Buddy Guy has announced his retirement from extensive touring, with the legendary blues guitar veteran set to embark on a Damn Right Farewell tour early next year.
Guy has had one of the most prolific live careers of anyone in the blues world, which started back in the mid-'50s when he first began performing with bands in Baton Rouge. Now, after seven decades of performing, the 86-year-old has called time on his touring days.
For the event, Guy will be joined by a series of special six-string guests, including Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Eric Gales – players at the forefront of this generation’s blues scene who were no doubt influenced by Guy’s own style.
Similarly influential players such as Ally Venable, Tom Hambridge and King Solomon Hicks complete the guest list, with each player set to cameo on a handful of separate nights.
The Damn Right Farewell tour will kick off on February 17 in Rockford, Illinois, and will see Guy make his way across Indiana and Michigan throughout the rest of the month.
After six February dates, Guy will venture to Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and more throughout the whole of March, which comprises almost a full-month of near-consecutive dates.
The final stretch will see Guy perform three dates in April, all of which will take place in Australia. At the time of writing, the Damn Right Farewell tour is scheduled to concluded on April 12 in Newtown, though more dates are to be added shortly.
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See below for a full list of current dates, and to find out when each guest guitarist will crop up for a cameo.
Tickets are set to go on sale this Friday (October 21) at 10am local time. Head over to Buddy Guy’s website for more details.
Guy recently released his latest studio album, The Blues Don’t Lie, which became the bluesman’s seventh number one album. For the first single, Gunsmoke Blues, Guy teamed up with Jason Isbell.
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Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.