Only two weeks to go before the Blues Festival of the Year 2012 and 2013 gets underway, so we thought it was about time we introduced this year's amazing line-up to you. With a huge 52 acts across nine stages that's a big job so let's kick off with the Main Stage openers on Friday 23rd May.


Born in Bristol in 1968, Julian has played recorded and toured with artists including, Desmond Dekker and Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band. He has toured Europe with the hit West End musicals Godspell and the official tribute to the blues brothers. At the end of 2008 he recorded the debut album The Boogie Worm with his band 24 Pesos.


David Migden was raised in Little Rock Arkansas and moved to the UK as a teenager. After playing and touring around London and Europe, initially in the Lee Sankey Group with Matt Schofield and Ian Siegal, he then teamed up with ‘The Dirty Words’ and released ‘Second Hand Tattoo’ to a fantastic response from critics and fans alike. David Migden & The Dirty Words (now the Twisted Roots) released their second album ‘Killing It’ in 2012 and received glowing reviews and radio play from across the globe. The band’s reputation has been growing with radio play across the UK, Europe and the US. They recently won the prestigious New Brunswick ‘Battle of the Blues’ and appeared at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Canada in Sept 2013. David Migden has also been nominated in the British Blues Awards for best singer (2013 and again in 2014) and best original song ‘Shel’.

The band has recently won Best Band and Best Newcomer in the Blues Matters writers’ poll 2013. As a result they represented the UK, coming third in the European Blues Challenge 2104 in Riga, Latvia in April 2014.

2014 also brings a new name for the band ‘The Twisted Roots’ which they all think better represents the sound of their new album ‘Animal & Man’ released 21st February. The album, recorded at Rimshot studios in Kent, has the sound and songs the band have always wanted. It was partly financed by a successful Pledgemusic campaign, where fans of the band have helped to finance the album in advance.

The Twisted Roots are:

David Migden – Vocals/Trumpet/Piano

Phil Scragg – Bass

James Sedge  – Drums/Percussion

Joe Gibson  – Guitar/Backing Vocals

Graham Mann – Keyboard/Trombone/Backing Vocals