A MASTER fiddler and talented singer all the way from Lafayette, Louisiana is stopping off in north Wales as part of his tour.

Courtney hails from the Balfa family lineage, evident in his powerful vocals and fiddling style.

On Thursday, August 22, Courtney will be playing at the Caban in Brynrefail, between Deiniolen and Llanberis.

He will be accompanied by Jock Tyldesley and Vera van Heeringen, of The Flatville Aces, playing a mainly country set, although promoters say they may crack out a few Cajun favourites too!

For the past 10 years, Courtney has been playing and touring full-time worldwide with Cajun groups the Pine Leaf Boys (with whom he has been nominated for three Grammys) and Balfa Toujours.

Courtney has always had a deep affinity for and knowledge of classic country music.

“Some people learned to sing in church” he says, “but I learned to sing in bars”.

While his family set up to play the dance, young Granger was singing along with old country records on the jukebox, particularly those of George Jones.

The recently released Beneath Still Waters is Courtney’s long-awaited solo country debut on which he pays homage to those roots.

Featuring a master group of Southern roots musicians and production by the renowned Dirk Powell, the album showcases Granger’s ‘sublime vocals’ on a selection of gems.

Promoters say there is an “undeniable weight” to Granger’s vocals, described as the kind of power you can hear in the best country singers.

They say the sound is “tied to the land, tied to the accent, and tied to the kind of people who gravitate to late night dances at the local honky-tonk.”

The doors will open at 7.30pm. The tickets are £10 and are available now from Caban, Palas Print in Caernarfon (01286 674631) and Mudshark Records Bangor.