Lightnin' strikes by spadeful with Willie

IF YOU were to imagine a Texan with a deep love for old-fashioned blues, a talent for storytelling, a passion for performing, who's a wizard on electric and National guitars, chances are you would conjure up a character bearing more than a passing resemblance to Lightnin' Willie.

The mustachioed electric blues star looks like he's sashayed through the swing doors of the saloon in a black and white cowboy movie, and sings like he's serenading his woman at home on the range or lamenting the day she walked out on him.

There's no time for drooping around, however, in the live set offered by the man and his band, The Poor Boys; there's sensitivity, but also beef and roadhouse rawness by the spadeful.

The dexterous Willie and friends are currently on tour in the UK, making a welcome return to the Westcountry and Truro's Hall for Cornwall next Friday.

"We are more Americana – a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but my foundation is in the blues," says Willie, who these days lives up in the hills of Monrovia in California – bear and coyote country – with his schoolteacher wife.

"This tour I'm trying to stick to more of an upbeat bluesy feel. There'll be a couple of ballads, sure, a couple of slow ones."

Willie's infectious enthusiasm for the blues has won him audiences all over the world, as well as earning him dream performances alongside Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and BB King.

He readily pays homage to those who have influenced and inspired him – names that include Albert King ("one bead of sweat of his playing is so exciting to me") and Muddy Waters – but he is satisfied in the knowledge that his guitar playing and singing are unique.

"I always have a guitar on me wherever I am. I play guitar all the time – it's my passion," reveals Willie. "You get to a point in your life when you know you are good at what you do – if you don't accept that then why are you doing it?

One of Willie's teachers gave him some wise words that he's never forgotten, which underpin his life's philosophy.

"He said no-one shakes a stick like you shake a stick and handed me a pencil. He was just telling me that I was an individual. There's only one of you and the chances of your parents meeting and conceiving you is one in millions, so the chances of you being here are astronomical. I don't compare myself to anyone else," he says.

That said, the nickname Lightnin' – which, incidentally, appears on his bank cards and cheques – evolved because the young Willie was keen on the music of Lightnin' Hopkins.

"I played with a guy years ago who asked me to play some Lightnin' Hopkins stuff and I said OK but don't call me Lightnin'. He said 'OK Lightnin'. Then other people started saying it too and it became like that little dog that follows you home and just won't go away."

Willie, whose Mom calls him Billy, is no stranger to Britain, having studied music in Oxford and performed at venues all over, including the Pig's Nose at East Prawle in South Devon. When he plays over here, he brings his regular drummer Bruce Barber from the States, and harnesses the talents of British harmonica player Giles King, from Suffolk, and Aaron McRobbie, from Henley, on bass and vocals. Expect a rollercoaster ride through American roots music – from rockabilly to swing and blues to Tex-Mex.

Lightnin' Willie and The Poor Boys play the Hall for Cornwall on Friday, July 24. For tickets, £14.50 and £13, call the box office on 01872 262466.