Walter returns to St Albans stage after illness

Blues musician Walter Trout is back on the road following a return to health after his battle with life threatening liver failure three years ago.
Walter TroutWalter Trout
Walter Trout

As Trout’s army of international fans are aware, recent times have taken the band leader to the brink. His rebirth began with a successful transplant in 2014 and gathered pace with last year’s Battle Scars, the acclaimed studio album that channelled his near-death experience into raw autobiographical songs, writes Heather Jan Brunt.

In support of a new live album, ALIVE In Amsterdam, Trout is now back in the UK with a number of dates including a stop off at the Alban Arena at 7.30pm on Tuesday July 19.

With songs pulled from every era of his five decade career, the ALIVE In Amsterdam set is potent stuff indeed. Urgent, impassioned and electrifying it’s a perfect introduction to seeing him on tour.

Trout says its on stage where he truly comes alive. “I get into the energy and the moment and the excitement of it all. I think I’m a different guitarist live.”

He says the last few years have been a time where the blues truly came calling and he faced death more than once.

He said: “I have been filled with immense gratitude for the fans who supported me via fund raisers, cards, messages,thoughts and prayers, for the donor and his or her family, for medical science, for my family and for life itself.

“Everything matters more to me now.”

He said following his transplant he feels like a new man, with strength and energy and in some ways he feels as if he is in his 20s again.

He feels reborn and able to play better than he has done for years.

Tickets for the show cost £25 and are available from the box office on 01727 844488.

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