By Andy Hirst

A new Huddersfield Blues Club is up and running with a couple of great gigs in the next month.

The club is on the second Thursday of the month at the Smile Bar on Wakefield Road, Aspley – the former Top Spot Snooker Club.

The next gig is this Thursday, November 10, featuring the James O’Hara Band with support from Mark Howson from Bloomin’ Hummerz.

James is a UK born and based Blues musician with a wealth of experience fronting bands since 1985 including The Detonators and The Giant Killers.

James has played with Phil Guy, Lurrie Bell, Billy Branch, Jimmy Thomas, Jimmy Burns, Eddie Taylor Jr, Willie “the touch” Hayes, Chico Banks, Charles Mack, EG McDaniels, Holle Thee Maxwell and Lazy Lester.

Bruce Iglauer from Alligator Records described James as “an appealing bluesman with a confident, low-key vocal approach and an enjoyably hard-to-predict solo style. Truly enjoyable music.”

Musician Jimmy Thomas says James is “a truly gifted blues singer, a brilliant guitar player and one of the nicest guys you are ever likely to meet.”

The gig starts at 8pm and finishes at 11pm.

On Thursday, December 8, it’s the Huddersfield-based Pat Fulgoni Blues Experience with support from the Dogshark Blues Band.

Acclaimed singer Pat fronts this new top notch five-piece blues band from Yorkshire, already with European blues festival dates under their belts and well respected by UK clubs, venues and festivals.

Billboard Magazine once famously declared that “Pat Fulgoni could sing a pearl from its oyster.”

Pat has sung across many styles including major dance floor collaborations with the likes of festival headlining acts Camo & Krooked, Zion Train, Technimatic, London Elektricity and Murdock.

But it’s truly magical when he sings the blues, especially when backed by the stunning musicianship of his band featuring Chillo Angelini on guitar, Rory Wells on bass, Sam Bolt on keyboard and Zebedee Sylvester on drums.

In 2021 the Dark Side of the Blues – Pat Fulgoni Live In Prague album reached number 2 in Roots Music Report’s UK albums chart with Chicago Blues Guide describing it as “a collection of impeccably reworked blues and rock covers” and Blues Matters Mag saying “I was completely blown away because he can sing, I mean, really sing. Ridiculously well.” 

Expect soaring soulful vocals over vibey guitar and piano orientated blues along the lines of Ray Charles, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. 

The gig starts at 8pm and finishes at 11pm.

To find out more about the Blues Club, check out its social media at

https://www.facebook.com/HuddersfieldBluesClub
https://www.instagram.com/huddersfieldbluesclub/
https://twitter.com/HuddsBluesClub

* Copyright for this story belongs to freelance journalist ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in stories for the media, press releases, blogging, copywriting, scriptwriting and applying for awards.