We have described the sounds from English roots & blues musical genius and multi-instrumental maestro MIKE ROSS as dynamic, packed with ingenious musicality, and it radiates optimism through lambent rock tunefulness.
And close on the heels of a full-band tour this spring, Ross has announced a UK-wide run of solo shows, playing intimate versions of tracks from his 12-track latest album ‘Third Eye Open’ which we described as maddenlingly scrumptious when we reviewed the disc back in April 2023.
The 9-date tour — in association with Twenty Music Roots — starts in Brecon at the Mid-Wales R&B Club (09/09), then swerves to London to The Bull’s Head, Barnes (10/09), and after, The Six Six Bar, Cambridge (11/09), The Hot Box at Chelmsford (12/09), Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre (14/09), Shinty Club. The Isle of Brute, (16/09) and finally Mike winds up at the Prohibition, Newcastle on 17th September. (All dates: see poster below.)
Mike explains the motivation that sparked this solo tour: “I opened several of the shows on my May tour with a solo set on my 12-string acoustic, playing some songs from ‘Third Eye Open’ that weren’t in the band set. They were really well received, so I thought: why not do a full tour this way, give the audiences a different perspective on this album?”
“’Third Eye Open’ is a real bone-shaker of a record: the fattest, nastiest, chunkiest thing I’ve ever done!” he adds.
Main photo credit: Rob Blackham
RAW RAMP 