Stephen Dale Petit

Petit has been lauded as key player in the modern blues movement ever since the release of "Guitararama" in 2008. And he definitely seems to be on a mission, claiming he "was put on the planet to play the blues"

Listening to him on his own website, he's clearly paid his dues, both musically and through his addictions to alcohol and drugs, both of which he has now kicked. He says he's particularly keen to get the blues across to a younger audience and Guitararama certainly has that modern edge to it, both in terms of the playing and the production values.

And he's not short of admirers either - the album was voted album of the year by Guitar Magazine and he's been featured on the Paul Jones blues show on Radio 2, which unusually was also filmed; you can see Petit performing 'Love In Vain' with Mick Taylor by going to the Radio 2 website

He's got a new album coming out shortly and the lead off single from it is a terrific reworking of 'As The Years Go Passing By'. If this is a true reflection of the quality of the rest of the album, I'd argue that this is the release that might help to take the blues to a new audience. Guitararama is a fine record but not necessarily the one to pull in new listeners - by and large it's a modern blues album with rock sensibiilties; and it's largely intrumental, which can lead to a lack of variey if it's not paced correctly.

The latest single is arranged by Chris Elliot (Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse etc.) and is truly a modern take on a blues classic - hopefully a very promising foretaste of what's to come from the new release.

Petit has been touring reasonably extensively recently so if you get the chance to see him live then take it - you can decide for yourself whether this is the real deal and a take on the blues that will bring in a newer audience. For the Primer, very promising but not too sure it's the "New Blues Revolution"

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