Still just 19-years-old, Toby Lee is already a three-time winner of Young Blues Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards – yet the virtuoso guitarist is only getting started. Praised as a remarkable talent by the likes of Jools Holland and Joe Bonamassa, 2024 represents a big breakthrough year as Toby is set to release his new album ‘House On Fire’ on October 4th via 100% Records. He today launches the album by unveiling its first single and title track.
‘House On Fire’ is Toby’s first set of all-original material and follows his 2021 debut ‘Aquarius’ which spent two weeks at #1 on the UK Jazz & Blues Album Chart. As you’d expect from someone that The Times hailed as, “One of the best guitarists in Britain,” his six-string talents dazzle throughout with a rich tapestry of scorching leads, evocative melodies and swaggering grooves. Yet his vocals have come on leaps-and-bounds, his maturity and emotional expression providing a voice strong enough to front a band regardless of his guitar skills.
His songs and stylistic scope have expanded too, with a set that moves seemingly effortlessly between classic blues jams, punchy hard rock, intimate acoustic moments and a modernist approach to classic soul and Stax-style R&B. It’s all played with a winning combination of youthful abandon and undeniable accomplishment.