Two American musicians suffered a nerve-wracking day of travel chaos to ensure they arrived in the Isle of Man for the start of their British Isles and Spain tour.

The world-renowned Erin Harpe Country Blues Duo's woes began on Tuesday evening when their British Airways flight from Boston to Heathrow was delayed for three hours.

When married couple Erin Harpe and Jim Countryman finally arrived in the UK on Wednesday their luggage was missing and they spent six hours in the airport trying to track it down.

They were sent back and forth between two terminals until finally their Apple AirTag on their bags helped them locate it.

But that was just the beginning of their problems.

A couple of weeks before they were due to travel, Logan Air had changed the time of their Heathrow to Isle of Man flight - so it departed two hours early.

Due to the delayed Boston flight - and the search for their luggage - they missed their connection to the island.

With no more flights from Heathrow to the island that day the duo had to head for London City Airport.

The hours-long luggage search left them with a tiny narrow deadline to get to City Airport via train - and they made it there with just a few minutes to spare, finally arriving in the island 24 hours after they had set off from home.

The Erin Harpe Country Blues Duo are started their tour by playing at the Erin Arts Centre, Port Erin, on Friday, The Institute, Laxey on Saturday and the Peel Centenary Centre on Sunday.

Erin also hosted a guitar workshop on Sunday morning in Douglas.

Jim said: ‘It was a totally frantic day - the joys of being on the road as travelling musicians!

‘We covered 12,000 steps going back and forth between terminals at Heathrow to find our luggage, then we had to navigate London’s complex train system! 

‘But we are absolutely delighted to be here and back in the Isle of Man to start our tour.’

Concert promoter John Gregory, from Douglas, said: ‘It wasn’t the ideal start for Jim and Erin - a delayed flight, a flight brought forward, lost luggage and a nail-biting dash across London to get a different flight.

‘Jim messaged me to say they were on the train to City Airport but I knew it was going to be tight.

‘The next message I received was to say they were waiting to board the plane and there was relief all round after a tense day.

‘It was absolutely amazing to see my friends again.’