Mid Wales Rhythm & Blues Club are set to host an exciting double header next weekend with two acts coming to perform at The Muse in Brecon.

Erin Harpe and Jim Countryman with Lucy Piper and Kaspar Berry Rapkin, will take to the stage on Saturday, October 18.

This is a return to Brecon for Erin and Jim, having previously stolen hearts and minds at The Brecon Tap.

Erin Harpe has been playing country blues since she was a little girl, getting her chops from her virtuoso dad, roots, blues musician and Stella guitar expert Neil Harpe.

The two-time ‘Blues Artist of the Year’, and leader of the band Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers, has earned a reputation as a captivating performer, playing stages large and small throughout the US, UK and Europe, and opening for everyone from ZZTop to Honeyboy Edwards, Buddy Guy and James Cotton.

In Living Blues Magazine, Frank Matheis called Erin “one of the most dynamic, talented and exciting roots rocking blues women on the scene”, noting, “she has it all – a golden voice and guitar chops that dazzle!”

They will be celebrating the duo’s new album ‘Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt,’ coming out on renowned US blues label Vizztone, a follow up to ‘Meet Me In The Middle’ (self-produced by Harpe, along with her husband, bassist Jim Countryman) – which won the prestigious ‘Album of the Year’ from the New England Music Awards.

Erin’s high-energy performances center around her exceptional finger-style and boogie blues guitar playing as well as her striking soulful vocals. The sound she creates with her band harkens back to the time of juke joints – updated with more modern influences like funk, soul, rock, and reggae. Her music has drawn comparisons to Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, Canned Heat and Maria Muldour.

Also returning to Brecon is Lucy Piper having played here via the Duo Southern Fried Groove Queens. This time Lucy will play alongside Kaspar Berry Rapkin here in Brecon for the very first time.

A collaboration between Kaspar Berry Rapkin & Lucy Piper sees two established musicians from the UK’s Blues scene come together to play the upbeat Hill Country & Delta Blues from the land where they first met, Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Dedicated to capturing the raw hypnotic energy you’d find in a traditional ‘Juke Joint’, both musicians are devoted to keeping this unique music alive, with an added fresh edge.

Hailing from St Albans and Exeter, Kaspar plays regularly on the London Blues circuit as well as at many of the leading UK’s Blues Festivals, both solo and with his band ‘The Swamp Dogs’, whilst Lucy is well known on the scene for her role as a Blues session Drummer, and has played with the likes of Ben Waters, Mississippi Macdonald, and James Oliver, as well as many American Blues artists out in the Delta.

Doors open at The Muse on Saturday, 18 October at 7.30PM with Showtime beginning at 8PM.