REVEREND Peyton's Big Damn Band play the Blues Café Bar, in Montpellier Parade, Harrogate, on Thursday, led by their larger-than-life frontman, Southern Indiana singer-guitarist Reverend Peyton.

He is a persuasive evangelist for the rootsy country blues styles that inspired the Rev and his band to make pilgrimages to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to study under such blues masters as T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour and David “Honeyboy” Edwards.

The Brown County musician will be promoting his latest album, Front Porch Sessions, released in March on the Family Owned Records/Thirty Tigers label.

"It started as a literal whim on my part, but it turned into something really special," Reverend Peyton says of this new collection. "I wanted it to feel like you’re on my front porch. You can almost hear the wood creaking."

The album showcases the enduring spirit of such acoustic blues icons as Charlie Patton, Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White and Furry Lewis, whose When My Baby Left Me receives the Rev treatment.

"I didn’t have much planned when I went into the studio," the Reverend recalls. “I had some new songs and some old songs that I’ve always wanted to try. At first, I thought ‘Well, maybe we’ll make it a download or release a single'. But it took on a life of its own, and when it was all said and done, I was as proud of it as anything I’ve ever done. To me, it was a lesson in not overthinking things; I just went in and let my gut guide me."

The recording sessions took place at a studio memorably called Farm Fresh. "It's right down the street from my house,” the Rev says. “It’s in the shade of the oldest poplar tree in Indiana, and there’s a graveyard next to it and train tracks run across there. In fact, I think you can hear the train on one track. The studio’s in an old church, and the main sanctuary is the tracking room, so the haunting reverb that you hear is that room.

"We used a lot of vintage gear in the recording. I love that organic sound, and I’m always chasing that in everything I do. I just like things that feel timeless. Feeling timeless to me is way more important than feeling old. When you try to make something sound old, you’re trying too hard."

The Front Porch Sessions is "very personal" for the Rev, "because so much of it is just me"."The Big Damn Band is on there, but it’s mostly me," he says.

The Big Damn Band's shows have "gotten more dynamic" over the years. "The ups are more up and the downs are more down," says The Rev. "That’s something that’s important to me. If I go and see a show and someone’s just standing there and staring at their feet and singing their songs, I feel insulted. That’s not a performance. I want to know that you’re living that song, not just regurgitating it. I don’t think artists should seem like they’re too cool for their audience."

For tickets, go to bluesbar.co.uk