When: 7.30pm on Wednesday 23 October 2024
Where: YES Pink Room, 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB

We’re excited to working with Blue Bendy for the first time!

Blue Bendy have stretched out into vast new sonic terrain with their debut album So Medieval. Their two lead singles Mr Bubblegum – a joyously intricate piece of experimental guitar pop – and the frenetic, propulsive yet incredibly deft sprawl of Cloudy, saw the band reach new heights creatively. Of the former, the Guardian enthused: ‘Indie is riddled with addled, verbose frontmen right now, but none so rapturous as Blue Bendy’s Arthur Nolan: here he dances all over splayed post-rock and micro-cataclysms.’

In one of many glowing reviews, Pitchfork described the album as ‘defiant, high-stakes art-rock’ whilst The Independent described Nolan as a ‘cherub gone through the wringer’ in their recent profile.

Having toured as main support for Squid and Cola as well as playing packed out tents at festivals like End Of The Road and Green Man, Blue Bendy have struck a balance between being obviously skilled musicians, writing complex, layered, overlapping and ambitious compositions, while also utilising space, breadth, and restraint. Their music is bursting with dynamism, exploring push-pull dynamics that results in something ceaselessly unpredictable.

It results in a sound that is rare for a new band: as experimental as it is confident and assured, as tender as it is visceral, as quiet as it is loud, as bloody as it is teary.

Special guests are Sunglasz Vendor. Formed from Bristol’s avant-garde underbelly (Bingo Fury, Ex-Agent, Grandchild) at the start of 2023, Sunglasz Vendor sees devout experimentalists turn to embrace the eternal comforts of rock radio hooks, pensive emo, and Kerrang! teenage angst.

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When: 7.30pm on Monday 21 October 2024
Where: Trades Club, Holme Street, Hebden Bridge HX7 8EE

We’re delighted to welcome John Francis Flynn to the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge.

The release of his second album Look Over the Wall, See the Sky last The November kicked off a huge start to the year for Dubliner John Francis Flynn.

John masterfully unpicks traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force. They float in a surreal space between the past and the present, the analog and the digital, between love and tragedy..The unconventional use of instruments and jagged arrangements gives the work a magnetism by drawing you into its curious orbit of experimental folk.

Look Over The Wall, See The Sky is a re-imagining of traditional Irish music: powerful, hopeful and free. John Francis Flynn is a singer and multi-instrumentalist who creates contemporary music using traditional and folk material. His debut album I Would Not Live Always was released on Rough Trade imprint River Lea Records in 2020, earning rave reviews and winning two awards at the RTE Folk Awards.

Tour support comes from Kevin Fowley. Growing up, Kevin Fowley split his time between living in France and Ireland. He listened to French lullabies sung by his mother in one room, while his father would be playing Donegal tunes on the fiddle in another. His upbringing is apparent in his most recent record, À Feu Doux, released via Basin Rock in the summer of 2024. Seamlessly gliding across folk, jazz, and a rich yet shimmering in between sound. Real night time music.

This show is a co-promotion with Please Please You and the Brudenell.

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When: 8pm on Wednesday 30 October 2024
Where: Night & Day Cafe, 26 Oldham St, Manchester, M1 1JN

We’re delighted to be welcome Old Sea Brigade back to Manchester!

We never know where life will take us. The path forever twists and turns in unexpected directions. Singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Ben Cramer a.k.a. Old Sea Brigade, never imagined he would be living almost 5,000 miles away from his native Georgia in Sweden as a husband and father. However, that’s where he is now!

Moreover, he’s sharing the story of this unpredictable journey on his 2024 EP series If I Only Knew (Parts 1 & 2) (released via Nettwerk Music Group).

A season of change informs the seven tracks on Part 1.

‘Five years ago, my life looked so different,’ he observes. ‘I didn’t even know where Gothenburg was on the map. If you told me I’d be living in Sweden with a family of my own, I wouldn’t have believed you. So, the title, If I Only Knew, is fitting. This record was made after getting married and becoming a dad. It was a lot to process. It’s amazing, though. I always just let whatever’s happening reflect in the songs.’

Such reflections have defined the music of Old Sea Brigade since 2016. Listeners have followed along as Ben effectively journaled his life aloud across projects such as Old Sea Brigade EP (2016), Ode To A Friend (2019), All The Ways You Sing in the Dark EP (2020) with Luke Sital-Singh, Motivational Speaking (2021), and 5AM In Paradise (2022). His catalogue has quietly generated hundreds of millions of streams anchored by Love Brought Weight, Tidal Wave, Hope and Call Me When You Land (with Luke Sital-Singh). Beyond inciting the applause of Boston Globe, Brooklyn Vegan, Consequence, No Depression, Uncut, Under The Radar, and more, he made his national television debut with a stunning appearance on CBS Mornings Saturday Sessions.

For If I Only Knew, he re-teamed with some of his closest creative confidants co-producers Jeremy Griffith and Owen Lewis. Over the course of three weeks, they recorded the project in Sweden for the first time.

‘We made some great memories together, and we really defined the sound in my studio,’ Ben smiles. ‘They challenge me in all of the right ways. We talked a lot about the differences of working in Sweden versus Nashville. Society seems less stressed in Europe. The Swedes have a saying, “Don’t be too happy or too sad. Keep everything down the middle” — which is what we tried to do.’

He initially teased this era with Polygraph. Right out of the gate, it resonated with listeners. On its heels, the single Heaven In The Right Light layers dreamy piano and lightly strummed guitar over an airy backbeat. Ben’s delicate delivery echoes on the hook, ‘Heaven in the right light, so strange, wonder what you might find.’

‘I was listening to a lot of José González, and I wanted to write a soft number,’ he says. ‘We made a loop out of different drumbeats. Jeremy suggested a key change, and we pulled it off.’

On Rest Assured, loose guitar gives way to swooning strings in the wake of a lush and lovestruck refrain, ‘Rest assured that I’m on your side. The rest is yours, and you’re all mine.’

‘It’s a no-frills, very intentional song about love — as if there aren’t enough,’ he laughs.

Synths murmur through a haze on If You Had To Ask, while a lilting piano crescendo carries the song towards a sonic exhale. Then, there’s Real Life. Acoustic guitar brushes up against a glitchy beat, and a moment of acceptance crystallises on the chorus, ‘I guess it’s real life. If it worries you, leave it alone.’

‘The lyrics were really stream-of-conscious,’ he says. ‘The message is just let go and trust the process. Focus on what you can control and do your best. I’m a firm believer everything will work itself out, and the song reflects this narrative.’

The finale, The Tourist, revolves around stark acoustic guitar, grainy beat-craft, bright flute, cinematic strings, and his so-grizzled-it’s-beautiful timbre. It ends on a gentle realisation, ‘The days of being strangers now are gone.’

‘It was inspired by feeling like a tourist when I got to Sweden,’ he says. ‘It’s not a bad thing, but most of the time, I do feel like a tourist.’

‘Old Sea Brigade has been my creative outlet for so many of my formative years as an adult,’ he concludes. ‘The catalogue is there to document how I felt in all of these changes and normal events that followed me around for the last eight years. I’m incredibly grateful for this life. I wouldn’t have met my wife if it wasn’t for Old Sea Brigade. It’s the reason I came to Sweden. It’s the reason I’m a dad. It’s the reason I’ve met so many of my friends.’

Tour support comes from Hayden Calnin. Making sounds for eyes closed. See where you go. Previously, Hayden was producing music for other artists and composing songs that have appeared in various films and TV series, atop the achievements of his own work, earning praise from tastemakers like Magnetic, Clash and Earmilk.

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When: 7.30pm on Wednesday 6 November 2024
Where: Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW

We’re delighted to be working with Coruja Jones again!

Join Coruja Jones and his full band this November to celebrate the launch of his second record, Undo. Following on from his debut The Crossing, the EP delves into the healing process in different forms, examining the calm and the chaos that can come from attempted self-betterment, and witnessing and wanting to heal other’s hardship, all through a lens of love.

Produced by Sam Vicary (The Cinematic Orchestra, Hunrosa), the EP features Adam Dawson (BC Camplight), Sam Vicary and Jake Stentiford (Alina Ly, Sobi, Charlie Cooper).

Its dreamy, melancholic indie-folk songs feature soaring high notes and intricate, delicate guitar work, plus killer grooves, which take aim at your heart.

Coruja Jones is a songwriting project from Manchester-based musician and songwriter Dan Jones, originally hailing from Dudley in the West Midlands. He has been championed by the likes of BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson and toured with Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Joe Jackson, as well as supporting Daudi Matsiko, Callum Beattie, Amelia Coburn and Caoilfhionn Rose to name a few.

‘Deft and assured’ – Tom Robinson (BBC 6 Music)

‘Like Tom Waits singing nursery rhymes’ -Wayne McDonald (Picnic Area)

Special guests are Alina Ly and Benjamin Finney.

Beginning her career in Seattle, Washington’s music scene in 2011, Alina Ly’s music led her to Los Angeles, California in 2013 then soon after to the UK. While playing a countless number of shows around the world, writing and recording between her home cities, Alina released multiple successful singles over the years and sold out her debut headline shows across the UK. Since then, Alina has been immersed in various projects and co-writes, but most notably working on several EP’s and a debut album with her full band.

A rare blend of fingerstyle guitar, elements of folk and americana – think boundary-pushing blues heavyweight John Martyn with the ethereal ambiance of Sigur Ros. This is the unique sound of Benjamin Finney. Achieving technical virtuosity while retaining melodic integrity, Finney creates honest folk driven acoustic instrumentals. Each piece is composed with the intention of drawing the listener into the song, and encouraging them to stay and hang on every note.

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When: 7.30pm on Friday 8 November 2024
Where: Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW

We’re delighted to be working with Good News for the first time!

Sheffield’s resident wonky-popskis Good News are set to release their debut album Small Forms via Bingo Records on 13 September, and have announced a headline tour.

First singles out the gates are double a-sides Orange Juice In The Shower b/w Tits – a pair of tracks which set the tone for an album as bristling with lean pop hooks as it is with caustic socio-political barbs. Orange Juice… looks at domestic relationships while Tits looks outwards, dishing out withering criticism much further reaching than its 1:39 run time would seemingly allow. Treated bass and eczema-dry percussion carry the music, rhythm first, delivering taut missives accented by discordant clarinet and guitar. Good News epitomise the concept of making a point and not sticking around too long.

Recorded in a studio built in the band’s attic with in-house Bingo Records producer Zac Barfoot, Small Forms follows their 2023 debut EP Same As That, which earned the band a live session with Marc Riley & Gideon Coe (BBC 6 Music). Since then, their feisty clarinet, bass, and cowbell-propelled rhythms have bounced around the North and London supporting The Bug Club, Kid Congo & The Pink Monkeybirds, Wesley Gonzalez & Wild Garlic and Acid Klaus.

Small Forms will be released on vinyl and digitally, with singles, radio and press campaigns to support the album and accompanying tour dates.

Local support comes from Adam Hopper & The Wimps. Adam Hopper is a singer-songwriter based in Manchester. Concentrating on poignant, wry lyricism and catchy melodies, he creates his own unique brand of wide-eyed, mellow alternative pop music. Adam’s sound is informed by the brighter moments of 1970s New York’s art rock and pop movements and the carefree, DIY attitude of 1990s Lo-Fi and anti-folk scenes. Adam spent the first half of 2023 gigging solo across the country, honing his material, and emerged later in the year, fully fleshed out with his band The Wimps.

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When: 7.30pm on Sunday 10 November 2024
Where: Trades Club, Holme Street, Hebden Bridge HX7 8EE

We’re delighted to be returning to the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge – with Montreal’s Myriam Gendron.

Mayday is the third LP by Montreal-based artist Myriam Gendron. It follows her earlier, critically acclaimed albums, Not So Deep As A Well (2014 – reissued last year on Todmorden-based label Basin Rock) and Ma délire – Songs of love, lost & found (2021).

Prior to her debut album, Myriam’s primary musical focus was busking in Paris Metro stations, performing the songs of Leonard Cohen and others, accompanying herself on guitar. Through her day job, working at a Montreal bookstore, Myriam discovered the poems of American writer Dorothy Parker, who was better known for her cutting wit than her verse. Inspired by Parker’s words, Myriam wrote music to accompany a suite of them, then recorded the results in her bedroom. These recordings were issued as her debut LP, and continue to delight listeners who discover them, with their freshness, clarity and humour.

After a brief hiatus, Myriam began exploring the complex folk traditions of Quebec (and beyond), recording the second LP, Ma délire, which combines traditional and original songs (largely in French) with arrangements that make space for avant-garde musical interludes by such folks as guitarist Bill Nace (Body/Head) and renowned jazz percussionist Chris Corsano.

Mayday is an even more syncretic fusion of these elements. Most of the songs are original, in both English and French, and blend traditional and avant elements with abandon. Additional players this time include drummer Jim White (Dirty Three), guitarist Marisa Anderson, Montreal bassist Cédric Dind-Lavoie (a fellow fan of trad/avant dynamism), Bill Nace and saxophonist Zoh Amba (whose horn actually gets the final ‘word’). Mayday is a thoroughly thrilling effort that manages to create new vistas of sound while maintaining a feel that is both intimate and familiar. Beautiful work.

Local support comes from Zandra – ambient, droney; very simple but delicately quiet and reserved.

This show is a co-promotion with the Trades Club and Basin Rock.

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When: 7.30pm on Friday 15 November 2024
Where: Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW

We’re delighted to be working with Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra again!

Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra have been gleefully trampling over genre boundaries for over a decade now, chucking Rockabilly, Blues, Country, Swing, Soul and more into their musical gumbo, but always sounding mostly just like themselves.

Based in Newcastle but hailing from across the UK, the Tea Pad have released five albums, and toured widely across the British Isles and Europe, playing everywhere from Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festival to village halls and barns, and all points in between.

Well-known for their energetic live shows, and dry humour, they’ve toured with some of the big-name Americana outfits such as Pokey LaFarge, The Dead South and Sierra Ferrell. They have released music on Sleazy Records (Spain) and Migraine Records (Germany), appeared multiple times on Radio 4’s Loose Ends, and had their music played by everyone from Marc Riley to Huey Morgan.

The band have constantly added new flavours to their sound: Heron in particular is a vinyl obsessive, always fired up about some new passion – calypso or boogaloo or whatever this week brings – but mostly enthusing about obscure blues and country 45s, and that eclecticism and search for new sounds certainly feeds into their songs.

The upcoming album Feet First was recorded in just two days at Lightning Recorders in Berlin, Germany. The studio is well known for producing authentic analogue recordings, live in the room, and straight-to-tape. This ‘capturing of a musical moment’ can really be heard in the new Tea Pad Orchestra record. The addition of Ben Powling on saxophone has also elevated the band’s sound into a new and exciting era! After a decade of honing their craft, they have never sounded so good!

Joining Rob Heron (vocals/guitar) are Tom Cronin (mandolin/harmonica/guitar), Ben Powling (saxophone/clarinet), Ted Harbot (double bass/electric bass) and Paul Archibald (drums).

‘Hank did it like this. So did Sinatra. So did Tom Waits. So did John Lee Hooker. Mix these influences with a healthy dose of youthful enthusiasm, a real passion and an ear for detail, sheer authenticity, and a good slug of both Scotch and Bourbon, and you might find that the results are very much to your taste. They are certainly to mine’ – Mark Whyatt, Folk Radio

‘Newcastle’s finest swing-honkytonk-rockabilly band’ – fRoots

Support comes from The Burner Band. The Burner Band play old school country and rock ”n roll in their own style. After two solo albums (Dog Songs – 2018, Dark Wheels – 2020), front man Lewis Burner collaborated with bass man Ian Blackburn to forge a collection of songs ranging in subject matter from mental health, murder, migraines and Liverpool’s campaign to rid the city of The Sun. This became 2021’s release Signs & Wonders on Shed Load Records, receiving strong reviews in Saving Country Music, Americana UK and Folk Radio.

They are a hard-working unit who have toured the UK, appeared at Deer Shed, Maverick and Buckle & Boots festivals. The band released their second album, Age of the Liar, in 2023 on Shed Load Records.

This show is a co-promotion with Please Please You.

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When: 7pm on Saturday 16 November 2024
Where: Band on the Wall, 26 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JZ

We’re excited to welcome Tropical Fuck Storm back – this time, to Band on the Wall!

It’s been two years since our favourite Australian post-apocalyptic acid punk disco scuzzheads, Tropical Fuck Storm, toured Europe. And while we can’t blame EVERYTHING terrible that’s happened since then on their absence, it does make you think.

Luckily, our heroes are bringing their wild, destructive and unstoppable live show to a stage near you this Summer! Thrill to the interwoven shredding of guitarists Gareth Liddiard and Erica Dunn, feel the bone-rattling basslines of Fiona Kitschin, and marvel at the mind-boggling drumming of Lauren Hammel. Move over Barnum and Bailey, because there’s a new Greatest Show on Earth and it’s coming to YOUR TOWN!

‘Tropical Fuck Storm are masters of tension and release’ – The Guardian

‘A Tropical Fuck Storm gig is like putting your brain in a blender for an hour straight’ – Beat Magazine

This is a 10+ show. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.

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When: 7.30pm on Saturday 16 November 2024
Where: Hallé at St Michael’s, 36-38 George Leigh Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 5DG

We’re excited to be working with Kris Drever for the first time!

Kris Drever originally comes from Hrossey in the Orkney Islands. Over the years, he has taught himself to be a songwriter, guitarist and singer of note (and sometimes many notes).

As well as creating award-winning original songs and instrumental pieces with the trio Lau, he has had a fruitful solo career exploring the cracks between classic and modern songwriting and the traditional music that he comes from.

Drever’s sound is rooted in the earthy and hypnotic rhythms of much older music, but there’s a sophistication to both the lyricism and the instrumentalism which places him skilfully in the present.

He has an extensive collection of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, plus a fistful of Scottish NaTrads awards for everything from best album, best singer and best live act to best original song.

He has worked with many excellent musicians, including Jack Bruce, Eddi Reader, Mark Knopfler, Jerry Douglas and Roddy Woomble, and is a member of the beautiful multi-media project Spell Songs: The Lost Words.

Currently, Kris is preparing for a series of Lau events around the UK, writing music for a new solo album and learning some old tunes for reasons he can’t quite explain.

Tour support comes from Heather Cartwright. Heather Cartwright’s musical style is an amalgamation of solo-fingerstyle, traditional Scottish rhythm guitar, and song accompaniment. Years of dedication in the lead up to and during her time at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland resulted in graduating with a first-class honours degree in Traditional music. Although originally from Cumbria, Heather now bases herself in Glasgow’s vibrant music scene. As well as presenting herself as a solo artist, Heather is in duos with Scots Singer of the Year (2022), Beth Malcolm, and Sam Mabbett (accordion), one of Scotland’s most highly regarded musicians. She also regularly collaborates with other singers such Hannah Rarity (Young Traditional Musician of the Year, 2018) and Ainsley Hamill, both around Scotland and in Europe.

‘Talent and years of dedication have created a guitarist of the first order, blending fingerpicking and rhythm with ease’ – The Quintessential Review

Opening the show is Alwyn Jones. Raised in Sheffield, Alwyn Jones is an indie-folk singer songwriter making himself heard in Manchester. Primarily starting out solely as a guitarist, Alwyn’s composition draws influence from folk heroes such as John Martyn and Nick Drake. His encapsulating and emotive performances as a solo artist, or now as part of a full band, make for a dynamic and intriguing soundscape that audiences would associate with the likes of Wunderhorse or Jeff Buckley.

This will be one of the first public concerts in St Michael’s since its recent re-opening, having been closed since 2004. The Roman Catholic church was founded in 1859 and became the heart of the Little Italy Community in Ancoats.

This is a 14+ show. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

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When: 7.30pm on Thursday 21 November 2024
Where: Hallé St Peter’s, 40 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6BF

PLEASE NOTE: This show has sold out! Watch this space for information about future Erland Cooper shows in Manchester.

We’re delighted to welcome Erland Cooper back to Manchester!

Erland Cooper: Carve the Runes
Then Be Content With Silence

Erland Cooper is a Scottish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Stromness, Orkney. As a solo artist, he has released five acclaimed studio albums, including a trilogy of work inspired by his childhood home, as well as themes of nature, people, place and time.

His work combines field recordings with traditional orchestration and contemporary electronic elements. Through music, words and cinematography he explores landscape, memory and identity. He develops these themes further by partnering with other artists, writers and poets. Cooper also works across mixed media projects including installation art, theatre and film.

He’s widely known for burying the only existing copy of the master tape of his first classical album in Scotland, deleting all digital files and leaving only a treasure hunt of clues for anyone to seek it. The tape was found in 2023 and the album will be released, exactly as it sounds from the earth, this year along with its world premiere of the completed score.

‘Nature’s songwriter’ – The Guardian

‘One of the most unique, consistently engaging composers of his generation’ – CLASH

‘Exploring the place where electronic and classical music can co-habit’ – The Quietus

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Age restriction: 14+. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

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