“Up Close With The Blues” Starring Giles Robson

Event information

Blues Music Award Winner Giles Robson scored a significant victory in the live entertainment world when his intimate & acoustic “Up Close With The Blues” show sold out 10 nights at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This was no small feat. The festival is the third most competitive ticket selling environment in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup, featuring over fifty one thousand performances of over three and a half thousand shows. The show became the most successful blues show in Fringe Festival history.

But then the blues artistry of Giles Robson has always stood out, and decades long commitment, respect and focus towards the art of blues music has seen him build a dreamlike career. He is considered across the world by legendary musicians, influential critics and adoring audiences as a rare master artist of the blues genre, able to powerfully convey the true essence, emotion and feeling of blues music.

Witnessing celebrated international blues star Giles Robson and his show “Up Close With The Blues” live is a dazzling, soul-filled and emotionally unforgettable experience as audiences from around the world constantly discover. He expertly and creatively intreperts blues classics by the likes of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf, Memphis Slim, Little Walter, BB King, Albert King, Sonny Boy Williamson and also performs powerful original material.


His entertaining and engaging acoustic live show “Up Close With The Blues” gives him the perfect framework to explore the deep and nuanced beauty of the blues, with a mixture of the genre’s most iconic classic songs and Robson’s own original compositions. Accompanied by a selection of world leading acoustic guitarists, the duo format perfectly showcases the fact that the blues is an evergreen music that has always transcended fickle fashions, fads and passing trends due to its profound connection to the human soul.

“You sound GREAT” Sir Mick Jagger

“Inspired harmonica… a master of his instrument” Living Blues Magazine (USA)

“Worth his place in blues history. A Genius” American Blues Scene (USA)

“A Blues giant. Absolute Master Of The Form” Alligator Records, Chicago, USA

“Had emerged as perhaps the finest harmonica player to come out of Great Britain” Jefferson Magazine Sweden

“One of the finest blues harmonica virtuosos in the world, an acclaimed master showman and singer ” Hohner Harmonicas

“The blues is full of warmth and humour, and it is this same personal warmth and humour that Giles Robson so effortlessly brings to the stage with him to put his audience at ease and connect with them immediately. A virtuoso display of just what a range and depth of music and emotion the blues-harmonica is capable of in the right hands. Giles also is a fine blues vocalist, and for me it is always the human voice that is ultimately the defining sound of The Blues”. 5 Stars***** Arts Review Edinburgh