Bristol's Blues Events

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Bristol's Blues Scene

Is blues music under-represented in Bristol?

While other American-originated music like funk and soul enjoy a huge number of acts and dedicated venues, where is the home of blues in Bristol? With its roots in the oppression of the black peoples of America, blues was transplanted over to the UK via white rock acts like the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. A quick browse of blues played on the BBC recently and tyhe Guardian’s list of the best blues festivals show some support for nearby Bath, but nothing for blues in Bristol. This begs the question: who will lead the new blues revival in Bristol?

Blues gigs in Bristol are found in pretty consistent venues with places like The Prom and the Thunderbolt popular live blues spots. Generally blues-rock seems more prominent in Bristol than traditional rhythm and blues bands or delta blues singers, although there is some really interesting stuff out there. Other venues to check for blues include the Cori Tap in Clifton and the Blue Lagoon on Gloucester Rd.

It's always worth looking at what's on at the Canteen in Bristol whose listings vary in style but are usually consistently high in quality - some potential blues gems there...

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Our recent blues recommendations

Sell out warning! Sun-baked and sublime, São Paulo’s Sessa leads his full band through cosmic folk steeped in Afro-Brazilian styles and música popular brasileira. Sonorous crooning glides over lush rhythmic interplay in a surging samba fusion, breathing in everything from soul to psych rock. A masterclass in heat FFO: Elza Soares, Novos Baianos, Lo Borges, Sly & The Family Stone. Sessa + Barney Keen at Strange Brew.

Get ready to ascend as Realist Alive kicks-off another year of premier avant-club futurism, linking up with glitch.cool for a live A/V feast at the Cube. Glacial hyperglitch, world-expanding ambient, industrial occultism and aqueous art-pop awaits in this essential outing FFO: OPN, FITNESSS, Himera. sunnk, Thorjn, Genie Tempest & more at The Cube.

The shot in the arm blues rock needed. Amythyst makes shimmering Southern Americana instilled with Black power and gay pride; confrontational protest songs mixed with rousingly personal tales of love and anguish, and everywhere Kiah’s jawdropping vocal theatrics. The hottest thing in country blues right now FFO: Valerie June, Shovels & Rope, Emmylou Harris, Rhiannon Giddens. Amythyst Kiah at Exchange.

A bodily call-to-prayer at the Jam Jar with Birame Seck and the Senegalese soul collective Awale Jant Band. Dancing is not optional in their radiant vortex of jazzy, melodic Afrobeat ouroboros rhythms – these are dubby and dazzling flows, irresistible FFO: Bantu, Songhoy Blues, Groupe RTD, and Nation Beat. Birame Seck & Awale Jant Band at The Jam Jar.

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What our editors say

“Growing up in between the deserts and refugee camps of Algeria, Ibrahim was regarded as a wanderer and a loner – he was nicknamed ‘Abaraybone’, meaning ‘ragamuffin child’. One day, he remembers, he was watching a western at a makeshift desert cinema and was struck by a scene in which a cowboy plays a song on a guitar. Inspired, he built his first guitar using an oil can, a stick and a bicycle brake wire. He started to learn to play, practising old Tuareg melodies, modern Arabic pop tunes and the Malian blues music of Ali Farka Touré.”
From: Tinariwen

“With a shared passion for modern bluegrass, The Charlotte Carrivick Band brings together four of the most exciting musicians in the UK today. Charlotte Carrivick is a flatpicking guitarist of international renown, sought for her inventive lead playing and regarded as an expert fiddle tune interpreter on the guitar.”
From: The Charlotte Carrivick Band + Erika Olson

“Their second album Kirschblütenboogie (2025) follows their acclaimed debut — a lovingly loose, subtly crafted collection of instrumental tunes that feel like a warm breeze through strange weather. The music drifts between Khruangbin's mellow psych-funk, Hermanos Gutiérrez’ desert blues, and the cinematic elegance of Connan Mockasin or Mac Demarco.”
From: LÖWENZAHNHONIG

“Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra have been gleefully trampling over genre boundaries for over a decade now, chucking rockabilly, blues, country, swing, soul and more into their musical gumbo, but always sounding mostly just like themselves.”
From: Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra + The Swamp Puppies

“Due to popular demand, those masters of emotional electronics MESH are playing their homeland again, it’s no secret their songs pull at your very heartstrings while more often then not, have you dancing the blues away too.”
From: Mesh