BIG Boy Bloater has all the hallmarks of a great bluesman – a gravelly, character-soaked voice, blinding guitar skills, a taste for melancholy lyrics and a great stage name.
 

Bloater (under no circumstances will he reveal his real name) stepped out as a solo artist in 2011 after years as a highly sought after session musician.
 

Hailing from Farnham, Surrey, he picked up a guitar at the age of 11 and quickly became a stalwart of the retro R&B and Blues scenes and the go-to-guy for visiting American blues artists.
 

“I believe everybody’s got a bit of blues music in them,” he explains, “it’s played all over the world.
 

“You arrive in a country, you can’t speak a word of the language but when you get on stage and play the blues everybody knows where you’re coming from.”
 

With the launch of new band Big Boy Bloater and the Limits and their self-titled debut album in 2011, he unleashed a new sound, which he describes as ‘a mix of swamp soul, dark blues and twang’.
 

Bloater quickly followed this up with ‘The World Explained’ in October 2012, which went Top 5 on the Amazon and iTunes Blues Download charts and received great reviews from the roots community and further afield.
 

Now currently working on ‘bits and pieces’ for album number three, Bloater’s lyrics are focused on decidedly dark themes, including insanity and murder.
 

“I do seem to be drawn to writing about dark things like serial killers and I’m not really sure where that comes from.
 

“I’m an upbeat sort of guy but there’s definitely a dark part to the brain.
 

“Everybody writes love songs so I think it’s good to do something a bit different.”
 

Despite having a career many musicians would kill for, Bloater is determined to push the barriers again with the next album.
 

“Music is my life – I wasn’t very good at school so I was always bunking off maths and going to the music room, and it’s been the same ever since.
 

“People told me to listen in school but if I had I’d be in an office now and what I’m doing instead is probably one of the best jobs in the world.”
 

Big Boy Bloater plays at Bootleggers, Kendal, on March 23.