The Ghent blues scene has been thriving over the last couple of years – culminating in the grand opening of the Missy Sippy, an old school blues & roots club in the heart of the city. The monthly acoustic and electric jam sessions are hosted by Lightnin’ Guy Verlinde and Tiny Legs Tim – the latter will be leading the Ghent All-Star Band, a collective of young and established blues musicians from the Ghent region.

Roland Van Campenhout is the godfather of the Ghent blues scene, much like Big Bill is in Leuven. Unsurprisingly, these two legends are old friends and even lived together in days gone by – legend has it that they shared the stage with Rory Gallagher at the annual Gentse Feesten. Roland allegedly introduced Rory to Bill as ‘a friend who plays a little bit of guitar’.

Tiny Legs Tim is the winner of this year’s Belgian Blues Challenge, and will represent Belgium at the 6th European Blues Challenge at Torrita di Siena. Last year he founded his own record label – Sing My Title – which consists of established and contemporary blues musicians. His latest album Stepping Up has been topping the blues charts for over a year now – and shows no signs of slowing down.

Hohner endorser Steven Troch describes himself as a Jack-of-all-trades and a master of some. In February 2012 he won the prestigious ‘King of Swing’ award, an international harmonica competition in Oakland, USA. He recently released his long awaited solo album ‘Nice ‘n Greasy’, after 14 years of fronting the widely acknowledged blues band Fried Bourbon.