Jerron Paxton - better known as Blind Boy - is the living embodiment of true blues in the 21st century.

But he plays it all in the true songster tradition: ragtime, hokum, old-time, French reels, Appalachian mountain music and blues and more.

As you can find out for yourself when he comes to Telford’s Warehouse in Chester on Tuesday, November 3.

The young bard was born in 1989 but his vast talent rivals the greatest in the genre.

Playing the bluesman

At first glance he looks like he’s playing the part of a bluesman in a Hollywood movie, dressed with theatrical retro-schtick, with some type of various hats from Derbies to Orthodox Jewish kippa.

“I am a songster. I am not limited to the blues. I sing and play ballads, banjo tunes, fiddle tunes, rags and more,” he said.

“For me, music is not an academic experiment. I play it the way I feel like it, because it should be an expression of how I see things.

“I am just learning to have a good time so that the audience can have a good time. Music shouldn’t be forced. It’s upsetting to me that so much music is technique, just skill and not enough feeling. I am happy to play so that the audience feels like I am in their living room. I want people to be enjoying themselves.”

The Next Generation

He graced the cover of the December 2012 issue of Living Blues, entitled The Next Generation of the Acoustic Blues, with an amazing photograph by Bill Steber, who also authored the article.

Jerron Paxton has been blind since age 16, with peripheral vision problems that allow him some sight. He cannot drive and is legally blind but has enough sight to get around and he can see enough to seem unaffected by his vision problems.

The charismatic bluesman he hails from an African American Jewish family with mixed Creole/Choctaw Indian ancestry – transplanted Louisiana sharecroppers who moved to South Central Los Angeles, but Jerron now lives in Queens.

He is a swiftly capable multi-instrumentalist who picks banjo and guitar, plays harmonica, piano and other instruments, including the fiddle, his first instrument.

Jon Coley

He will be supported by Jon Coley, an acoustic singer-songwriter, originally from Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire, now living in Chester and performing around the North West.

He plays an eclectic mix of blues, soul and folk mixed with fresh original songwriting and is making a name for himself locally for his unique guitar playing, influenced by performers such as Nick Drake, John Mayer, Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones and John Martyn, and for his passionate vocal performances.

Tickets are priced £12. Call 01244 390 090 or visit www.telfordswarehouse.com.