Lightning Threads

Sheffield’s own soul-swaggering trio, Lightning Threads deal in grit, groove, and rhythm. At core, a band that lives for the push and pull of authentic live music: squeezed through valve amps and carried by raw collective moments. Tom Jane (guitar/vocals) slinging riffs and licks which veer from melodic subtle moments to searing solos. Locking down the low-end groove is Sam Burgum (bass/vocals), providing the glue and the bounce all at once. Then Hugh Butler (drums/keys) shifts between thunderous backbeats and textured organ parts, creating a much bigger sound than you might expect. You can hear the DNA straight away — the late ‘60s British blues explosion runs right through us. Bands like The Doors, Rory Gallagher, Santana, Cream, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Peter Green's Mac, Free — that raw, exploratory energy where blues met volume. But we’re just as shaped by the electric blues artists that came before them — B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sister Rosetta — who were the originators of that emotional weight and storytelling. And then there’s the modern torchbearers: SRV, Gary Clark Jr., Kingfish, Marcus King, Bonamassa, Samantha Fish, DeWolff, Fantastic Negrito — artists who’ve taken that tradition and kept it alive into the present day. Somewhere in the middle of all that is where we sit — we're not trying to recreate it, but to carry it forward, with our own stamp on it.