MICHAEL MESSER - Virtuoso slide guitarist, singer, and songwriter An innovator roots and blues genres since the 1970s

Michael Messer is the kind of bluesman whose slide guitar doesn't just speak — it talks, cries, laughs and howls with the raw wisdom of the Mississippi Delta, the swagger of Chicago shuffles, and the restless curiosity of a lifetime spent chasing new sounds. A virtuoso slide guitarist, singer, songwriter and roots-blues innovator, Messer has spent over 45 years forging a musical path that's as unpredictable as it is authentic, combining tradition with adventure and deep emotional truth.

From the moment he first picked up a guitar as a child — inspired by the crackle of his family's record player and the early rock'n'roll that seeped into his bones — Messer has been driven by one idea: feel above all else. His mastery of both acoustic National steel and electric slide has made him a rare force in British music — an artist with a deep-rooted blues soul and the restless inventiveness to push the form forward.

Messer's career has never been content to stay in one place. In the 2000s his experimental use of turntables with the Second Mind Band helped forge a fresh blues sound, and his visionary trio Michael Messer's Mitra fused rural blues with Indian classical textures in a way few had dared. Call Of The Blues stormed to No.1 on the iTunes Blues chart and broadcast his unique voice to radio audiences in over fifty countries.

His influence has been recognised by giants. Johnny Cash wrote the liner notes for Messer's 1993 Rhythm Oil — a rare honour shared with only a handful of artists — while the record went on to be named Import Album of the Year by the Austin, Texas music press. Messer's King Guitar hit No.1 on the US Living Blues chart and Second Mind earned Best International Guitar Album of the Year. The American magazine Spirit even placed him among the world's greatest slide guitarists alongside Duane Allman and Ry Cooder.

In 2024 Messer teamed up with storied songwriter Chaz Jankel — best known for co-writing hits with Ian Dury & The Blockheads — to create Mostly We Drive, an album of new songs that captured blues sensibilities through fresh, modern eyes and climbed to #2 on the IBBA chart. The record has been championed by major blues programs from BBC Radio 2 to Chicago, Japan, Italy and beyond, proving once again that Messer's music speaks in every language of the blues.

He's not just a solo artist — Messer's presence in the scene continues in ways that fuel other players too: from Roots & Blues Weekends and masterclasses to co-presenting the UK Slide Guitar Festival with fellow slide great Phillip Henry, drawing players from around the world to learn the deeper grooves and rhythms of the blues.

Where the Critics Hear It

"One of the world's top ten slide players ever." — Spirit Magazine
"His own personal blues genre." — Nigel Rose, Blues Matters!
"Equal of Ry Cooder." — Marc Nolis, Mazz Musikas
"Knife Song… a demented out-take from Exile On Main Street." — HMV Choice
"His vocals… heartfelt and pained, full of trial and struggle." — Sid Griffin, Q Magazine
"If Beck & Nick Cave had a love-child…" — GK, The Works
"Audience sat in rapt silence… then roaring approval." — Tony Pugh, Blues In Britain

These aren't just endorsements — they're sonic signposts pointing to an artist who lives the blues in every note. Messer doesn't just play the tradition; he embodies it, and pushes it into new terrain with a voice that's uniquely his own.

In 2026, Michael Messer is still a force of nature — still shaping slide guitar's future while honouring its past, still crafting music that burns with feeling, and still reminding us all that the blues is less a genre and more a way of telling the truth.