WALTER Trout feared that not only his career but his life could be over when doctors told him he needed a liver transplant to survive.

The celebrated American blues guitarist suffered from hepatitis C for many years and so at first he did not realise his symptoms were related to liver disease.

He was on tour in Germany when everything changed.

Walter told Weekend: "I had dizzy spells, debilitating cramps, fatigue, muscle wasting, and it wasn’t until my body filled up with fluid in May 2013 that it became obvious that I was on borrowed time.

"Doctors told me shortly thereafter that I would need a liver transplant to survive, and this started a year of fighting to stay alive until a donor liver could be found."

It was the year that the blues truly came calling for Walter with the musician coming face-to-face with death more than once.

The 66-year-old still struggles to put that battle into words, saying it is 'impossible to describe'.

His cathartic album, Battle Scars, is the closest he has come to making sense of it all.

"It was blues therapy at its finest," Walter added.

"If you listen to my album that is my best attempt at describing the pain and the feelings of fear, doubt, and hopelessness that I went through. And glimpses of hopefulness too."

The reason Walter is still around to tell the tale is largely due to his fans who helped raise almost a quarter of a million dollars in an online fundraising campaign alongside the artist's friends and family.

Walter, who has released 24 albums, said: "They helped us at the most difficult time. Since my wife works as my manager and if I don’t work, she can’t either, we had no income during my illness and lots and lots of medical bills and other expenses. The fans saved my life."

The New Jersey-born guitarist lost around 100 pounds and was sometimes barely healthy enough to record the album, The Blues Came Callin', he had just started working on when he got his diagnosis.

Walter's wife Marie moved him to Nebraska Medical Center to improve his chances of getting a life-saving liver transplant and after a long wait he got his new liver on May 26, 2014.

"She saved my life," he added.

"I love her more each day. She held the impossible together, leaving our kids with a caretaker so she could be with me in a hospital where I had a chance to get considered for a transplant. We had to travel 1,800 miles for that, and this meant she had to make impossible choices every day."

But Walter's battle continued even after the transplant.

He lost all the blood in his body following complications from the transplant. He also went into a coma for three days and did not know who he was when he came out of it due to a disease called encephalopathy.

"I didn’t think I’d ever play again, even if I survived," said Walter.

"I couldn’t imagine ever having the strength. I couldn’t even sit up for goodness sake. I had to re-learn to sit, stand, walk, and even holding a guitar took me many months after the liver transplant of working hard full days in rehabilitation before I could do it."

Almost three years on from the transplant it is a different story. With renewed strength and full of 'immense gratitude' the performer says he feels like he has been reborn.

He added: "I am grateful to still be able to do what I do, and do it better than I have been able to prior to my illness. This is like a second lease on life – and my life with music. I enjoy every gig, every note, everything."

Walter is now savouring every moment with around eight months of touring in 2017 alone.

"I love playing for people," he said.

"We are just finishing up a new album with guest performers that are all stellar like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Warren Haynes, John Mayall, Edgar Winter, and many, many more. I feel reborn literally, and sharing my music is how I live the most fully."

Walter Trout is at Parr Hall on Saturday, May 6. Visit pyramidparrhall.com or call 442345 for tickets.