Rip Roarin Roots Ft. The Hot Rock Pilgrims / Tom Blackwell

Take a walk down roots alley with Hubert Murray alongside some of the best bluegrass, folk and blues acts in London. This July he is presenting The Hot Rock Pilgrims and featured act Tom Blackwell.

Even by Tom Blackwell's standards, 2014 was a busy year. Starting out penniless and weary in freezing-cold Manchester, he resolved to take his endless tour across the Atlantic, forsaking his beloved National Express for the Greyhound buses of North America. Performing on both coasts and across the Deep South, Blackwell seized every opportunity to hone his craft, soaking up the tradition and building an audience in the birthplace of his musical heroes. Inevitably settling in Nashville, he began the work that would become Tyrone the Gun. Recorded between Music City and North West England, it's an album whose style reflects its mixed origins. Blackwell revels in an expansive and unabashed summoning of ghosts of Americana past, while lyrical preoccupations of love and loss are delivered with a colloquial wit that will be familiar to all back home. His road-hardened confidence and unmistakable soaring voice pull it together, assisted by Nashville musicians steeped in their city's rich heritage. Tyrone the Gun is the sound of an artist hitting his stride; drawing strength from others before him, and forging a new path all his own.
'Wonderful, heartfelt music' – Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2.

Hot Rock Pilgrims
The Hot Rocks are an exciting new bluegrass old time and roots band bringing together Dan Edwards Vocals, Guitar and Old time banjo, Bruno Pichler on dobro, Sam Rose on vocals and double bass and Hubert Murray on vocals and guitar. This cross cultural group ranging from Ireland Germany and the UK, create roots music steeped in tradition but infused with freshness that enthralls and entertains.