ONCE merely the preserve of world-weary old men, blues music is now being embraced by a younger generation.

Flying the flag in some style is Gillingham's Kris Dollimore who is enjoying life as a solo performer on the county's music scene.

His themes of lost love and hardship follow time-honoured traditions of the blues, yet there's a refreshing vibrancy to his work.

To date he has enjoyed an intriguingly varied career as guitarist for hire to stars including Adam Ant, veteran punk rockers The Damned and middle-of-the-road chart-toppers Del Amitri. The latter earned him a couple of Top of the Pops appearances, most memorably with Scotland’s World Cup song back in 1998.

Then there's the not inconsiderable matter of his having played lead guitar in 1980s alternative rock act The Godfaters, who despite signing a major deal with Epic records failed to make a commercial breakthrough.

Such setbacks have far from deterred Kris, who says he’d be playing music whether it be in a chart-conquering act or busking on a street corner.

Catching up with him at one of his local haunts, Rochester's Man of Kent, he's in upbeat form after recently releasing his debut album 02/01/1978 on his own label.

"It’s the thing I am most proud of, it’s been a long time coming but it has been great to see people’s reaction to it. I have to say It was a great feeling seeing it with my own little named section in HMV!"

You need look no further than the front cover of his first solo outing (showing him as an 11-year-old with guitar in hand) to see that it’s been a long-term passion.

An early love of everything from Hendrix, Dr Feelgood and Led Zep to the raw blues of John Lee Hooker set him off on the road to a career in music.

Having worked virtually every day to refine his guitar playing technique, there are many directions he could have taken. How has he coped with playing blues and what made him chose it over more mainstream sounds?

"Blues has had a dreadful reputation in the past, but I don’t think it’s depressing, it’s actually quite celebratory," said Kris.

"The tradition of the music was that it was a means of release from the slavery of plantation owners. It’s ironically happy and I play it as it’s the kind of music that you can tell stories about every day life," added the 42-year-old who tries to ensure a healthy mix of work and time spent with his family that includes wife Mandy and two young daughters Jemma and Rosie.

This summer promises a number of gigs including a home-turf gig at the Barge in Gillingham before setting off further afield for a festival in Sweden. As he freely admits, the nerves still kick in before shows, but he’d be worried if they didn’t.

"I’ve played some really big places like the Royal Albert Hall when I worked with Del Amitri which was really good. But you can’t beat playing somewhere like this pub, just doing your own thing. I love what I do and hope that people pick up on that when I play."

Anyone who’s had the chance to catch him in Medway will gladly agree you can’t fault him for his levels of passion and skill at breathing new life into an old genre.

Kris Dollimore plays the Barge, Layfield Road Gillingham on Thursday, June 28 and the Man of Kent, Rochester on Thursday, July 5. Both are free entry. For more information see krisdollimore.com