Kris Barras is undoubtedly the blues-rock guitarist of the moment in the UK: Just two years ago, the former Mixed Martial Arts pro was playing to just 50 people, but in just a year his live following has increased tenfold; sold-out shows at major venues are the rule rather than the exception in 2019, as they have been recently in his homeland. He's also fronted Super Sonic Blues Machine since 2018, a supergroup that features Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), Steve Lukather (Toto), Warren Haynes (Go'vt Mule), Walter Trout and Eric Gales, among others. And this year it goes on: At the 'Ramblin' Man Fair' festival in Maidstone, England, he will be on the main stage on July 19th; in the same month he and his band will accompany Black Stone Cherry on their gigs in the UK and Ireland; and before that he will also come to Germany in May/June together with Jonny Lang and Walter Trout as part of the Provogue label's next "Rockin' The Blues" European tour. A new album, the follow-up to the lauded "The Divine And Dirty" (2018), is currently in the works and will surely be ready for the September dates. A career that has so far led to numerous awards: 'best new band' (Planet Rock Awards 2018), one of the 'top blues guitarists in the world' (Music Radar) and 'best album' (European Blues Awards). Yet, until a few years ago, he earned his bread and butter primarily as a mixed martial arts professional. That is, the spectacular full-contact sport in which the fighters attack their opponents in the ring with punches and kicks, among other things. In 2014 he hung up his sports career to devote more time to his passion as a guitarist and singer. A passion he has cultivated on the side since his teenage days.
Things got a serious boost in 2017 when Karras and his band made very successful club and festival appearances in Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and back home in England as part of their first major European tour, also supporting Beth Hart and Joanne Shaw Taylor. What followed was a record deal with the Mascot Label Group, under whose umbrella Kris Barras is now at home together with scene greats like Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Walter Trout, Eric Gales and Sonny Landreth. However, Kris Barras has not completely finished with the martial arts. He is still co-owner of two studios in the West of England, where he trains fighters and also keeps himself fit. He recapitulates his time as a professional with the words: "I've basically always enjoyed doing this. But when I was standing between the ropes in front of thousands of spectators, I always wished I could make music for that many people instead of being trimmed for their pleasure." Pleasingly for him, the stage is now set for this, especially as Barras is no longer a blank slate as a blues rocker of stature: back in 2015 he self-published his self-titled debut EP. 2016 saw the release of the album "Lucky 13", also distributed by him, which reached number two on Amazon's blues charts and ranked number three on the iTunes charts. "The Divine And Dirty" followed in 2018, reaching number one on the Amazon and ITunes charts and number three on the UK Blues chart. The quartet indulges Barras' penchant for gritty rock with influences from Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, the Rolling Stones, Free, Howlin' Wolf and, most notably, Gary Moore; off it, the album also harkens back to contemporary acts like the Rival Sons, Black Stone Cherry and The Cadillac Three. The mix of pounding riffs and catchy melodies ignites right away and releases a fair amount of adrenaline - in the listener as well as the musicians themselves.
Source of lyrics and more information about the event: https://batschkapp.tickets.de/de/tour/1001949-kris_barras_band
