A BLACKWOOD musician has been able to continue performing during the coronavirus pandemic – with his first international tour.

James Oliver is a celebrated blues rock musician who won Emerging Artist of The Year at the UKBlues Awards 2020 in May. He has just finished a week-long tour of Sweden despite the coronavirus pandemic, as the country hasn’t been as badly affected by the virus.

It has been six months since live music was allowed in Wales and the rest of the UK, but in Sweden, it is still able to go ahead – albeit with social distancing in place and controlled numbers.

It wasn’t the type of tour Mr Oliver and his band would have been expecting when they planned their first international tour, but it was successful.

Mr Oliver said: “I really enjoyed being in Sweden. The tour was very well organised for us and we were really well looked after.

“The Swedish approach to dealing with Covid is certainly different to ours. People seemed to respect the social distancing and definitely followed the rules. And it’s a really clean country, spotless with no litter.”

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On the difference of performing with the restrictions in place, Mr Oliver said: “We were able to tour as live music is allowed as long as the venues adhere to strict rules. The gigs were limited in numbers and dancing was not allowed but that didn’t stop us or the audience having a good time and we went down well at each venue.

“They clapped a lot of the guitar solos and there were big cheers at the end of songs. I think if there wasn’t Covid, the audiences would have been at least doubled and they would have dances. We sold CDs at all eight gigs and actually sold out of them.”

The run of dates took place between September 13 and 20 and allowed the band to continue to plug new album Twang.

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James Oliver band from Blackwood in Sweden on tour

Mr Oliver also highlighted the difference between the crowds in the two countries. He said: “In Sweden I found the people sat and listened more, and everyone wanted to chat at the end of the gig. This happens in the UK, but they seemed more enthusiastic on the gigs we did. And they were really knowledgeable about blues and rock’n’roll music.

“I really enjoy interacting with the audiences at gigs. Some of the audiences understood me and some didn’t. I talk fast and my accent would have been strange to a lot of them! If there was anything, I said that they didn’t get, Micke would translate for me and that went over just fine. We are definitely going back in 2021 and will be playing both Sweden and Norway.”

Micke Finell, bassist and tour organiser said: “James Oliver will in the next five years be one of Wales’ stars on the blues and rock’n’roll stage. He has already come a long way. As tour organiser, the boys (James and drummer Ollie Harding) were great. No strange attitudes and believe me I’ve come across some strange rock attitudes during my 30 years in the business. I also really enjoyed the opportunity to play with them. The Swedish audience loved what they did and look forward to a return in 2021.”