MINNESOTA-based folk-blues artist Charlie Parr will be heading to Gwent on his UK tour.

He will be visiting Abergavenny’s The Art Shop & Chapel on August 31.

The tour, and his career, were never meant to have got this far had a freak accident last year had its way.

On August 3 last year, a few days after making an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, he took his daughter skateboarding over Lake Superior and shattered his shoulder.

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This led to surgery to insert a plate and eight screws to hold his shoulder together and had Parr questioning if he would be able to play guitar again.

But he was determined and just days later, he was back jamming on the guitar, and three weeks after the surgery, he was back on stage performing, despite still being in severe pain.

“It’s the defining thing in my life,” Parr said.

“When you think about yourself, you think, ‘That’s what I am. I’m the guy that plays guitar.’ So, what happens when that gets stripped out? If there’s any way you can keep doing it, you’re going to keep on.”

He also looked at his music in a new way too, leading to his self-titled album, set for release on September 21. The record will be full of new music and re-structured hits.

“I recorded some of those songs almost 20 years ago and, when I think about what my mind was like at that time, it’s not what it is now,” he added.

“In a way, I’ve been re-writing them over and over again for the past two decades.”

The record, his 14th, will lead to a re-invigorated Parr back on a gruelling international tour schedule that will hit Abergavenny at the end of August.

See Charlie at The Art Shop & Chapel in Abergavenny on August 31. Tickets are available at The Art Shop & Chapel and

online

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CHARLIE PARR UK TOUR DATES

Wed, AUG 28 Glasgow, Scotland - Centre for Contemporary Arts

Thu, AUG 29 York, UK - The Crescent Community Venue

Fri, AUG 30 Salisbury, UK - End of the Road festival

Sat, AUG 31 Abergavenny, Wales - The Art Shop & Chapel

Mon, SEP 2 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK - The Cluny

Tue, SEP 3 Chester, UK - St Mary's Creative Space

Wed, SEP 4 London, UK - The Lexington

Thu, SEP 5 Lewes, UK - Lewes Con Club