Blues-rockers Big River are set to return to the venue where their journey first started, to launch their debut album.

The band come to The Red Lion in Crete Hall Road, Gravesend, on Thursday August 15 to mark the release of their new album Redemption and celebrate a whirlwind three years on the road.

Since forming in 2016 Big River have made a name for themselves on the live circuit as an original band with songs that pack a punch and the musical chops to match - a reputation which led to support slots with big names in the blues rock world such as John Corabi, Marco Mendoza, Kris Barras, and Frankie Miller's Fullhouse, and gigs at prestigious festivals and venues such as Cambridge Rock Festival, Blues on the Farm, 100 Club, Camden Underworld, Half Moon Putney, and the Pelton Arms, Greenwich.

For the last two years they've also been back and forth from Ranscombe Studios in Rochester under the guidance of producer Jim Riley, and the long awaited debut is a collection of songs that captures both the diversity and strong signature sound and personality of the band.

Big River - that's Damo Fawsett on guitar, Adam Bartholomew on vocals, Ant Wellman on bass, and Joe Martin on drums - wrote close to 30 songs for the album, but the plethora of tunes was pared down to the nine recorded songs that remain, creating an album which at just over 30 minutes running time is a "perfect cut for vinyl" according to Jim Riley.

Released’ via Trouserphonic on August 16, Redemption is the sound of a band that have honed their craft on the live circuit and condensed those skills into 30 minutes of heartfelt lyrics and no frills heavy rock music.

And guitarist Damo said the band had made an effort to reflect their live sound in the record.

“To capture the energy and chemistry in every track, we record it live," he explained. "We’re all in the same room playing the songs and that really does make for something special - no click tracks, no gimmicks and very minimal overdubs. What you hear on the recordings is how we sound live on stage.”

Tickets for album launch night the event are £5 in advance available from www.ticketsource.co.uk

Support on the night comes from fellow Kent artists Sean de Burca and Steve Hewitt, starting from 7pm.

Read more: All the latest Gravesend news