date) vocalist, Darran Anderson (formerly of the bands, Davy Jones Quest and Black Friday) and drummer, Pete Dunlop who has toured the UK and Europe with a number of bands. 

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