JOHN Martyn has a big voice and his band stomp like they were playing into the apocalypse.

He croaks a little like Tom Waits while the group mixes blues and folk traditions in arrangements that are distinctly their own.

The old timer came back this week with his twenty-second album, On The Cobbles, and plays the Colston Hall, Bristol, on Saturday, May 1.

Some of Cobbles is very colourful, like the wonderful opener Baby Come Home by Frankie Miller.

Elsewhere it's more like Chris Rea as on Under My Wing which has been irreversibly touched by Paul Weller on backing vocals.

There are world music influences on Ghosts where Martyn could be Dr John, and there's music to bury yourself by in the shape of Leadbelly's Goodnight Irene. Live, Martyn is just as varied with concerts taking the punter on a trip around the globe as well as a journey into inner-space.

Get your ticket to ride in the Colston Hall, Bristol, tomorrow night.