ROBERT FINLEY AT THE OLD BREWERY STORE, FAVERSHAM

Early Tickets £20 plus bf until 19/05/24
Remaining advance tickets £25 plus bf

69 YEARS-YOUNG RISING STAR RETURNS WITH DAN AUERBACH-
PRODUCED ALBUM - A SWAGGERING TOUR DE FORCE OF
BLUES, SOUL, AND FUNK, SHARING STORIES FROM THE

SWAMPS OF LOUISIANA 

 
“Black Bayou is definitive Robert Finley—a master musician and entertainer—taking all his
bluesy swagger up a notch, a bigger sound with heavier grooves, full confirmation

that Robert Finley only gets better with time.” 

SPIN
 

“Black Bayou’s swampier blues and subtler arrangements offer a versatile range of material

that reveals the wide expanse of his vocal prowess.”

No Depression

 
“An anthem of hope”
The FADER
 

“The 11-track album, a portrait of a life that comes together in strokes of gospel, blues, and

rock and roll, is simple, relatable, and wise, but above all honest.”

American Songwriter
 

“Black Bayou is surely the album Finley was put on Earth to create, filled with stories only he

could tell. 5 STAR REVIEW”
Mojo Magazine
 

“Approaching his eighth decade, then, and with no shortage of tall tales to
impart, Robert Finley’s work here is clearly just getting started.”

Uncut
 

“Funky, bluesy… Fueled by Robert's soulful Southern grit” 

 Brooklyn Vegan
 

“In no short terms, Finley’s journey thus far has been nothing short of mythical.” 

PASTE
 

 
Robert Finley releases his anticipated fourth studio album Black Bayou, an 11-track tour de
force that coalesces gospel, blues, soul, and rock into a raw, thundering tribute to Finley’s
home state of Louisiana. Telling tales of the bayou from childhood to now, the 69-year
old Finley takes listeners on a journey that showcases his growly vocals, sultry falsetto and
cements him as a living legend.

Watch Finley’s new music video for “Waste Of Time,” filmed at Easy Eye Studios and
featuring appearances from The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach. The video
is a snapshot of the creation of the album, set to the gristly, crunchy, swaggering blues
number from Black Bayou.

Black Bayou has already been heaped with praise from SPIN, The FADER, American
Songwriter, UNCUT, Paste, MOJO, Brooklyn Vegan and a slew of other outlets,
including The Bluegrass Situation who have hailed Finley as their Artist of the Month for
November. Finley recently performed the new album on CBS Saturday Morning, giving a
rousing performance of his singles “What Goes Around (Comes Around)” , “Sneakin’
Around”, and “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely.”

Finley recorded Black Bayou at Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville. It’s
the fourth time the duo have worked together, although for this record they did things a little
differently. Rather than write songs beforehand—as they did on 2017’s Goin’ Platinum and
2021’s Sharecropper’s Son—they conceived everything in the studio, with Auerbach leading
a band of some of the finest players around: drummers Patrick Carney (The Black Keys)
and Jeffrey Clemens (G. Love & Special Sauce), bassist Eric Deaton, and legendary Hill
Country blues guitarist Kenny Brown along with vocalists Christy Johnson and
LaQuindrelyn McMahon—who just happen to be Finley’s daughter and granddaughter. They
worked quickly, devising their parts spontaneously and getting everything in one take.
 

Black Bayou is a portrait of North Louisiana from an insider who’s lived there all his life. It
coalesces all of the vibrant genres bubbling in the bayou from southern soul, jazz, folk,
blues, rock and roll and more. A vivid collection of songs that depict life in North Louisiana,
with Finley playing the role of charismatic and knowledgeable tour guide. Tales include
surviving the jaws of an alligator on “Alligator Bait,” a true story of his grandfather using him
as bait to catch an alligator when he was a child. Songs like “Miss Kitty,” a tale of lust and
love are an instant induction into the canon of the blues tradition. In all, a collection set to
establish Finley as perhaps one of the last true bluesmen of our time and a truly original
Louisiana storyteller who evokes the place and its unique culture for the rest of the world.

“It’s amazing to realize how much of an impact Louisiana has had on the world’s music,”
says Dan Auerbach, “and Robert embodies all of that. He can play a blues song. He can
play early rock and roll. He can play gospel. He can do anything, and a lot of that has to do
with where he’s from.”

If Finley’s previous albums established him as a formidable blues and soul artist -
overcoming losing his sight in his 60s to become a music star - Black Bayou, Finley hopes,
will help put North Louisiana on the musical map and launch the next generation of
stars. Finley still plays small clubs around the region—even the occasional nursing home.
Rather than move to where the music industry is, Finley is bringing the industry down to
Bernice and working to boost regional acts and has plans for a new local recording studio in
the works. “We got a lot of good talent down here in North Louisiana, but nobody’s really
done much with it.” Finley stated, adding, “A lot of people just haven’t had the opportunity to
record—or even just be heard. It worked for me, so I might as well try to help someone else
get discovered, too.”