FANS of blues singers Eric Bibb and Kelly Joe Phelps will love Alvin Youngblood Hart who plays The Brook, Southampton on Wednesday, April 23.

Hart, pictured, is very much in the same vein of acoustic blues, but can also rock with the best of them.

Born 40 years ago in Oakland, California, Alvin draws inspiration from his ancestral home in Carrollton, Mississippi. The run-down shacks pictured on the cover of his first album, Big Mama's Door, were actually the homes of his grandmother and great-grandfather.

Although he played in high school rock bands for a while, Alvin was naturally drawn to the blues. He tried to break into the local scene in Los Angeles, but became disillusioned with the commercialisation of the genre. He decided to switch to acoustic blues in the mid-1980s after a spell out of the business.

When he returned he quickly established himself as a distinctive and passionate acoustic blues player. A key date was February 1995 when a US support slot for Taj Mahal exposed Alvin to a wider audience.

Alvin followed up his successful debut album with two more CDs, including the upbeat Start With The Soul, which moved into Jimi Hendrix territory.

His third album Down In The Alley, a much more typical Hart offering, was released last autumn.

Despite his busy touring schedule, Alvin still lives in Mississippi where he runs a guitar workshop with his wife.

Advance tickets for The Brook gig on Wednesday, April 23, cost £12.50. Box office: 023 8055 5366.