Seasick Steve, O2 Academy, Newcastle

THERE`S something in the names of blues artists that tell a story. Howlin` Wolf, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters and Blind Lemon Jefferson are classic examples.

Seasick Steve has had it equally tough coming from a broken home and spending much of his adult life as a drifter picking up work and food as and when he could. An early passion for music was his gateway out and his big break came late following a call from Jools Holland just after a heart attack looked like he`d reached rock bottom..

The O2 Academy was jammed and his shows elsewhere in the country have played out to capacity crowds. With his rich, deep gravel-hewn voice and collection of unique guitars, including his legendary cigar box and hub cap guitars, this was as far removed from modern, over-processed music that constantly blares out elsewhere as you can possibly get. The reflective In Peaceful Dreams shimmered with a fragile vulnerability, while at the other end of the spectrum Barracuda 68, with its deliciously sleazy slide guitar, stomped and grooved giving wildman drummer, the outstanding Dan Magnusson, ample room to stir things up. The quite incredible Three String TranceWonder guitar used by Seasick Steve proved that sometimes less is more.

Now knocking on the door of his three-quarter century, Seasick Steve continues to work while others at his age are comfortably into their retirement. His latest album Sonic Soul Surfer, his seventh in a little over a decade, may well be his best yet and Tyneside was the beneficiary of his still-burning enthusiasm and passion for music.

Mick Burgess