DAVE SPEIGHT British Blues Hall of Famer - Album Recording Matinee

Dave Speight – Blues From an Old 78
Sunday Afternoon Matinee – Live Recording

On Sunday 28th June, Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre will host a rare and special afternoon of pure, unfiltered Blues as British Blues Hall of Fame inductee Dave Speight performs Blues From an Old 78 — a live recording capturing the sound and spirit of the music exactly as it was meant to be heard.

Dave Speight is one of the true keepers of the original Blues flame in Britain. For more than 60 years he has carried the tradition forward, preserving the raw acoustic Blues that first came out of the Mississippi Delta and the early 78rpm recordings that defined the genre. Artists like Dave are vital to the survival of this music — musicians who don't simply play the Blues, but live it, respect it, and pass it on exactly as it was handed down.

His journey began when he first heard a Howlin' Wolf EP, a sound that hit him like a lightning bolt. Soon after, in 1966, he witnessed the legendary Rev. Gary Davis in person and spent 48 unforgettable hours with the master himself — an encounter that helped shape a lifetime devoted to the Blues. Early on, Big Bill Broonzy became his guiding star, and even today Dave still performs Broonzy classics like "Willie Mae" and "5'7", songs he has carried with him through almost six decades of professional performance.

Dave played his first paid gig in 1966, earning £5 at a venue where Paul Simon had appeared the year before, and from that moment the road began — clubs, bars, back rooms, concerts and festivals wherever there was an audience willing to listen. Over the decades he has become one of the most respected traditional Blues performers in the UK, appearing at events such as the Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival and the legendary Colne Blues Festival, always delivering the Blues in its most honest form.

His recordings map that long journey through the music: Blues from the Aire Delta (1982), North Country Blues (1997), Blues Around Midnight (2017), Last Chance Blues (2019) and Seam of the Blues (2021) — each one capturing the voice of a musician who understands that the Blues isn't about speed or flash, but about truth, feeling and the stories life writes into your voice.

In 2017 Dave Speight was inducted into the British Blues Hall of Fame, a long overdue recognition of his dedication to the music, and in 2021 he was declared a "National Treasure" by Blues in Britain — an acknowledgement that musicians like Dave are essential to keeping the roots of the Blues alive.

These days Dave says the fingers may have slowed a little — but the voice still works. And when you've lived with the Blues for a lifetime, it means something when you stand up and sing "Woke Up This Morning."

This special matinee will also include stories from the road, a short journey through the history of the Blues, and a Q&A session, making the afternoon not just a performance but a celebration of the music's living tradition.

And with a recording crew present to capture the performance live, the audience will become part of the record itself — helping document the sound of the Blues as it was played, sung, and felt long before the modern world tried to polish it.

Because without musicians like Dave Speight, the original Blues — the real Blues — risks fading into history.

On this afternoon in Barnoldswick, the flame is still burning.