YOUNG blues rocker Laurence Jones chose Shipston-on-Stour rather than the Mississippi delta to launch his new album.
The 24 year-old guitarist and songwriter from Shipston took to the stage at the town’s Townsend Hall to showcase Take Me High.
Laurence credits his dad Mel for getting him to pick up the guitar at the age of 11 – after he heard him playing The Animals’ hit House of the Rising Sun.
The Townsend Hall has a particular place in Laurence’s heart as it was the first place he played live, aged 12, in the Shipston Proms Fame Contest.
He did not win that night, but two years later aged he took the prize, which included a slot on the stage in the town square on of the last night of the Shipston Proms where he played to 1,000 revellers.
He continued to hone his craft playing in local pubs, and for the past five years he has been signed to Ruf Records, and has been touring in UK, Europe and North America.
He played this summer at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, sharing the stage with Simply Red and Level 42 among others.
Laurence ‘ set, as well as tracks from his new album, included a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic All Along the Watchtower.
There was also a tribute song to all Crohn’s disease suffers – the chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines –
which includes Laurence himself.
Visit www.laurencejonesmusic.com for further details.
