Still just 19-years-old, Toby Lee is already a three-time winner of Young Blues Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards – yet the virtuoso guitarist is only getting started. Praised as a remarkable talent by the likes of Jools Holland and Joe Bonamassa, 2024 represents a big breakthrough year as Toby is set to release his new album ‘House On Fire’ on October 4th, pre-save here. He today launches the album by unveiling its first single and title track, listen here.
‘House On Fire’ is Toby’s first set of all-original material and follows his 2021 debut ‘Aquarius’ which spent two weeks at #1 on the UK Jazz & Blues Album Chart. As you’d expect from someone that The Times hailed as, “One of the best guitarists in Britain,” his six-string talents dazzle throughout with a rich tapestry of scorching leads, evocative melodies and swaggering grooves. Yet his vocals have come on leaps-and-bounds, his maturity and emotional expression providing a voice strong enough to front a band regardless of his guitar skills.
His songs and stylistic scope have expanded too, with a set that moves seemingly effortlessly between classic blues jams, punchy hard rock, intimate acoustic moments and a modernist approach to classic soul and Stax-style R&B. It’s all played with a winning combination of youthful abandon and undeniable accomplishment.
Toby says, “I’m so excited to be releasing my first original album and I’m super proud of the end result. It’s taken a while to be comfortable with songwriting but everything clicked on this album and the songs just flowed one after the other. I wanted an album that was positive and relevant to my age – blues rock with a hint of soul and I think we achieved that.”
The first taste of the record comes with the single ‘House On Fire’. It’s inspired by Toby’s blues heartland, which will surely again be embraced by genre devotees and connoisseurs. But as is befitting for a young man with the world at his fingertips, ‘House On Fire’ also shines with the kind of optimistic, sun-kissed summer spirit that will appeal to new fans who perhaps previously would’ve thought that the blues wasn’t for them.
This October will see Toby Lee and his band hit the road for a UK headline tour in October, remaining tickets for which are available HERE. He will then reunite with Jools Holland for a tour that includes two nights at the Royal Albert Hall and that runs until the end of the year. A full list of Jools Holland tour dates is available HERE, Toby’s headline shows are listed below:
OCTOBER
9th – London, The Grace
10th – Hastings, The Carlisle
11th – Stowmarket, John Peel Centre
12th – Bedford, Esquires
13th – Folkestone, The Chambers
16th – Bilston, The Robin
17th – Buxton, Pavilion Arts Centre
18th – Lllandudno, Motorsport Lounge
19th – Liverpool, Arts Club
20th – Grimsby, Docks
23rd – Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms
24th – Leeds, Lending Rooms
25th – Coventry, The Tin
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