CURTIS SALGADO & ALAN HAGER DUO
LIVE AT THE OAST, RAINHAM, KENT
WEDNESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2026
18TH NOVEMBER 2026
DOORS 7PM
THE OAST, RAINHAM, KENT
FROM £25
Curtis Salgado and Alan Hager are coming to Rainham, Kent — and if you love blues played with genuine soul, real depth and the kind of quiet authority that only comes from a lifetime devoted to the music, this is the Wednesday night you need. On Wednesday 18th November 2026, Rockin’ Roots Events brings this extraordinary duo to The Oast for one of the most intimate shows you will witness all year. Just voice, harmonica, and guitar — and everything that matters about the blues.
Curtis Salgado — A Genuine Giant of the Blues
Curtis Salgado is the real thing. Born in Everett, Washington and raised in Eugene, Oregon, he was making a name for himself on the bar scene before most people had picked up an instrument — co-leading The Robert Cray Band and developing a vocal style rooted in Otis Redding, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf. In 1977 he met actor John Belushi on the set of Animal House, spending hours playing him old blues records — an encounter that directly inspired Belushi to create The Blues Brothers. He fronted Roomful of Blues, released ten solo albums and signed with Alligator Records — the world’s most celebrated blues label — in 2012. A thirteen-time Blues Music Award winner, including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Curtis Salgado is an artist who has earnt every word of his reputation.
He has performed at the Chicago Blues Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Tampa Bay Blues Festival and on stages across Europe, Asia and South America. NPR calls him “a blues icon” with a “huge voice.” And through it all — liver cancer, lung cancer twice, and open heart surgery — he has never stopped performing. Every night on stage carries the weight of that resilience, and you hear it in every note he sings.
Alan Hager — The Best Player in the Business
Beside Salgado stands Alan Hager — and that description is not ours, it is Curtis’s own. Born in Portland, Oregon, Hager picked up a guitar at ten and was playing local clubs as a teenager before heading east to study under jazz guitar legend Pat Metheny at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. He then graduated from the New England Conservatory, toured as part of a classical guitar duo, and never fell out of love with the deep Delta blues of Charlie Patton, Tommy Johnson and Skip James. He has been playing with Salgado since 2003 and joined his full band full-time in 2015. Together they recorded Rough Cut — an album on Alligator Records captured in live, unrehearsed takes, stripping the blues back to its most honest and essential form. Hager’s slide guitar work, his command of tone and touch, and his extraordinary musical range make him one of the most quietly formidable guitarists working anywhere on the blues circuit today.
Career Highlights
★ Six-Time Blues Music Award Winner — Including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, the highest honour in blues
★ Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year — Won twice, 2013 and 2017, cementing Salgado’s place at the very top of the form
★ Soul Blues Album of the Year — Won twice, for Soul Shot (2013) and The Beautiful Lowdown (2017)
★ Song of the Year — Won in 2017 for Walk A Mile In My Blues
★ The Blues Brothers Connection — Salgado’s 1977 sessions with John Belushi directly inspired the creation of The Blues Brothers
★ Shared Stages With — Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Bobby Bland and Bonnie Raitt
★ Major Festivals — Chicago Blues Festival, San Francisco Blues Festival, Tampa Bay Blues Festival and the Legendary Blues Cruise
★ Alligator Records — Home to the world’s most celebrated blues catalogue, and the label that released Salgado’s finest work
★ Alan Hager — Studied under jazz legend Pat Metheny at Berklee, graduated from the New England Conservatory, and has been Salgado’s musical partner since 2003
★ Rough Cut — Alligator Records, 2018 — Thirteen songs recorded live and unrehearsed. Sparse, soulful and utterly uncompromising
What the Press Say
★ “Curtis Salgado’s range and power as a vocalist are a tour-de-force — hard-nosed blues, beautifully nuanced R&B, phat and funky” — Billboard
★ “One of the most soulful, honest singers ever. Triumphant, joyful, blues-soaked R&B” — Blues Revue
★ “Glorious and memorable — Salgado’s voice is centre stage just as it should be. Highly recommended” — Blues & Rhythm UK
★ “Salgado inspires chills. Poignant and wise with a great sense of humour” — Blues Music Magazine
★ “Hager’s guitar, whether picking or on slide, is dazzling throughout” — Making A Scene
★ “As close to the heyday of funky old time blues as you can get without the use of a time machine” — Blues Blast Magazine
★ “He starts at excellent before segueing into goose bumps, ecstasy, and finally nirvana” — Blues Revue
In Their Own Words
★ “He’s the best player in the business, unlike anybody else. One reason I made this record was to show him off” — Curtis Salgado on Alan Hager
★ “This is where our hearts are. These are deep songs that we love to play” — Curtis Salgado
★ “This type of music moves us the most. You believe it when you hear it” — Curtis Salgado
★ “American Classical music — that’s what this is” — Alan Hager
An Evening Not to Be Missed
When NPR calls you a blues icon and Blues Revue runs out of adjectives trying to describe your live show, you have done something right. Curtis Salgado has overcome liver cancer, lung cancer and open heart surgery to keep performing — and every night on stage carries the weight of that resilience. Paired with Alan Hager, a guitarist of rare classical and blues pedigree, this duo distils the blues to something close to pure. No band needed. No production required. Just two musicians who have been playing together for over twenty years, performing the music they love most in a room where you can feel every note. Live blues in Rainham, Kent does not get much more special than this. The Oast on a November Wednesday night — intimate, focused, and unlike almost anything else you will see this year. Limited capacity. This show will sell out.
The Oast, Rainham Kent — A Venue With a Story
The Oast is one of Rainham’s most iconic buildings — constructed in the early 1870s by the Wakeley Brothers, it has overlooked Rainham station for over a century. Originally built for drying hops, it was saved from sale in the 1970s and converted into a thriving community centre run entirely by volunteers. That history gives the place a character that purpose-built venues simply can’t manufacture — exposed brickwork, a sense of occasion, and the kind of intimate atmosphere that puts you right in the room with the music. The venue sits directly adjacent to Rainham Station with parking at the rear — easy to get to, easy to get home from. This event will be held in the top room of The Oast, Rainham, Kent.