Young Blues Guitar Stars: 10 Rising Players You Need to Hear
In January 2023, a twenty-year-old guitarist from Houston named Mathias Lattin walked onto the International Blues Challenge stage in Memphis and played like he had been doing it for decades. He won. Not just the competition — he also took home Best Guitarist honors, making him the youngest player to claim both titles in the event’s history. However, Lattin is far from alone. Across the United States and beyond, a new wave of young blues guitar stars is proving that the genre’s future burns just as bright as its past.
This is not a list of players who might get good someday. These young blues guitar stars are already winning awards, signing to big labels, playing major festivals, and earning the respect of legends. Furthermore, they are doing it while pushing the blues form into new ground — mixing tradition with funk, soul, gospel, rock, and sounds that their elders never dreamed of. If you think the blues belongs in a museum, these ten players will change your mind fast.
Mathias Lattin: Houston’s IBC Champion
At twenty-two, Mathias Lattin has already accomplished what most blues musicians spend an entire career chasing. His 2023 International Blues Challenge victory reverberated across the blues world, and the professional accolades kept accumulating. Consequently, he landed a prestigious spot on the 2025 Experience Hendrix Tour and performed on Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea cruise — both extraordinary stages for a player barely old enough to rent a car.
Lattin’s style sits at the place where blues, soul, and funk meet — a sound shaped by his home city of Houston, where Third Ward Texas blues culture runs deep. His debut Up Next lives up to its name. The playing is smooth and warm, built on the kind of single-note lines that recall B.B. King but run through a clearly modern lens.
Also, he comes from a family with sports fame — his grandfather is NBA Hall of Famer David “Big Daddy” Lattin — but the young man chose six strings over hardwood floors. In short, Lattin plays with a calm grip on his craft that most players take years to find.
Notably, he took classical and jazz guitar lessons as a teen before the blues pulled him in for good — a path that gives his playing a polish most blues rookies lack.
D.K. Harrell: Alligator Records’ Newest Star
When Alligator Records signs a young artist, the blues world pays attention. The label that built its reputation on Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, and Hound Dog Taylor does not take chances on hype alone. In 2025, they bet on D.K. Harrell — and the twenty-seven-year-old from Louisiana justified every bit of that confidence.
Harrell’s debut for Alligator, Talkin’ Heavy, dropped in June 2025 after being cut at Kid Andersen’s famed Greaseland Studios. The album drew fast praise for its tone, calm feel, and stinging single-note bends. Nevertheless, Harrell is no throwback act. His songs speak to modern life while his guitar work honors the old ways.
He had already won the 2024 Blues Music Award for Best Emerging Artist on the strength of his independent release The Right Man — the Alligator deal simply confirmed what the blues world already knew. Moreover, Harrell writes all his own material, which keeps his sound fresh and tied to his own life rather than to old formulas.
Specifically, his live act has drawn praise for the same reason his records work — he plays with patience and lets each note land before moving to the next.
Grace Bowers: Nashville’s Teenage Blues-Funk Prodigy
Grace Bowers is eighteen years old and has already performed at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival — a considerable accomplishment by any professional standard. Moreover, she has appeared on national television with Dolly Parton and earned enthusiastic endorsements from Brian May. At an age when most people are deliberating over college majors, Bowers is deliberating over which legendary stage to play next.
Based in Nashville, Bowers plays a high-energy mix of blues, funk, and classic rock that will not sit still. Her debut album Wine on Venus (2025) puts on display a player who hits every note with bold intent and a tone that lands between Jimi Hendrix fuzz and Prince funk.
Her fan base grew fast through YouTube blues covers, but Bowers is no internet act. The Crossroads invite proved that. In particular, the GRAMMY Museum has shown her in their Spotlight series — a nod that tends to go to artists twice her age. Accordingly, Bowers may have the widest range of styles at her fingertips among the rising players on this list.
Additionally, she has been picked up by IMG Models for fashion and beauty work — a rare crossover move that brings blues to audiences who might never click on a blues playlist on their own.
Taj Farrant: The Australian Prodigy Going Global
At sixteen, Taj Farrant is the youngest artist on this list — and arguably the one with the most jaw-dropping trajectory. The Australian-born guitarist’s debut album Chapter One (2024) hit number one on the iTunes Blues Charts in multiple countries. Accordingly, the blues world started treating him less like a curiosity and more like a serious contender.
Farrant has shared stages with Buddy Guy, Carlos Santana, and Rob Thomas. In 2025, he played on Joe Bonamassa’s Blues Alive at Sea beside Eric Gales and Samantha Fish. His 2025-2026 tour spans sixteen dates across the United States — not bad for someone who cannot drive in most states.
Furthermore, his playing shows a depth of feeling that goes well past his age. He bends notes like someone who has lived with the blues for forty years, not four. Ultimately, Farrant is a name to track — the skill is already there, and the years ahead will only add depth.
Toby Lee: Britain’s Blues Wunderkind
The British blues tradition that gave the world Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Rory Gallagher is alive and well in the hands of Toby Lee. At twenty years old, Lee has already won three Young Blues Artist of the Year awards and the prestigious Bob Harris Emerging Artist Award at the 2025 UK Americana Awards.
His debut album House on Fire reached number one on iTunes. As a result, the great Jools Holland tapped Lee for sixty dates with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra in 2024-2025 — a huge nod for a teen player. In addition, Lee runs his own forty-date band tour each year, which puts him at over a hundred live shows per year.
That kind of stage time builds a player fast. His tone carries echoes of the British Blues Invasion — warm, tube-driven, and true to the sound that turned American blues into a world language. Consequently, Lee stands out for sheer volume of live work at such a young age.
Muireann Bradley: Ireland’s Fingerpicking Traditionalist
In December 2023, a seventeen-year-old guitarist from County Donegal, Ireland walked onto the set of Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny and performed Rev. Gary Davis’s “Candyman” with the kind of fingerpicking precision that earned a standing ovation from the studio audience. Consequently, the blues world took notice of Muireann Bradley — a teenager channeling Piedmont blues and pre-war Delta traditions with a conviction that belies her age.
Bradley grew up in Ballybofey listening to her father play country blues and ragtime. He spoke about Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, and Rev. Gary Davis as though they were mythological figures — and by age nine, she picked up the guitar to chase those sounds herself. Furthermore, COVID lockdowns gave her years of uninterrupted practice time, and by thirteen a YouTube video of her playing Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues” caught the attention of Josh Rosenthal at Tompkins Square Records.
Her debut album I Kept These Old Blues (2023) was recorded in a small Ballybofey studio — one microphone, no overdubs, just voice and acoustic guitar captured in single takes. In addition, Decca Records signed her in late 2024 and reissued the album in February 2025 with a remastered mix and a new track: Memphis Minnie’s “When the Levee Breaks.” Her follow-up EP Rose Dogs (November 2025) introduced original compositions alongside traditional material, signaling artistic growth beyond pure interpretation.
Moreover, Bradley performed on Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea cruise in March 2025 and played the Kennedy Centre’s Millennium Stage that April — a billing that puts her acoustic blues alongside some of the biggest names in contemporary music.
Piper & The Hard Times: Nashville’s IBC Champions
Not every young blues guitar star is a solo act. Piper & The Hard Times, the Nashville band led by vocalist and guitarist Al “Piper” Green, won the 2024 International Blues Challenge Band Division and has not slowed down since. Their debut album Revelation hit number one on the Billboard Blues Album Chart in August 2024 — a feat that would be impressive for a veteran act, let alone a band barely known outside Memphis a year earlier.
Their follow-up, Good Company (2025), was cut in just three days at Nashville’s Oceanway Studio A and earned the 2025 Blues Music Award for Best Emerging Artist Album. The band mixes blues-rock with funk, soul, and rock in a way that feels both fresh and rooted.
Notably, the blues world rallied around Al Green after his cancer news in mid-2025, which added weight to their already strong live shows. Back-to-back Billboard and BMA nods proved that Piper & The Hard Times are here to stay.
Solomon Hicks: Harlem’s Blues-Jazz Fusion
Solomon Hicks grew up playing guitar in Harlem — a neighborhood that shaped his sound as deeply as any Delta crossroads or Chicago club shaped earlier generations. His debut album Harlem won the Blues Music Award for Best Emerging Artist Album and established him as one of the most versatile young guitarists in the blues world. Therefore, Mascot Records signed him, and his second album How Did I Ever Get This Blue? came out in January 2026.
What distinguishes Hicks is his extraordinary versatility. He draws from jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, funk, Afro-Cuban music, and rock — sometimes incorporating multiple traditions simultaneously within a single composition. At thirty, he is the oldest name on this list, but his recent artistic development marks a sophisticated musician hitting his stride.
He recently dropped the “King Solomon” stage name for simply Solomon Hicks — a choice that shows depth over youthful flash. Furthermore, his WBGO jazz press and podcast spots prove that his fans go well past the usual blues circuit. Still, his roots stay firmly in the blues.
In other words, Hicks is a player who refuses to be boxed in by genre tags — and that makes him one of the most interesting names on this list.
Eddie 9V: Dan Auerbach’s Blues Bet
When Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys signs an artist to his Easy Eye Sound label, it means one thing: the player has the grit and real feel to bridge blues roots with modern sounds. Eddie 9V, a twenty-eight-year-old from the southern touring circuit, earned that backing. His guitar work channels the fat, greasy tone of Freddie King with a modern soul sensibility that keeps things from feeling like a tribute act.
His 2025 team-up with hip-hop artist King Bliss on “Blues in the City” pushed the limits of what young blues players are willing to try — mixing old-school guitar lines with hip-hop beats in a way that felt real rather than forced. Similarly, his 2025-2026 national tour puts him in clubs across the South and Midwest, with two-night runs in Chicago.
That relentless road work cultivates the kind of dedicated regional following that sustains a blues career for decades. In fact, a new album for Easy Eye Sound is anticipated in 2026, and it could be the recording that elevates him from the club circuit to the festival main stage.
Essentially, Eddie 9V treats the blues like a living thing — something to build on, not just repeat.
Rhys John Stygal: Surrey’s Seventeen-Year-Old SRV Disciple
In March 2020, a twelve-year-old from Egham, Surrey picked up a guitar for the first time. Five years later, Rhys John Stygal stood on stage at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix alongside Buddy Guy and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram in front of 2,500 people. That trajectory alone makes him one of the most compelling young blues guitar stars on the scene today.
Stygal’s story carries weight beyond the fretboard. Diagnosed with autism, he struggled with severe anxiety as a child — unable to leave the house with his mother, unable to handle a trip to the supermarket. Consequently, the guitar became his lifeline, and the transformation has been extraordinary. Furthermore, his playing channels Stevie Ray Vaughan with a fidelity that earned him a finalist spot for the Jules Fothergill Young Blues Artist of the Year at the 2024 UK Blues Awards — and a Guitar World feature calling him “the next SRV.”
In 2025, Stygal brought his Stratocaster to Texas for the Dallas International Guitar Festival and a first-responder benefit at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters in Austin. He also recorded collaborative sessions with artists including Lindsay Beaver through the Emberoma Sessions project. At seventeen, he has no major-label deal yet and no traditional album — but the live performances and session recordings demonstrate a player whose tone and phrasing already operate at a professional level.
What These Young Blues Guitar Stars Mean for the Genre
Look at this list and a clear pattern shows up. These young blues guitar stars are not clinging to the past. They honor Delta blues roots, Chicago electric sounds, and Texas swagger — but they filter it through funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz, and styles that reflect where music is going, not just where it has been.
The Infrastructure Behind the Movement
In addition, the institutional infrastructure backing these artists has shifted considerably. Alligator Records continues investing in young talent with D.K. Harrell, Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound is bridging blues and pop audiences through Eddie 9V, and Decca Records signed Muireann Bradley — a teenager from rural Ireland — to a major-label deal. Meanwhile, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram launching Red Zero Records at twenty-five mirrors what Chess Records did for Chicago blues in the 1950s. The financial commitment and the faith are there — and so is the talent to justify them.
Competitions and Festivals as Launchpads
Similarly, the International Blues Challenge remains the preeminent launching pad for emerging talent. Mathias Lattin and Piper & The Hard Times both transformed IBC victories into national touring careers within months. Furthermore, Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival keeps opening its doors to teenagers — Grace Bowers demonstrating that the guest list is getting younger every cycle, while the UK Blues Awards recognized Rhys John Stygal at just fifteen. Above all, the pattern is unmistakable: the gatekeepers of the blues world — label heads, festival programmers, award voters, and the established artists themselves — are placing substantial bets on young talent.
The Present, Not Just the Future
These ten young blues guitar stars are not the future of the blues. They are the present. Records are out. Tours are booked. Awards sit on the shelf. In the end, all that remains is for you to press play and hear what the next chapter sounds like.
