Busking the grey stone streets of Canterbury, Max Martin dreamed of touring the blistering blues bars of the famous Mississippi Delta.

But before his ambition could be realised the 35-year-old tragically died at a house in Wincheap after accidentally overdosing on lethal opiate fentanyl.

Now the musician’s friend, journalist Joseph Furey, is taking Max’s recorded songs on a blues pilgrimage around the legendary joints off the banks of America’s most famous river.

The recordings and a note from ‘Max’ will be left in boxes for people to discover. People who find them are encouraged to leave messages and follow his journey on Twitter.

Writer Joseph, from Faversham, who has been covering American stories for a number of years, says it is a way of keeping his spirit alive.

“I’m overjoyed that my friend is living on, as a testament to the power of friendship as much as anything else,” he said. “The responses I’ve received from people so far can be summed up in one sentence: I hope someone does the same thing for me when my time comes.”

The pair met a decade ago through drinking in the same city bars, where they discovered a mutual love of legendary blues giants, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Robert Johnson and Bukka White.

“One song has kept playing in my head since Max’s death, and that’s Beulah Land, by Mississippi John Hurt,” Joseph says.

“It is something akin to the popular notion of heaven. I hope Max is there, outshining the sun in the best of company.

“The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the blues, a music of the dispossessed and the disenfranchised, and there’s a real sense of camaraderie among its devotees, as well as its musicians. That blues fans have responded so positively to Max’s story speaks volumes about their common humanity.”

Max used his love of blues to organise gigs and festivals at The White Horse pub in Chilham.

He was found dead alongside 22-year-old Joshua Lambert-Price in Tudor Road on August 29, three days after James Truscott died at the same address. All three had overdosed on fentanyl, an opiate 75 times stronger than heroin.

“I’m overjoyed that my friend is living on, as a testament to the power of friendship as much as anything else" - Joseph Furey

At Max’s funeral, Joseph described the popular busker as “one of life’s lovers” and an “every breath is a miracle sort of person”.

He said he would take Max to the Delta, where they had always planned to go together.

Joseph will leave proceeds from a planned feature about the journey behind a Canterbury bar so “Max can buy us all one last drink”.

Follow Max and Joseph’s trip across the Deep South on Twitter @martin_maximum.