Considered by some the iconic British blues icon’s “pièce de résistance”, the epic number first appeared as the title track on Trower‘s chartbusting 1974 album Bridge Of Sighs, bridging generations through its tasteful, soulful guitar work. Over the years, ‘Bridge Of Sighs’ has been covered by Opeth, Heart‘s Ann Wilson, and Toto‘s Steve Lukather. If you check out Metallica‘s 1998 covers album Garage Inc., there’s a hidden segment featuring part of the song.

One Moment In Time: Live In The USA was recorded during the summer of 2025 when Trower was riding high on the acclaim for his latest solo album, Come And Find Me, crossing the Atlantic for a 25-date run. Almost 60 years have passed since Trower first performed in America, but as a British gunslinger raised under slate-grey South London skies, he still remembered the culture shock.

“I first came here with Procol Harum in the late sixties. Back then, it was a different world,” he recalled.

With sound engineer James Kane rolling tape at multiple venues, Trower honed in on performances from the Music Box At The Borgata, Atlantic City (14th June) and the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, New Hampshire (24th June).

“The new album is the best take of each song from those two nights,” he explained. “It’s about the performance but also down to the sound quality. You have to choose carefully. I did a lot of listening.”

The 14-song setlist features four songs from 1974’s gold-selling Bridge Of Sighs, still hailed amongst the greatest albums from the golden era of blues rock.

“Those songs have to be in there, because they’re the audience’s favourites,” he said. “That album is still a compelling piece of music.”

The flying sparks on this live album are down to the chemistry between Trower‘s trusty power trio, with Richard Watts on bass and vocals and Chris Taggart on drums.

“I prefer this format because I have more freedom. In a three-piece, everybody is trying to make up for the missing instrument. I’m very fortunate to play with guys of this calibre. We’ve been working together now for a good ten years. They do a brilliant job.”

One Moment In Time: Live In The USA can claim to be a document of Robin Trower in full flight, just as powerful through your home speakers as it was for the fans on the front row.

“At the very least, you want the audience to be feeling entertained by the end of the show,” he considered. “But I’d really like them to walk out feeling elated. I want them to get something emotionally out of this as well…”

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The fourteen songs on this album offer a guide to Trower’s fifty-year-plus solo career, which includes a song going back as far as 1973, several tracks from more recent albums, as well as tracks recorded with bass legend Jack Bruce and with BLT, plus four tracks from his classic 1975 album, Bridge Of Sighs, still regarded by many as a blues rock standard.

Still with his regular three-piece touring band of Richard Watts, bass and vocals, and Chris Taggart, drums, two of the opening three tracks are from 2021’s No More Worlds To Conquer: the almost funky ‘The Razor’s Edge’ and the slow blues of ‘Wither On The Vine’. The song slipped in between these two was the first classic of the evening, an eight-minute rendition of ‘Too Rolling Stoned’, from 1975’s Bridge Of Sighs, where Trower’s lengthy solo was surprisingly restrained when compared to previous live efforts, but was still good.

It’s become noticeable by this point that, while there’s no denying the quality of the playing (these three are as tight as it gets, and Trower tears off some gorgeously effortless licks), the vocal quality isn’t quite there. Watts’ vocals can’t compete with the late James Dewar, who sadly died in 2002 after a decade playing alongside Trower.

We then get a rare live outing for the slow, bluesy ‘Distant Places Of The Heart’, from the Seven Moons album he recorded with Jack Bruce in 2008. This is followed by the very slow blues of ‘It’s Too Late’, from 1981’s BLT (Bruce, Lordan and Trower) album. Trower is often likened to Hendrix, and the solo in ‘Day Of The Eagle’ perhaps suggests why. ‘One Go Round’ is a new one from 2025’s Come And Find Me, and could have been written any time in the past five decades, but Trower has the stage nous to carry it off.

The nine-minute classic, ‘Bridge Of Sighs’, from the eponymous album, is simply gorgeous, with some wonderful soulful playing from Trower, bending notes like few others can. The set then winds up with ‘No More Worlds To Conquer’, followed by a lengthy guitar workout in ‘Daydream’, from 1973’s Twice Removed From Yesterday, before the set closes with another classic from Sighs, ‘A Little Bit Of Sympathy’. They encore with the rock-like ‘Rise Up Like The Sun’ before winding up with ‘Birdsong’ from No More Worlds To Conquer.

Despite this reviewer’s slight reservations about the vocals (Trower is always at his best when he plays behind a singer who’s at least as good on vocals as he is on guitar), this is a fine live album from an artist who, despite approaching 81 years young, can still play the blues in a quietly sublime manner.

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This Highwayman EP offers a mix of vintage covers and self-penned songs. It features one of the few Grand Funk Railroad numbers to have reached the UK’s rock public consciousness and a US radio staple by Humble Pie, who rarely get a mention over here in their homeland, which  is kind of ironic. Nice one then, Jared James Nicols, for reintroducing them both to a more modern audience.

Originally produced by Todd Rundgren, Grand Funk’s slick hit ‘We’re An American Band’ is given a full-bodied warm makeover here, with some choice blues slide guitar soloing and Jessica Childress adding gospel style backing vocals. She’s back along with Ben Tileston on The Pie’s ‘Thirty Day In The Hole’, a song also covered by Mr Big in recent decades, and I dare to commit heresy here by saying Nicols’ gruffer vocals and this slightly less urgent musical rendering rather appeal to me.

Of the solo songs, ‘Old Glory’ is a big, fat-riffed blues rocker with Nichols singing out “Lead me to my promised land” before delivering an expressive spur-winning solo. ‘Fallin’ Down’ starts from its drum beat, the bass rolling over and a guitar pitching riffs and chords at different tempos but doesn’t quite drive you home. Final number ‘Gone’ is a stone cold winner though – a big slow blues rocker with gentle asides, heart-felt chord changes and subtle musical interplay that, when matched with Nichol’s voice, reminds you a little of The Pat Travers Band in their heyday; played live, this could grow into quite an epic.

This is a fine taster from a promising young talent who pays respect to the past and is slowly heading out in his own direction; he’s worth following. Check out his Old Glory and The Wild Revival album and keep a look out to see when he’s next back over here to play live.

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