Ian Siegal and Jimbo Mathus will play some 40 shows across Europe in the period 22 April to 4 June 2016. This follows their successful first tour together in 2014. Ahead of touring the duo are releasing a 21-track album recorded during the debut tour.

For devotees of blues and Americana on this side of the Atlantic, Ian Siegal needs no introduction. He’s the eight-times British Blues Awards winner, three-times European Blues Awards winner, and three-times US Blues Music Awards nominee. He’s sung with the prestigious Orchestre National de Jazz in Paris, played in more than 40 countries, and among his latest albums is a BBC recording made at London’s Royal Albert Hall. His accolades include two from MOJO magazine for Best Blues Album of the Year. Ian is the only non-American to achieve this distinction.

He first met Jimbo in 2013 when the latter contributed banjo and mandolin parts to an album Ian was recording in Mississippi (The Picnic Sessions). The two discovered a shared passion for many of the same musical influences.

Now, when someone has found fame with a band called Squirrel Nut Zippers (as Jimbo Mathus did when he formed this alt-Americana outfit), you know you’re in for something different! An almost overnight sensation, The Zippers played at the second inauguration of President Bill Clinton and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Later Mathus went on to pursue a variety of musical projects. Among these he toured and recorded with Buddy Guy (catalyzing the distinct approach of Guy’s “Sweet Tea” album) and he is a founding member of the South Memphis String Band. Jimbo has a new album “Blue Healer” on the Fat Possum record label.