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Oli Brown is spending every spare moment honing his repertoire of songs and guitar-playing, as he prepares to perform in Tennessee, the home of the blues.

The 18-year-old from Sco Ruston, near North Walsham, has been chosen by the Blues In Britain magazine to showcase his tracks at the International Blues Challenge.

Oli will be taking his band - bassist Fred Hollis and drummer Simon Dring - for the trip to America's Deep South, where he will be competing among some of the world's greatest blues talents.

Fred Hollis will be packing his bass

"So excited"

The guitarist has already performed alongside a number of the scene's top names including John Mayall and he scooped a Maida Vale set for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 2's Paul Jones show last year, but he's still excited to have made it to Memphis.

"I can't wait. I'm so excited and I'm spending all my time getting ready for it," he said.

Although Oli said he hopes to make it to the final, it’s not his only goal.

"It would be good to get to the final, but really I'm also going there to make lots of contacts for touring and getting more gigs," he said.

The musician, who went professional in May after completing his A-levels at Paston College, plans to perform some new material to the gig-goers, alongside older songs which could include established crowd-pleaser Psycho.

National dates

Oli's spent the last few months complementing his roster of 'home' gigs with dates around the country - and he's been pleased with the response so far.

"We've had some fantastic turnouts at places we've never played or even touched upon," he said.

Simon Dring is going to Memphis with Oli

For now, though he will be concentrating on pleasing Tennessee's hardcore blues fans.

Given the fact that Oli and his band will have endured a 14-hour flight the day before the start on 31 January of the three-day contest, he's hoping the jetlag won't faze them.

The Oli Brown Blues Band are having to pay for the trip - a guitar signed by some acts who played at the T In The Park Festival including Reverend And The Makers - whose guitarist is also from north Norfolk - is being auctioned on eBay.

Oli Brown came into the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Norfolk Introducing studio on Friday, 18 January, 2008. You can listen to the interview by using the link at the top of this page.