A TALENTED young guitarist will be wowing the crowds with a gig in west Dorset.

Laurence Jones will be performing at Bridport Arts Centre tomorrow night (18).

He has been described as ‘blues rock's youngest talent in the UK’.

Laurence was voted Young Artist of the Year in the British Blues Awards 2014 and in the same year won the first UK Blues Challenge, which saw him going on to represent the UK at the 5th European Blues Challenge in March 2015.

Well before the release of his debut album in 2012 Thunder In The Sky, a buzz rapidly built around Laurence

The young blues performer was influenced by the likes of Walter Trout and Eric Clapton., Gary Moore, Rory Gallagher and Albert Collins. At only 23, he has clocked up some serious road miles touring throughout the UK and Europe. and in 2013, Walter Trout invited Laurence and his band to play as support on their UK tour and said ‘Laurence is a cross between Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, he is a genius’.

In April, Laurence released his third album What’s it Gonna Be, featuring guests Sandi Thom and Dana Fuchs.

Recorded at headline music studio in Cambridge, Laurence co produced the album with Roger Album and wanted to use his own band Roger Inniss and Miri Miettinen. Last month, Laurence played at the Lead Belly Fest at The Royal Albert Hall alongside numerous high-profile artists from around the world, like Van Morrison, Jools Holland, Eric Burdon, Paul Jones and Walter Trout.

Supporting Laurence will be Red Butler.

Voted ‘Best New UK Act’ by Blues Matters Magazine in September 2014, the band has a raw, dynamic energy, combined with passion feeling and creativity.

Alex Butler decided to form a band and April 2012 saw the beginning of the blues/rock band emerge as Red Butler.

From the outset, the band developed their own style of writing and began producing thoughtful, light hearted and melodic compositions, culminating in the release of their debut album ‘Freedom Bound’ in summer 2014,

Not long after this, the band got the winning vote for ‘Best Newcomer’ in the UK results of the Writers’ Poll for Blues Matters Magazine and in January 2015, this success was crowned with a sensational performance at The Great British R&B Festival.