"Kris tells the story of how, inspired by his dad, he started playing guitars at nine. We lost him, he says, a short time ago to cancer and this is for him. The guitar intro starts and there’s no hiding the inspiration for THIS one - the late, great and lamented Gary Moore. You can tell the proper Kris fans love this one too, the phones are out and if they could the lighters would be out too. They’re right, it’s the song of the night and it’s the solo of the night. You can imagine Kris’s dad having a beer (or possibly a Guinness?) with Gary upstairs and saying “that’s my boy down there!” Even grumpy old Gary would give a grin. Eyes are dabbed and it’s on with 'Wrong Place, Wrong Time'. The Tele is back on and the tempo is back up for an SRV style shuffle." That was part of our take on Kris Barras at London's The Garage in February this year (pictured) and Kris returns to the Smoke tonight, this time at Islington's O2 Academy.

The Blues Club Podcast Track Of The Day returns today with another two hours of non-stop Best in Blues with More Music and Less Chat featuring New Releases, Classic Tracks, UK IBBA Presenters' Picks and much more. Music this week comes from Jimmy Carpenter, Miss Bix & The Blues Fix, Michael Lee, Beth Hart, The Teskey Brothers, Delbert McClinton, Rick Estrin and The Nightcats, 24Pesos, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Connie Lush,Laurie McVay, Paul DesLauriers Band, Ghalia, King Crimson (pictured), Giles Robson Band, Amanda St John, Tennessee Redemption, Dom Martin, Kerry Pastine & The Crime Scene (Video Of The Day), Southern Avenue, Kyla Brox, Jo Harman, Ronnie Earl, Martin Harley, Altered Five Blues Band, Moonshine Society, Christine McVie, Lethbridge Owen, Meena Cryle & Chris Fillmore and more.

With an interview and review to come, check out today's Photo Gallery here of Chicago's JD Simo who stopped off at London's The Underworld in Camden on Tuesday night, the penultimate night of his current European tour. Duly showing off not only his guitar and vocal abilities, but also the incredible rhythm section of drummer and ex-SIMO bro Adam Abrashoff and bassist Andraleia Buch, we were already well acquainted with the Nashville-based singer-guitarist, formerly of SIMO, their albums ‘Let Love Show The Way’ (2016) and ‘Rise & Shine’ (2017) deservedly met with huge praise. His debut solo album, ‘Off At 11’, released this March, is a Psychedelic, free-flowing, dynamic kaleidoscope of sound, energy and vibe that incorporates elements of Acid Rock, traditional Blues, Folk, Soul and free form Jazz around JD’s improvisational skills.

Wishbone Ash, whose legendary twin lead guitar line-up warrants them one of the important and influential Rock bands in music history, have recently signed to Steamhammer/SPV to release their upcoming new studio album in January 2020 and they continue their extensive 50th Anniversary October/November 2019 UK tour at London's Islington's O2 Academy tonight. Also tonight, Legendary UK Rhythm 'n' Blues Band, The Downliners Sect (Video Of The Day), will be making one of their rare club appearances at The Eel Pie Club, The Patch, 67 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SZ. Doors open at 8.15pm with music from 9-11pm. WRC members are reminded that they can use their cards to get discounted admission.

The Rock On The Ridge Track Of The Day returns today with music from Revival Black, Mason Hill, Vulture Vibe, The Lazys, Gorilla Riot (pictured), The Crookeds, Shiraz Lane, Ravenbreed, Life Of Agony, The Ferrymen, Empyre, Mindriotmt, Deep Purple, Aaron Buchanan & The Cult Classics, Anchor Lane, Wayward Sons, Burnt Out Wreck, Kadavar, 4th Labyrinth, Black Stone Cherry, Scarlet Rebels, Stone Broken, and on their Introducing Stage, two in a row from The Division Red.

"Rock ballad 'The End' was given the fitting guitar solo it deserved, before we were back on familiar Outlaw territory with 'Bring It On Home' from the aforementioned 'Hard Times', which not only saw the possessed Poole chucking his mic around but also saw our WRC photographer throwing a few shapes down the front. Praise indeed. Poole introduced the next "little ditty" - 'Tale Of A Broken Man' from their 2016 debut album 'Suffer More' - jokingly touching upon his previous marital status - before opening with an a cappella - its awesome riff complemented by some neat pedal work from D'Elia and great bass guitar from Indy." Today read the whole of AJ's Doomsday Outlaw and Daxx & Roxane (pictured) gig review here from London's The Black Heart in Camden on Saturday, plus check out our updated Photo Gallery here and our Track Of The Day.

Chicago's JD Simo stopped off at London's The Underworld in Camden last night, the penultimate night of his current European tour, duly showing off not only his guitar and vocal abilities, but also the incredible rhythm section of drummer and ex-SIMO bro Adam Abrashoff and bassist Andraleia Buch. We were already well acquainted with the Nashville-based singer-guitarist, formerly of SIMO, their albums ‘Let Love Show The Way’ (2016) and ‘Rise & Shine’ (2017), deservedly met with huge praise, although it seems light years away from when we first saw JD with his guitar case, fighting his way through the cramped crowd at the St. Moritz Club in Soho in November 2015. His debut solo album, ‘Off At 11’, released this March, is a Psychedelic, free-flowing, dynamic kaleidoscope of sound, energy and vibe that incorporates elements of Acid Rock, traditional Blues, Folk, Soul and free form Jazz around JD’s improvisational skills. Anyway, with an interview, review and Photo Gallery to come, check out today's Video Of The Day.

Tony Lowe’s supreme Symphonic Progressive Rock collective ESP Project released their hugely accomplished, upbeat and powerful third album, ‘The Rising’, on the Sunn Creative label last Friday, and tonight they debut ‘The Rising’ live when they headline London’s Half Moon in Putney. ‘The Rising’ effortlessly picks up from where ’22 Layers Of Sunlight’ left off, the tight four piece band shimmying through an emotive landscape sculpted by the powerful and moving music of Lowe, coupled with the insightful and heartfelt lyrics of vocalist Damien Child. Threaded through with Tony’s unmistakable guitar and keyboard playing, the fluid grooves of Pete Clark’s bass, and all underpinned by the intense energy of Greg Pringle’s drums, ‘The Rising’ exudes ‘classic third album’ syndrome.

Chicago's JD Simo, stops off at London's The Underworld in Camden tonight, the penultimate night of his current European tour. We're already well acquainted with the Nashville-based singer-guitarist, formerly of SIMO, their albums ‘Let Love Show The Way’ (2016) and ‘Rise & Shine’ (2017), deservedly met with huge praise, although it seems light years away from when we first saw JD with his guitar case, fighting his way through the cramped crowd at the St. Moritz Club in Soho in November 2015. His debut solo album, ‘Off At 11’, released this March, is a Psychedelic, free-flowing, dynamic kaleidoscope of sound, energy and vibe that incorporates elements of Acid Rock, traditional Blues, Folk, Soul and free form Jazz around JD’s improvisational skills. The recording of this electric tour de force of eight musically dense songs took place over a three day period in the Summer of 2018 with no edits and no other studio trickery, duly showing off not only his guitar and vocal abilities, but also the incredible rhythm section of drummer and ex-SIMO bro Adam Abrashoff and bassist Luke Easterling.

Today's latest Blues On The Radio Track Of The Day is an hour filled with great music from The Reverend Shawn Amos, Elles Bailey (pictured), Joe Bonamassa, Matchedash Parish, Malone Sibun Band, Martin Harley, 24Pesos, Gary Grainger, The Herbal Remedy, Dom Martin, Connie Lush and a scattering of tracks from Doug MacLeod ahead of his show tonight at The Tuesday Night Music Club, The Comrades Club, Coulsdon CR5 2NF.

Southern California heavy Hard Rockers Idlewar have released a new video for their song 'My Hesitation' which is today's Video Of The Day. It's the second track taken from their upcoming new record 'Cede' and the band is currently fundraising to cover production costs with a pre-order here.

With a review to come, check out our Photo Gallery here of Switzerland's London based Daxx & Roxane plus our 2018 WRC Best Support Band award winners Doomsday Outlaw at London's The Black Heart in Camden on Saturday night. Taking a break from putting the finishing touches to their new album, Doomsday Outlaw not only proved again why they were worthy of their award, but it also gave us an opportunity to finally present their award to them! Co-headliners Daxx & Roxanne were also awesome, and if you missed them, then the good news is that you can catch them again at The Unicorn Camden Live on Thursday 5th December.