Chris Rea is back from ‘early retirement’ with a newly formed quintet, The Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes beginning their UK tour in Cardiff on March 13 — and www.uncut.co.uk has two pairs of tickets to giveaway!

Rea and his band will kick off the UK shows in Cardiff on March 13 – and the stint will also include a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Serious illness which initially caused the singer to announce he would have to quit music two years ago has not stopped him from creating a new, looser, way of performing on stage – hence the quintet’s formation.

Rea said in a statement: “I love being on tour. That’s the best job in the world, if only I had a different body. My state of health can deteriorate any moment, however, which is why I simply had to find a different way of working.”

In the past two years, the guitarist has written a new guitar book called ‘The Return of The Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes’ – dedicated to early 60s guitar – and also including 20 brand new songs, and a new album is due for release this December.

Uncut.co.uk has got two pairs of tickets to giveaway, you can choose between shows at Brighton, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield.

Full details of dates are below.

The first winner chosen will also get a copy of the ‘Super Deluxe Earbook’ edition of Chris Rea’s brand new triple album featuring: ‘The Hofner Bluenotes’ (2 CD’s) & ‘The Delmonts’ (Double 10″ vinyl & 1 CD) plus an 80 page book.

To be in with the chance of winning a pair of tickets (as detailed above) and an ‘Earbook’ simply answer the question by clicking here.

This competition closes on March 13. Winners will be notified by phone and email, so please include your daytime contact details.

The full Chris Rea tour dates are as follows:

Cardiff, St David’s Hall (March 13)

Harrogate, International Centre (6)

Pic credit: PA Photos