When: 8pm on Thursday 18 May 2023
Where: Band on the Wall (bar stage), 26 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JZ

We’re excited to be helping with Robbie Cavanagh launch his new album – in Band on The Wall’s new bar stage!

This year sees Award Winning Singer and Songwriter Robbie Cavanagh present his newest body of work Tough Love to the world – a brand new studio album recorded live with his incredible band.

A self-confessed devotee of ‘real music’, Robbie Cavanagh is not defined by genres. His only rules are good musicians, real instruments, great microphones and performance with emotion; capturing sound, not producing it. Believing we live in a world where music is produced and consumed like fast food, to fill a hole where speed and value for money is prioritised over quality, Robbie is in the game for what he coins ‘fine dining music’.

Robbie performs self-penned, unscrubbed music, and when he puts pen to paper, he lives by his own words: ‘The more you wrestle with an idea, the more contrived it becomes’. His songs are rich with honesty, emotion, and most importantly; instinct.

Cavanagh’s previous releases have been championed by Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 and have received additional radio support from BBC Radio Manchester, Absolute Country Radio and Chris Country Radio. Robbie and his band have made their way onto many UK festival stages including Black Deer, The British Country Music Festival, Maverick, BlueDot, Cornbury, Wilderness, Buckle and Boots and Silverstone Woodlands, and have performed in the UK, Europe and USA alongside such artists as The Striking Matches, The Shires, The Wandering Hearts, Jarrod Dickenson, Aaron Lee Tasjan, The Deslondes, Beth Nielson Chapman, Mary Gauthier, Jaimee Harris, James House, Ferris & Silvester, Wildwood Kin, Max Jury, Whitney Rose, Amelia White, Us The Duo and Jace Everett.

Whereas Robbie’s previous record To Leave/To Be Left (2017) grappled with emotions of loss and self-pity from leaving or being left behind, Tough Love comes as an invigorating reality check. It’s a grittier and stronger-minded letter to himself and to anybody else who may be in need of a heavy dose of tough love. Written over the course of the past five years, each track explores a new perspective on the record’s overarching theme and documents Robbie’s own journey of self-reflection and maturity, both as a person and as a songwriter.

When it came to capturing these songs in the studio, Robbie knew he wanted to record the album live with the musicians he has toured and worked closely with over the past year. Having developed a magnetic connection on stage, they play with instinct and heart. Together with Thomas Dibb (AMA UK musician of the year nominee), Dan Wiebe, Roberto Ruiz, Joe Harvey Whyte (AMA UK musician of the year nominee) plus guest vocals and violin from Abby Gundersen, the band recorded at StudiOwz in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Tough Love hits a sweet spot between slick production and authenticity with an immersive live band feel.

‘Sonically, Tough Love feels like more of a commitment than my previous records,’ Robbie says. ‘It’s stepped out into whatever it needs to be. The songs that needed to be soulful and groove, do exactly that without hiding away from it, and the slow, sad songs hit hard and powerfully. I made a decision not to water anything down, and just lean into what feels right. It’s unapologetic.’

‘One of my absolute favourite UK grassroots artists’ – Bob Harris

‘Manchester’s finest son’ – Maverick Festival

Special guest is Nessa Tenny.

Band on the Wall’s bar stage is a brand new, intimate live music space in what was formerly the venue’s Picture House.

Buy tickets now. Tickets are also available from Dice.fm, WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

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