On the first day of 2008, The Perth Blues Club was up and running, showcasing the calibre of acts patrons are likely to experience every Tuesday night at The Charles Hotel in North Perth.

First to grace the stage was Kyla Brox and her fiancée, Danny Blomeley, and a sweeter set of soulful blues would be hard to find. Hailing from Manchester, UK, Kyla has a magnificent soaring voice and complements this with the occasional playing of her flute. The set featured songs off their most recent CD release Gone, finishing with a haunting acapella song from Kyla about her future husband, tongue firmly in cheek.

Then along came Electromen to blow any of last year’s cobwebs out of your system. The dance floor was soon swaying to their rockabilly blues sound. Out front were stalwarts of the Perth Blues scene, Hans Deberitz and Captain Kennie Fuller, who always seem to be enjoying themselves. A few surprises with the rest of the band, with the rhythm section comprising one of the best drummers in the land in Angus Diggs and Johnny Wilson on bass, plus Alison Penny from NSW on keyboards. You might know of Alison from her work with Dom Turner (Backsliders and Supro).

Finishing off the night with a solid dose of Blues/Rock classics from the likes of the Stones, Joe Cocker, Thin Lizzy and Deep Purple was local outfit Gearjammer. Lead singer, Stew Herbertson, belted out a succession of recognizable covers and showed he was no slouch on guitar. Certainly kept the dancers happy.

So now all you have to do is make it along to The Perth Blues Club on any given Tuesday night and experience this great LIVE music for yourself. Don’t forget to bring along some friends !!

Derek Cromb hosts “Play The Blues” on 89.7 TWIN CITIES FM every Sunday from 8-10pm.