Slide guitarist Saffron Summerfield entertains Thorley U3A with tales of her musical journey from Milton Keynes to Mississippi

Saffron Summerfield entertained a Thorley U3A audience with tales of her musical journey from Milton Keynes, where she grew up, to Mississippi, where she learnt to play the bottleneck slide guitar.

Saffron brilliantly demonstrated her talent on the instrument at the talk at the Charis Centre on Monday September 2.

During her career she has been on the same bill as Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon and Sandy Denny, and has supported Leonard Cohen.

Long John Baldry asked her to play with his blues band, which at the time included Reg Dwight – aka Elton John – and Rod Stewart.

Saffron has appeared on the John Peel and Bob Harris BBC radio programmes playing her guitar.

She treated the U3A (University of the Third Age) audience to a mix of songs ranging from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess to music hall song My Old Man (Said Follow the Van).

Audience member Barry Maxwell said: “It was fantastic entertainment from a talented musician and songwriter that had the audience captivated.”