The legend will perform his critically acclaimed ‘Praise & Blame’ in its entirety

Sir Tom Jones is to appear at Celtic Connections this January in an exclusive one-off show as part of Glasgow’s annual folk, roots, traditional and world music festival. A musical icon and living legend, Tom Jones will perform his latest album Praise & Blame – a highly acclaimed collection of gospel, blues and spiritual songs – at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Monday 17th January.

Tom Jones – a hugely successful artist with a multi-genre career that spans five decades – will join a stellar cast of globally renowned artists already announced for Celtic Connections 2011. His performance is part of the festival’s major gospel strand, which also features the likes of Mavis Staples, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Bettye LaVette.

Praise & Blame is a back-to-roots collection of American gospel, blues, traditional and country songs, which features material sourced from the likes of Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, John Lee Hooker and Billy Joe Shaver. Tom Jones will be backed by a six-piece band for this exclusive Celtic Connections appearance.

 
Tickets for Tom Jones: Praise & Blame go on sale on Thursday 25th November at 12 noon.
 
The Celtic Connections programme was launched last month, with other festival highlights including The Waterboys: An Appointment with Mr Yeats, Rosanne Cash, Grant Lee Buffalo, Fran Healy, Richard Thompson, Zakir Hussain, Cheikh Lô, Fiddlers’ Bid, Treacherous Orchestra, Lau, a one night only Love and Money reunion, and Forever Young – A 70th Birthday Tribute to Bob Dylan featuring Rosanne Cash, Josh Rouse, Kris Drever, Tim O’Brien, Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire and more.

The festival, which was named Best Cultural Event at the prestigious UK Event Awards last month, runs from 13th – 30th January with around 300 gigs, one-off collaborative shows, ceilidhs, talks, workshops, free events and late night sessions taking place in 14 venues across Glasgow.