Catfish play the Sunday Afternoon Session at Bedford Esquires

British Blues Award winners Catfish have carved a reputation for themselves as an excellent live band with a phenomenal frontman in 22 year old guitarist/vocalist Matt Long who plays with a real passion for the blues.

They received two nominations in the British Blues Awards 2015, taking third in Emerging Artist, and followed this with three in 2016, taking first in keyboards and third in Young Artist.

The band crashed onto the blues scene in January 2015, with their debut album ‘So Many Roads’ going straight in at no 1 in the IBBA blues airplay charts. Their EP, a tribute to BB King called ‘When BB Sings the Blues’, charted at no 5 in February 2016.

In January 2017 they released their much-anticipated second album ‘Broken Man’ which is almost entirely original material. Broken Man also reached no 1 in the IBBA blues airplay charts in March 2017. This is blues with a very broad brush – from epic prog anthems to stripped back piano ballads. Reviews include this one from Blues in Britain Magazine:

‘Catfish’s new Broken Man album…is a turning point for the band showing that not only is Catfish one of the best live bands on the blues circuit at the moment, but that the calibre of their songwriting matches that.’ Blues in Britain, December 2016

and this one from Blues Matters Magazine:

‘Catfish are one of the finest live bands in Britain today. The quality of musicianship is outstanding and in Matt Long, they have one of the greatest young guitarists on the scene today…’ Blues Matters Magazine August 2017

And here are a couple of the lovely comments from Facebook from audience members

‘It’s not often I get emotional, but after seeing Catfish play i am man enough to say their performance brought tears to my eyes. The guitar player just blew me away and this guy plays with his heart and soul, which is something you can’t learn.’

‘This kid had me speechless, not seen talent like that in years and years, it was emotional, a privilege to mix his sound’

‘Absolutely stunning performance…. A masterclass was delivered to us, the likes of which few have the privilege to witness.’

Their busy tour schedule has included a number of major festivals including Bluesfest at the 02, Cambridge Rock Festival, The Great British Rock and Blue Festivals in Colne and Skegness as well as major blues clubs all over the country. In 2018, they have three European tours already booked, and have been asked to play in the USA in July 2018.