ROBIN Trower has long roamed the globe in search of sound.

For when Trower surfaced on rock and roll’s radar with Procul Harum in 1967, his atmospheric, effects-laden guitar style brought inevitable comparisons with Jimi Hendrix.

Trower’s uncanny ability to channel the sonic sound of Hendrix’s bluesy, psychedelic, guitar style saw him dubbed the white Hendrix.

But he quickly made his own mark – The Rolling Stones were big fans – and his second album Bridge of Sighs, named after a horse he plucked from the racing pages at random, reached the top 10 in America.

“I don’t think that’s very fair on Jimi really,” joked Trower on the Hendrix association and who makes his debut at the Grand, Clitheroe, next month.

“I saw Hendrix play in Berlin in 1970 and the guy was a genius, even when he was playing badly.

“He was head and shoulders above everybody else. Nobody has come close, before or since.

“I’m very fortunate to do what I do, but he was just too good to get up on stage with.”

Trower’s 71 now, but insists that age is a state of mind.

He added: “The secret to my happiness is to look forward to the next instalment in life and music gives me the joy.

“I’ve had to work harder as I’ve got older, but I’m just as creative as I was.”

Trower, though, bemoans the lack of genuine talent in the modern era and admits that he very rarely listens to new music.

“For example, Blues has become a term for Blues-influenced rock and roll,” said Trower.

“That’s fine, but there aren’t any artists left now that can play what we would have called the Blues when I was growing up.

“I’m talking about Howlin Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters.

“The life they led was more to do with what they were singing about in their lyrics.

“There are no musicians of that calibre today.

“We are talking about musical giants here, guys who created the language of that music.”

Trower, though, says he does not consider himself a Blues guitarist, adding: “I’m Blues-influenced, that’s all.

“But Blues for me is black American folk music.

“You can get close by imitating it, but it really does become Blues-influenced rock and roll when the white guys do it.

“If you had talents like that today, Wolf, Hooker and Waters, then certainly we’d be saved from America’s Got Talent.”

Despite the recognition and the plaudits that came his way, Trower says his career stalled in the 1980s.

He said: “There was a lot of pressure from the record companies to write commercial stuff but I wasn’t into that.”

However, Trower’s latest offering – Where You Are Going To - sounds inventive, surprising and catchy to boot.

“I map out a lot of what I want to do before I go in the studio,” he said.

“I have a good sense of what I’m trying to achieve.

“New technology has made recording easier, but it is very important that you don’t let technology run it.

“It’s got to be about the performance, and the power of the music.

“I like to play the guitar for two or three hours a day, and that invariably leads to a new song idea every few days.”

Robin Trower, Clitheroe Grand, Friday, October 7. Special guest will be Stevie Nimmo. Details from the box office 01200 421599.