Upcoming Gigs
Jenny Don’t And The Spurs (US) + Support
Based in Portland, Oregon in the US Northwest, Jenny Don’t and the Spurs have spent over a decade building a reputation as hardworking and musically-driven stalwarts of the Country Western scene. Despite facing challenges-singer Jenny had vocal surgery in 2019 and drummer Sam Henry was lost to cancer in2022- they have remained resilient and fully committed to their musical journey. With a fierce DIY ethos, they have independently released the majority of their output (three albums, ten singles) on their own label, cultivating a vast international following via extensive tours across Europe and Australia/New Zealand, as well as performances in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Mexico. The group most recently attracted attention with their album ‘Fire On The Ridge’, a collaboration with the Fluff and Gravy label that topped the Alt Country charts and earned excellent reviews in the UK, where they toured in 2023. The year also saw them win the coveted ‘Outlaw Group of the Year’ award at Dale Watson's Ameripolitan Award Ceremony held in Memphis, plus they joined Charley Crockett for multiple dates on his
US tour before captivating audiences at the Out On The Weekend Fest in Melbourne, Australia Jenny Don’t and the Spurs remain committed to pursuing their passion and have today released a brand new album, ‘Broken Hearted Blue’, while also issuing a video for its title song. The songs‘ Unlucky Love’, ‘Pain In My Heart ’and 'You’re What I Need’ have all been released as singles prior to album release, as well as a strictly limited edition7”single coupling album opener ‘Flyin ’High’ with ‘War Cry! ’,a non-album instrumental cover version. The band went down a storm at festivals in Spain (Hurecasa), Holland,
SUPPRT TO BE CONFIRMED.
Chuck Prophet & His Cumbia Shoes (US) + Our Man In The Field.
CHUCK PROPHET BAND
For twelve long days, Chuck Prophet waited. A stage four lymphoma diagnosis had knocked the wind out of him, dragged him off the road and into surgery, and now here he was, a perpetual motion machine forced to sit still, confronting his mortality for the first time as he wondered if he’d live long enough to see the end of the year, let alone get back on tour.
“I was going through a tunnel,” he recalls. “It was dark. But I had music: music to play, music to listen to, music to get me out of my head. Music was my saviour.”
That much is plain to hear on Wake The Dead, Prophet’s extraordinary—and unlikely—new album. Recorded with ¿Qiensave?, a band of brothers from the Central Coast farming community of Salinas, California, the collection dives headfirst into the world of Cumbia music, which consumed and comforted Prophet during his illness and subsequent recovery. The songs are intoxicatingly rhythmic, with arrangements that blur the lines between tradition and innovation, between past and present, between cultures and countries. There are flashes of rock and roll, punk, surf, and soul, all filtered through the streets of San Francisco and wrapped up in the rich legacy of a genre that traces its roots back hundreds of years and thousands of miles.
“Some say this music started in the jungles of Peru and Colombia,” Prophet explains. “Then it really caught fire in the 1960s. In fact, there was such a demand for Cumbia in Mexico that DJs would travel to Colombia just to bring records back. Now that’s trafficking I can get behind!”
While Cumbia’s exact origins are debated, such details are in many ways irrelevant to Wake The Dead. Prophet approaches the music not as an academic or an historian, but as a fan with a voracious appetite and an insatiable curiosity. “When I was growing up listening to The Clash and their flirtations with reggae, the thing I remember most is how the music hit me, how it made me feel. The more you listened, the more was revealed, but on the most fundamental level, those records just felt good, and that was really important to me with this album.”
Prophet’s illness arrived amidst a streak of more than a dozen critically acclaimed solo albums stretching all the way back to 1990, when the California native first shifted focus from his tenure with pioneering neo-psych band Green on Red to working under his own name. Since then, Prophet’s songs have appeared in a slew of films and television shows, and his work has been covered by Bruce Springsteen, Solomon Burke, Heart, and a host of others. Uncut proclaimed him a “renaissance-rocker,” and NPR declared that “no one can turn tales from the outer limits into catchy songs quite like Prophet does.” Decades of relentless touring and bold artistic reinvention came to a screeching halt in 2022, though, when doctors found a mass in Prophet’s intestine.
“I had a lot of time to just sit and listen while I was sick,” he explains. “When I finally got to feeling better, I started jamming with this Cumbia band called ¿Qiensave? that I’d fallen in love with.” The immediate reaction from audiences made it clear they were on to something special.
Like so many of life’s little joys, it’s something Prophet—who’s in full remission—appreciates now more than ever. “It’s a good day to walk on water / Good day to swallow your pride,” he sings in the album’s final moments. “Good day to call your mother / Oh, it’s a good day to be alive.” Chuck will be touring the UK with members of his own band and ¿Qiensave?, playing his classics along with tracks from the new album.
Special Guest Support :OUR MAN IN THE FIELD
While hailing from Britain the “home” of Americana/roots music here in the States since much of the most traditional compositions that weren’t written down or transcribed came from over the pond & into the Appalachian mountains.
This isn’t a set of those types of songs but there is an undertow beneath the surface of the creativity that compensates for tradition & uplifts the vintage tinge. The songs are memorable & well-written yet, don’t profess any mainstream sweetness or commercial flair. The indulgence is in relation to what is being sung about. Even the pensive “Great White Hope,” has a bit of David Gray in the lining, an indulgent Jackson Browne blend & held together by a jazzy-folk aesthetic.
Chuck Prophet & His Cumbia Shoes (US) + Our Man In The Field.
CHUCK PROPHET BAND
For twelve long days, Chuck Prophet waited. A stage four lymphoma diagnosis had knocked the wind out of him, dragged him off the road and into surgery, and now here he was, a perpetual motion machine forced to sit still, confronting his mortality for the first time as he wondered if he’d live long enough to see the end of the year, let alone get back on tour.
“I was going through a tunnel,” he recalls. “It was dark. But I had music: music to play, music to listen to, music to get me out of my head. Music was my saviour.”
That much is plain to hear on Wake The Dead, Prophet’s extraordinary—and unlikely—new album. Recorded with ¿Qiensave?, a band of brothers from the Central Coast farming community of Salinas, California, the collection dives headfirst into the world of Cumbia music, which consumed and comforted Prophet during his illness and subsequent recovery. The songs are intoxicatingly rhythmic, with arrangements that blur the lines between tradition and innovation, between past and present, between cultures and countries. There are flashes of rock and roll, punk, surf, and soul, all filtered through the streets of San Francisco and wrapped up in the rich legacy of a genre that traces its roots back hundreds of years and thousands of miles.
“Some say this music started in the jungles of Peru and Colombia,” Prophet explains. “Then it really caught fire in the 1960s. In fact, there was such a demand for Cumbia in Mexico that DJs would travel to Colombia just to bring records back. Now that’s trafficking I can get behind!”
While Cumbia’s exact origins are debated, such details are in many ways irrelevant to Wake The Dead. Prophet approaches the music not as an academic or an historian, but as a fan with a voracious appetite and an insatiable curiosity. “When I was growing up listening to The Clash and their flirtations with reggae, the thing I remember most is how the music hit me, how it made me feel. The more you listened, the more was revealed, but on the most fundamental level, those records just felt good, and that was really important to me with this album.”
Prophet’s illness arrived amidst a streak of more than a dozen critically acclaimed solo albums stretching all the way back to 1990, when the California native first shifted focus from his tenure with pioneering neo-psych band Green on Red to working under his own name. Since then, Prophet’s songs have appeared in a slew of films and television shows, and his work has been covered by Bruce Springsteen, Solomon Burke, Heart, and a host of others. Uncut proclaimed him a “renaissance-rocker,” and NPR declared that “no one can turn tales from the outer limits into catchy songs quite like Prophet does.” Decades of relentless touring and bold artistic reinvention came to a screeching halt in 2022, though, when doctors found a mass in Prophet’s intestine.
“I had a lot of time to just sit and listen while I was sick,” he explains. “When I finally got to feeling better, I started jamming with this Cumbia band called ¿Qiensave? that I’d fallen in love with.” The immediate reaction from audiences made it clear they were on to something special.
Like so many of life’s little joys, it’s something Prophet—who’s in full remission—appreciates now more than ever. “It’s a good day to walk on water / Good day to swallow your pride,” he sings in the album’s final moments. “Good day to call your mother / Oh, it’s a good day to be alive.” Chuck will be touring the UK with members of his own band and ¿Qiensave?, playing his classics along with tracks from the new album.
Special Guest Support :OUR MAN IN THE FIELD
While hailing from Britain the “home” of Americana/roots music here in the States since much of the most traditional compositions that weren’t written down or transcribed came from over the pond & into the Appalachian mountains.
This isn’t a set of those types of songs but there is an undertow beneath the surface of the creativity that compensates for tradition & uplifts the vintage tinge. The songs are memorable & well-written yet, don’t profess any mainstream sweetness or commercial flair. The indulgence is in relation to what is being sung about. Even the pensive “Great White Hope,” has a bit of David Gray in the lining, an indulgent Jackson Browne blend & held together by a jazzy-folk aesthetic.
Peter Bruntnell Band + Support Davoli
Due for release September 2024, Peter Bruntnell’s new record Houdini And The Sucker Punch sees Peter re-employing his long-term band members Mick Clews on drums, Dave Little on electric guitar and Peter Noone on bass, along with a number of his favourite musicians making cameos throughout. Further details of Peter Bruntnell’s sublime new album are due to be revealed soon.
In an uncertain number of years time, it will be acceptably cool to say that you first got into non-Grammy-winning artist Peter Bruntnell through his classic 2024 album Houdini And The Sucker Punch, before then going back and discovering his back catalogue of yet more “classics”. And you were there! You saw him live. You were one of those “10” people who saw him play in that modestly-sized room, almost 30 years into his career.
So here we are again. Three years on, another album into Peter’s 13 or 14 album catalogue and shouldering the burden of even more sublime reviews. Every possible positive adjective has been called into play, although it must be noted that the word “sublime” can never be used enough. Not even 2021’s primarily solo, slightly synthy lockdown album succeeded in putting an end to his non-success, despite Mojo echoing the plea that, “Somehow, some way, this cult and infinitely class songwriter must get his due wider recognition”. The Scottish Daily Express with its 5 star review, slightly frustrated, said, or perhaps yelled, “I’m getting tired of saying this: He’s brilliant”. The Irish Times thoughtfully combined two quotes into one, saving us the trouble of going back and getting crushed under the sheer weight of Peter’s archive of press quotes: “With Journey To The Sun, the man whose songs NME once noted should be placed on school curriculums has done it again.” And he continues to do so. But not without a brief foray into dance music, in collaboration with mega pop-hit songwriter Rob Davies. A foray that succeeded in sneaking by, almost completely unnoticed, therefore providing us with no further fresh quotes. If veering off entirely into the dark world of autotune would have increased his chances of hitting the big time, we shall never know. But fortunately, Peter’s taking his chances.
SUPPORT: DAVOLI
A graduate from the Jeff Tweedy school of songwriting, Davoli weaves intricate lyrical narratives over jangly guitar-led instrumentals reminiscent of Tom Petty.
With a host of self-produced songs at his disposal - armed with catchy hooks and train-of-thought style lyricism - Davoli released his first single, ‘Sleep Deprived’ in Spring 2022, taking his pseudonym from a vintage Italian-made amplifier in his Nottingham studio. A slew of well-received singles followed, garnering positive reviews from blogs in the UK and USA, as well as long-time admirer, BBC DJ Dean Jackson, drawing comparisons to artists like Kurt Vile and Willie J Healey.
Danny And The Champions Of The World + Special Guest Annie Dressner
DANNY & THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD
‘You Are Not A Stranger Here,’ the long-awaited new album by Danny & The Champions of the World, will be released through Loose on 18th October. Their seventh studio release and first since 2017’s ‘Brilliant Light,’ ‘You Are Not A Stranger Here’ is the sound of a band exploring new and surprising musical terrain. Produced by Champs keyboard player Thomas Collison and featuring frontman Danny George Wilson’s most compelling songs to date.
The old contradiction that in creating something intensely personal, you can share something inspiringly universal, is at the heart of a remarkable new album by Danny & the Champions of the World, whose formidable body of work dates back to 2007. It's full of brilliantly cohesive performances that come together to reach a new creative peak, founded on the most reflective and deep-seated lyrics to date by frontman Danny George Wilson. It's an intricate and beguiling tapestry of highly-crafted sounds by a band at the top of their game and a songwriter on an honest and unpretentious quest for some truth. If that sounds potentially dark and doom-laden, the results are anything but, on a record that's deeply relatable, infectious and moving.
Guest Support: ANNIE DRESSNER
Since moving from her hometown of NYC to the UK thirteen years ago, singer-songwriter Annie Dressner has garnered rave reviews for her recordings and live performances. Though Annie now calls Cambridge home, her music still resonates with a unique NYC flair, showcasing her knack for rich storytelling, mesmerizing melodies, and lyrics that cut straight to the heart. Often with double-tracked vocals adding depth to her sound, Annie's music strikes a balance between familiarity and contemporary freshness.
A regular on the UK touring and festival circuit, her accolades most recently include a nomination for Female Artist of the Year at FATEA Magazine. She has been likened to an ‘uptempo Mazzy Star’, Phoebe Bridgers and First Aid Kit.
STEVE WYNN (The Dream Syndicate) A Night of Song and Stories + Support
“Over 40 years in, musician Steve Wynn’s career is booming” The Pitch
STEVE WYNN is a founding member of The Dream Syndicate, whose debut album, The Days Of Wine And Roses, is widely regarded as a cornerstone of the indie/alternative rock scene of the 1980s. He has also enjoyed a prolific solo career, touring the world on a regular basis and performing and recording in groups such as Danny & Dusty, Gutterball, and The Baseball Project (also featuring R.E.M. founders Mike Mills. and Peter Buck). He scored two Norwegian hit TV shows, Dag and Exit, and his songs have been covered by Luna, Yo La Tengo, and Concrete Blonde, among others.
About The Book
I WOULDN’T SAY IT IF IT WASN’T TRUE - STEVE WYNN, A MEMOIR OF LIFE, MUSIC, AND THE DREAM SYNDICATE. A vivid and revealing memoir from the leader and founder of one of the most revered indie-rock bands of the 1980s
Steve Wynn has been toiling in the rock’n’roll trenches for over forty years. I know. I’ve been working alongside of him for many of those years. Steve’s book really captures the life of a music lifer, the first bands, the good breaks, the bad decisions, the sense that the life you live is music, not your job. The Dream Syndicate is one of the greatest bands of all time, and Steve takes you along for the ride. PETER BUCK
SUPPRT TO BE CONFIRMED.
The Delines (US) + Special Guest
The Delines return to tour the UK and EU in support of their 4th album out February 2025. The album was just mastered and bring more of their country-soul. The debut record, COLFAX, appeared in 2014 and surprised fans and critics alike. Evoking a beat-up Dusty Springfield or a weary Rickie Lee Jones, COLFAX made over a dozen top ten year end lists. It was a four-year wait until their sophomore effort, THE IMPERIAL was released. Singer, Amy Boone spent much of that time in hospital beds recovering from serious injuries sustained in a car accident in Austin, Texas. When she was just strong enough to stand she finished THE IMPERIAL, a record that spent two weeks on top of the UK official Americana charts with the band playing sold out shows across the UK and Europe. The band returned with their cinematic third album THE SEA DRIFT which Americana UK and BBC6 Gideon Coe both made their ‘Album of the Year’. Penned by guitarist and songwriter Willy Vlautin with arrangements by keyboardist Cory Gray and the rhythm section of Sean Oldham and Freddy Trujillo.
Vlautin is no stranger to critical acclaim, enjoying cult success and rave reviews from the likes of the New York Times, Washington Post, Uncut, Rolling Stone and Mojo, both as a novelist with seven books under his belt (two of his books have become major films with Lean On Pete currently being made into a Netfilx movie out 2025). Willy, Oldham and Trujillo also lead the alt-country outfit Richmond Fontaine whom released over ten albums before breaking up in 2016. 2022/23 saw the Delines performing at EU festivals plus releasing two more singles plus a soundtrack, the band will be playing songs from including past classics.
Special Guest Support To Be Announced
The Delines (US) + Special Guest: Peter Bruntnell
The Delines return to tour the UK and EU in support of their 4th album out February 2025. The album was just mastered and bring more of their country-soul. The debut record, COLFAX, appeared in 2014 and surprised fans and critics alike. Evoking a beat-up Dusty Springfield or a weary Rickie Lee Jones, COLFAX made over a dozen top ten year end lists. It was a four-year wait until their sophomore effort, THE IMPERIAL was released. Singer, Amy Boone spent much of that time in hospital beds recovering from serious injuries sustained in a car accident in Austin, Texas. When she was just strong enough to stand she finished THE IMPERIAL, a record that spent two weeks on top of the UK official Americana charts with the band playing sold out shows across the UK and Europe. The band returned with their cinematic third album THE SEA DRIFT which Americana UK and BBC6 Gideon Coe both made their ‘Album of the Year’. Penned by guitarist and songwriter Willy Vlautin with arrangements by keyboardist Cory Gray and the rhythm section of Sean Oldham and Freddy Trujillo.
Vlautin is no stranger to critical acclaim, enjoying cult success and rave reviews from the likes of the New York Times, Washington Post, Uncut, Rolling Stone and Mojo, both as a novelist with seven books under his belt (two of his books have become major films with Lean On Pete currently being made into a Netfilx movie out 2025). Willy, Oldham and Trujillo also lead the alt-country outfit Richmond Fontaine whom released over ten albums before breaking up in 2016. 2022/23 saw the Delines performing at EU festivals plus releasing two more singles plus a soundtrack, the band will be playing songs from including past classics.
Special Guest Support To Be Announced
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers (US) + Support
It’s obvious listening to Sarah Shook and the Disarmers’ clear-eyed, biting, and unafraid songs that integrity is the most important thing to the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, country-punk outfit.
In 2022, Shook was remarkably productive. They released two albums: debut solo indie rock record Cruel Liars under the moniker Mightmare (Kill Rock Stars) and a third Disarmers full-length called Nightroamer. While that effort was well-received, Shook believed the songs on Revelations deserved a more direct approach.
For Shook, it was paramount the recordings match the band’s tangible live ferocity because these songs boast their most immediate lyrics yet.
The new record Revelations is the most assured Sarah Shook and the Disarmers record yet because it so pointedly captures the gamut of the human experience: anger, sadness, confusion, love, and acceptance. It’s a document of Shook at the top of their game and a reflection of their own journey not just as a writer but as a person. “I’m a firm believer that if you are an artist, and you want to make better art, a big part of that isn't just exercising your musical skills, it’s growing as a human being,” says Shook. “So every time I make a record, I want to be able to listen to it and look back on who I was then. I want to see this arc and this evolution.
Jerry Leger (CAN) + Support
Jerry Leger has stayed busy since the October 2023 release of his latest album Donlands. The Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits) produced record came out on Cowboy Junkies label, and was greeted with rave reviews from UK's Uncut Magazine and Rolling Stone Europe. Leger toured those parts of the world in support of Donlands as well as select Canadian dates, which included his debut on the historic Massey Hall stage in Toronto and a headlining show in its new room, TD Music Hall. Recent shows saw Leger opening for legendary artist Steve Earle.
One of the most respected singer-songwriters around, Ron Sexsmith says “Leger has that spark in him that all the great songwriters have. He's the real deal.” For Jerry, the search for the elusive creative spark remains never-ending, but there are always new routes to explore in getting to it. With Donlands, he has made an album that stands as one of the peak moments in an already towering body of work.
SUPPRT TO BE CONFIRMED.
Andrew Combs (US) + Support
Dream Pictures, the sixth album from songwriter Andrew Combs, is a dreamy, dusky record for the quiet hours that bring each day to a close.
Combs has been hailed by everyone from NPR (who hosted Combs for an acclaimed Tiny Desk performance in 2023) to Rolling Stone (who deemed him "a pop perfectionist”) and to Mojo (who wrote that "Combs’s developmental arc as a songwriter continues to soar”). He has built his career with a chameleonic sound that explores subtlety, nuance, and the grey area between folk, country, and classic pop.
With the exception of acclaimed instrumentalist Spencer Cullum, who contributed pedal steel to 10 songs, Dream Pictures was entirely recorded and performed by Combs and Billett. The two embraced all the imperfections that came with the homemade tracking process, finding the beauty in the blemishes, balancing the rawness of reel-to-reel recording with the smart finesse of Combs' songwriting. They even captured Combs' vocals with a series of live-in-the-studio performances, resisting the temptation to edit different takes together for a more polished — but admittedly less believable — product. "I love art that has just enough naivety to it, because it feels real," says Combs. "We were figuring things out as we went along. We were creating our own world."
Like a canvas splashed with watercolours, Dream Pictures is a woozy, soft-hued portrait of an artist at work, delivering well-crafted songs while embracing the new hues that occur whenever his sonic textures run together. It's music for the wee small hours, shot through with diffused daylight. A decade after his first appearance at Newport Folk Festival, Combs continues to create timeless art for modern times, blurring the dividing lines between genre and generation. Dreamy, indeed.
SUPPRT TO BE CONFIRMED
An Evening With Amy Rigby (US) Support Marc Valentine SOLD OUT
‘Amy Rigby new record ‘Hang In There With Me’ examines the impossibility of life and living it anyway, with abandon. To celebrate the release of her new album, Amy will be touring the US and UK in October and November 2024. For Nottingham she'll be joined by Eric Goulden (bass & guitar).
Amy Rigby has established herself one of America’s enduring underground / cult/ Indie artists, combining the insight and humour of country and folk songwriting with classic rock craftsmanship and punk DIY spirit. She formed pre-Americana country band Last Roundup (Rounder) and Richard Hell’s favourite girl group the Shams (Matador) in downtown NYC before launching a solo career with 90s classic album Diary Of A Mod Housewife. Amy’s honest, kinetic songwriting has earned her praise from critics (“pithy wisdom, acerbic pen and sterling American guitar classicism” MOJO) and other artists: “Think Randy Newman and Loudon Wainwright, at their best,” says Steve Earle. Her songs have been covered by Laura Cantrell and Ronnie Spector, John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants and Maria Doyle Kennedy. Her 2019 memoir Girl To City was called “an instant classic” by The Big Takeover. “You can smell the damp, see the clothes, hear the guitars!” says Goldmine. She divides her time between New York and the UK with her husband and sometime duo partner Wreckless Eric.
Rigby releases a new album Hang In There With Me through Tapete Records on August 30, 2024. Eleven up to the minute songs written by Amy and recorded by Wreckless Eric at the couple’s home in upstate NY, Hang In There With Me is a bracing look at life inside the vortex of the last few years. Mortality, aging and youthful missteps refracted through Amy’s insightful lyricism emerge not wistful but resolute —even triumphant. Rigby's distinctive voice bluntly traverses love, loss and DIY projects gone wrong over guitars cranked or shimmering, indelible bass lines, a raft of synthesizers, keyboards, beat boxes and the occasional drummer allowed into Amy & Eric’s rustic mid-century echo chamber.
Like some people turn to the moon and stars for inspiration, Amy Rigby looks to creative heroes like Bob Dylan and Mike Leigh. She finds poetry in haircuts, live chat boxes; bartending and bookselling. Her music is the sound of everyday people getting by, just like the country artists she loved and learned to write songs from.
SUPPORT: MARC VALENTINE
As frontman of cult British power-pop outfit Last Great Dreamers, Marc Valentine has brought sparkle to venues and turntables alike with his distinctive vocals, wry charm and songbook of secret classics. Now, with his favourite guitar in tow, he's heading out on a solo adventure, loading his flight case with a fresh set of tunes, and polishing the trademark twinkle in his eye.
Debut album Future Obscure sees Valentine building on his past while expanding his sonic palette, to craft a collection of should-be hits – 7-inch-shaped songs that move both body and mind. The album is produced by Dave Draper (The Professionals, Wildhearts, Ryan Hamilton). Recorded with friends old and new, and featuring collaborations with Wreckless Eric and The Boys' Matt Dangerfield, this is a reflective, sometimes defiant album in the golden-era tradition – a pop record from the heart, packed with songs to holler, heal and hold.
Darden Smith (US)
Over the course of his remarkable three-and-a-half decade career, Darden Smith has released 17 studio albums, landed singles on both the country and pop charts (including the Top 10 hit “Loving Arms”), composed a symphony, scored works for dance-theatre, produced a documentary for BBC Radio, published a widely celebrated book on creativity, exhibited works of visual art, and co-founded the non-profit SongwritingWith:Soldiers program, which pairs veterans with musicians in order to tap into the transformational possibilities of collaborative songwriting. During the pandemic, the Austin-based artist also helped launch Frontline Songs, which connected musicians and healthcare workers to support them in telling their stories and healing their trauma).
His latest project, Western Skies, is a multi-media project comprising of a new studio album; a book of photography, lyrics, and essays; an accompanying spoken word album of readings set to music; drawings, lithographs and works on paper; video and theatre. The collection is an immersive journey through a Texan landscape both real and imagined, a place of mystery and mythology, possibility and longing.
The Daily News hailed Smith as “one of the most respected American musicians working today,” while the Austin Chronicle dubbed him a “master song craftsman,” and AllMusic called him “a singer-songwriter blessed with an uncommon degree of intelligence, depth, and compassion.” In 2023 Smith was named the inaugural Songwriter-in-Residence at the University of Texas at Austin.
Glory Days
Glory Days is the premier Bruce Springsteen Tribute Show in the UK.
With over 27 years on the road and a loyal following from numerous Springsteen fan clubs around the world, Glory Days are the real deal.
Glory Days were the first Bruce Springsteen Tribute in the UK and are still going strong today. Our ethos has remained the same for over a quarter of a century: we play this wonderful music to celebrate Bruce and his genius and to give people an opportunity to enjoy it in a live setting all year round.
First and foremost we are fans and this music means everything to us.
"THE greatest little house band you'll ever witness! The only band we've seen more than Bruce (55+ shows!) and ALWAYS leave us stunned! Joyous and life affirming! Do not miss them!"
SUPPORT: TBC
Hannah Aldridge Band (US) + Katie Bates (AUS)
Hannah Aldridge is back and she’s celebrating the 10 Year Anniversary of her debut album “Razorwire”. This time she brings her band with her, breathing new life into the songs that started her career a decade ago.
Hannah grew up on the muddy banks of Muscle Shoals—her birthright is music and Alabama. A reckoning between her coming-to-age in the South and a lifetime of trying to create an identity outside of it, her songs strike a delicate balance between rebellion and self-discovery. With a voice equal parts gritty and melodic, Hannah took to the road, entertaining crowds in ten countries and three continents with her acclaimed debut album Razor Wire, superb follow-up Gold Rush and Live in Black and White - a beautifully captured live album recorded in London, England. In 2023 Aldridge expanded her artistic vision with the ambitious, cinematic Dream of America.
Her music treads a fine line between the genial charm of Americana, and the raw, hypnotic and occasionally electronic stylings of what some might like to call ‘noir indie pop’. Deploying a charming blend of power and vulnerability, Aldridge delivers her stories with all the conviction of a church bell ringing out through the streets of a small Alabama town.
"Hannah is surely carving out her own niche as a solo artist, adding an edge of classic rock into her country and Southern soul heritage."
SUPPORT: KATIE BATES (Aus)
Melbourne based singer songwriter Katie Bates started playing in bars and clubs in her early teens and now, still at a rather tender age, that experience has instilled a valuable maturity in both her writing and performing. ‘Until The Day Dies’, her latest five track EP intends to showcase these abilities and makes a fair fist of doing just that. Songs of traditional country styling sitting alongside the more unorthodox make for an interesting listen.
Willy Tea Taylor (US) + support
https://youtu.be/z7pGzdFjC_8?si=yGamQdC_TsMRXKkh
There is no question that Willy Tea Taylor’s life as a singer/songwriter was predetermined – his role realized the moment he wrote his first song. His inspirations drawn from two separate wells; Living the life of a cattleman’s kid and experiencing true visionaries music like Greg Brown, John Hartford, and Guy Clark. The image of Guy Clark and friends sitting around the kitchen table loaded with ashtrays full of butts, half-smoked cigarettes, food, and booze on one Christmas Eve in 1975 burned into Taylor’s soul. Those guys, swapping songs without pretence, lit Willy Tea’s fire. And ever since, its led purpose with passion – finding a hang by curating relationships through musical friendships that get him closer to his own Clark style kitchen table.
From his early days co-fronting The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, to singing solo in countless cowboy bars, to pitching countless wiffle ball games, Willy Tea has never lost the vision. Now Willy Tea Taylor has taken his vision of the “hero hang” on the road. and his talented traveling band The Fellership is made up of his fantastically talented buds who play Willy’s songs with a brand of reckless abandon and utter humility that spits in the face of pretense. The way The Fellership plays Will’s songs is the way they demand to be played and, in their short time together, they have been awe-ing every audience lucky enough to see them.
THE GREAT WESTERN HANGOVER
The ten-song LP features a sample-size blend of Willy’s musical influences like Tom Petty-esque rock anthems, riders of the storm rattling westerns, and bait’n tackle choir chants, while delivering the masterful songwriting that Taylor’s cult of underground folk followers devour. The Great Western Hangover features other talents like Anna Tivel, Jeffrey Martin, The Rainbow Girls, and members of Fruition, and TK & the Holy Know-Nothings.
“Willy is a storyteller’s storyteller and weaved a spell during the evening made of stories of his relatives…Can I really be blamed for leaving the concert with a picture in my head of Gandalf riding a moped, waving his sword, beard in the wind?” No Depressionthey are ‘supposed to be’.
On A Golden Shore - their fifth album and their second for the pioneering Loose Music, following 2022’s Hollow Heart - finds them definitively themselves and presents a set of disparate songs whose fundamental linkage is the band that made them. It was recorded at Edwyn Collins’ Clashnarrow Studios with Sean Read producing. Singer/guitarist Richard Olson, drummer Paulie Cobra, multi-instrumentalist Patrick Ralla, plus freshman bassist Paul Milne – laid down the album’s backbone over eight days and mostly recorded live, even the solos done as a piece. Much is first-take because trying better, never worked as well. Pedal-steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte created and added his parts at his London studio bringing ‘shimmery psychedelic goodness’.
It is ultimately an album of sensation as much as thought, filled with fleeting moments of blissful excess, and stumbling, rushing flutters of sound; its evanescent psychedelia, divine choruses, and shards of strings combine into an infectious, compelling Cosmic Heartbreak Boogie.
SUPPORT: TBC
Emily Nenni (US) + Teddy & The Rough Riders (US)
https://youtu.be/z7pGzdFjC_8?si=yGamQdC_TsMRXKkh
EMILY NENNI has quickly emerged as one of the freshest and most electrifying voices in Nashville. Her sound is rooted in classic honky tonk and spiked with serious country, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll fire, with sweet-and-sassy lyrics that chronicle hard living, hot nights, heartbreak, and other universal truths about the human condition. Drive & Cry follows her critically acclaimed 2022 long player On the Ranch, which Holler said put “her firmly in the ring with any other heavyweight country contender looking to lift that title belt.” While the Nashville Scene called it “an irresistible vintage-country masterwork.” Whereas On the Ranch saw Nenni uproot herself to lend a hand —and write—while assisting at a ranch in southern Colorado, Drive & Cry drops the listener smack in the middle of her boisterous and bustling Nashville world. Over the past several years, she has enraptured audiences across Music City (and the nation with near-constant touring alongside Charley Crockett, Orville Peck, and more) with sizzling sets in smoky bars and clubs, honing her command of the stage. She has perfected her skills as a band leader and sharpened her already astute world view, all of which are on full display on Drive & Cry.
TEDDY & THE ROUGH RIDERS will be backing Emily Nenni for her set as well opening the show. They’re everything you’ve ever loved about US country music and fiery 70s rock n roll all mixed up together in one big sizzling hotpot of salvation and fervour. They’re capable of sounding like all the bands you’ve ever loved at the same time as sounding like nothing you’ve ever heard before in your life. They don't innovate country rock; they embody it.
“The Rough Riders are my favourite Nashville bands, and, given the chance, they will unite the hippies and the cowboys, the bikers and the stoners with their groovy country songs"-Margo Price“
Amanda Anne Platt (US) + Hannah Kaminer (US)
https://youtu.be/z7pGzdFjC_8?si=yGamQdC_TsMRXKkh
AMANDA ANNE PLATT has been writing and performing her original songs in front of live audiences for almost two decades. With her band The Honeycutters she has released nine albums of her own original material and toured extensively in the US as well as Europe and Canada. In 2022 she released a double album, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which has been called “her finest work yet” by The Bluegrass Situation and landed on top ten lists across the globe. The much-anticipated follow up LP, The Ones That Stay, which was co-produced by Scott McMicken (Dr Dog) and Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound), is slated for release later this year.
Platt delivers a live performance as captivating as her songwriting and has been privileged over the years to share the stage with the likes of Guy Clark, Amy Ray, Billy Joe Shaver, Tift Merrit, and Radney Foster. “No matter where she takes you, Platt never skimps on setting the scene: the feeling of the road beneath her, the music playing in the background, the way the light fades. She captures it all unflinchingly in her songwriting, whether she’s exploring nostalgia, faith, memories, or a changing world around her. In the sweetness or in the grit, Platt remains a formidable storyteller.” —No Depression.
Hannah Kaminer is an Asheville, North Carolina-based artist who is known for her poignant songwriting, clear voice, and often comedic stage presence. Raised in small towns in Western North Carolina, she fuses echoes of Appalachian and country traditions with wistful, Americana-style songwriting. She has released three studio albums: Acre by Acre (2015), Heavy Magnolias (2018) which was coproduced with GRAMMY-winning engineer Julian Dreyer, and Heavy on the Vine (2024) which she produced with her band, The Wistfuls. “A very satisfying set of songs, which is very likely to be one of the albums of the year.” — Americana UK, 2024
Double Bill featuring Lachlan Bryan & Emily Lawler (AUS)+ Phil Lee (US)
As part of this excellent double bill Lachlan Bryan will be accompanied by Emily Lawler on fiddle.
Lachlan Bryan grew up in a musical family in the suburbs of Melbourne, reluctantly taking piano lessons as a teenager before eventually falling under the spell of songwriters like Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and, eventually, Willie Nelson. He and his band The Wildes have gained a passionate following from the seedy bars of their hometown to the music clubs and festival stages of Europe. Lachlan has also toured extensively as a solo artist - opening for the likes of Lord Huron, Joe Pug, Justin Townes Earle and John Hiatt.
Lachlan Bryan has built his reputation on storytelling. Over the past eight years Lachlan and the Wildes have released four records, toured Europe and the USA multiple times, shared stages with Americana and country heavyweights and picked up a string of awards, including the Golden Guitar for ‘alt country album of the year’ with their landmark release Black Coffee.
PHIL LEE (USA)
Phil Lee is a weathered, wizened troubadour, and he sounds like the sort of guy you’d cross at your own peril. But his lyrics are strong and paint evocative pictures. And the musicianship and arrangement is a tasty balance of laid-back and tight-as-a-duck’s ass. The songs all sound as if they were cut with all the effects knobs turned to zero: no bullshit studio trickery for this guy. The latest album, “The Fall and the Further Decline of
the Mighty King of Love” consists of a dozen bittersweet and rough-hewn originals (including a co-write with Barry Goldberg — the pianist in Bob Dylan’s group when Dylan famously went “electric” at Newport in 1965.
Along with working with the Flying Burrito Brothers, driving a truck for Neil Young and playing drums for decades, Lee has carved a unique niche for himself in the alt-country, acoustic post-modern honky tonk world. Fans of Steve Forbert, Townes Van Zandt, Gram Parsons, Guy Clark, Phil Cody and Greg Brown will dig Lee’s strong fourth album.
“The Mighty King of Love is back, sounding as much like Dylan’s twisted kid brother as he ever did, and hauling along with him a particularly luminous cast of Nashville’s finest…He started writing relatively late in life but there’s two generations of great music absorbed into his bones and it seems to flow right back out of him with a fresh twist that is pure Phil Lee”
Emily Duff (US) + Jersey Budd
Emily Duff's small batch brand of Sweet & Sour Rock & Roll with a great big hit of Country Soul, digs deep, weaving a patchwork of sin, tragedy, romance and regret. A humble servant of song as well as a dark optimist, Emily is a prolific and unique voice at a crazy & crucial time. Born in Flushing Queens, NYC and raised by a pack of cigarettes, her Mama taught her four perfect chords and then ran off, leaving Emily to figure the rest out on her own. Emily has recorded and released 5 records in the past 6 years. Two at FAME, the legendary Muscle Shoals, Alabama studio, one at NY Noise and two with producer, Eric "Roscoe" Ambel at his Brooklyn studio, Cowboy Technical Services.
From the stage of CBGB's — where she played her first show — to the confines of her 340 square foot Greenwich Village tenement apartment where she is happily raising her two teenage children and hound dog with her husband, Emily Duff has never been afraid to chase her muse into uncharted territory. Duff presently has three records in production with three very talented and very different producers. All are "modern records" inspired by classic American roots music, with Duff upholding her status as a genre-bending, story-telling, humble servant of song.
SUPPORT: TBC
Rain Parade (US) + Ella Raphael
Rain Parade announces reunion tour - First Europe/UK band dates since 1985!!! Featuring Matt Piucci, Steven Roback and John Thoman with their new LP: Last Rays Of A Dying Sun. Rain Parade, a key LA Paisley Underground band, are set to return with tour dates across Europe and England, culminating in a final appearance at the Azken Festival in Bilbao, their first-ever Spanish show!
An Evening With Otis Gibbs (US)
“Gibbs’ songwriting is deeply personal and profound. It’s plain to see Otis Gibbs is a man you should give a damn about. ” –Rolling Stone Magazine
“Gibbs has been likened to everyone from Guthrie to Springsteen — but his is the rare voice that stands on its own.” -Esquire Magazine
“Man, can this singer tell a story …” - USA Today
Otis Gibbs is a songwriter, storyteller, painter, photographer and planter of 7,176 trees. He once wrestled a bear, and lost. He has been described as “The best unknown songwriter in music today.” If you ask him, he’ll simply say he’s a folk singer.
He also hosts a podcast called Thanks For Giving Damn which features your favourite musicians, journalists and historians sharing memories, backstage stories and history lessons. His podcast quickly became a cult favourite and lead to him hosting Country Built on Pandora (USA) where Otis tells stories about the history of country music to his 3 million+ subscribers. He grew up in Wanamaker, Indiana, spent 12 years in East Nashville and has recently returned home to Indianapolis with his long time partner, Amy Lashley.
The Real 45s + Littlewolf
Cosmic American Music are adding a new venue for future shows starting in July, and by way of an introduction we have a special FREE GIG at ANNIE’S BURGER SHACK on SUNDAY 26TH MAY. We would like you to join us to see the place, say hello and enjoy live music from 2 local Bands, The Real 45s and Littlewolf. We think you will love the new venue, so please come along and check it out, REMEMBER it’s FREE. Discounted car parking available at The Broad Marsh Car Park when you validate your parking ticket at the show.
THE REAL 45s
The band consists of Jim Cooper (vocals, guitar), Chris Turnbull (vocals, guitar), Jon Garner (bass), John Reed (keyboard and piano) and Chris Starmer (drums).
Musical influences within the band are varied and range Soul, (Northern soul), Blues, and Classic Rock. All are Nottingham based musicians having played throughout the Midland for many years in a variety of different bands. Their shows have including opening for artists from the US such as: Joe Quarterman, Eddie Bo, Marva Whitney, and Billy Wooten.
Guaranteed to get you on your feet dancing and singing. The Real 45s perform a heady mix of classic tunes from artists such as The Small Faces, The Spencer Davis Group, Stereophonics, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and The Foo Fighters.
Also playing are LITTLEWOLF, an acoustic trio with a Blues based sound and will feature songs from their new album “Blues or What?” They will play some older Americana favourites “Austin Time” and “Firestone Motel.
Jerry Leger and The Situation (CAN) + Banjo Jen
We are delighted to welcome back Jerry Leger and The Situation , following the release of his album Donlands!
On his new album Donlands, Leger has taken a different approach, teaming up with legendary Canadian producer/engineer Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Neil Young), whose trademark atmospheric sound adds an entirely new dimension to Leger’s approach. Named after the street in Toronto’s east end where it was recorded, in what once was the Donlands Theatre, Donlands presents Jerry Leger as he’s never been heard before.
An Evening With Michele Stodart
Michele Stodart is an award-winning solo artist, singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in London. Best known as bassist, vocalist and co-songwriter of Mercury-nominated, double-platinum selling band, The Magic Numbers, who have released five critically acclaimed studio albums with top ten singles, and supported the likes of Neil Young, Radiohead, Brian Wilson, U2, Flaming Lips and Bright Eyes.
Alongside this, Michele has always pursued her own writing, nurturing a love for Folk, Country and Americana music. Her most recent release, ‘Invitation’ (September 2023) - a confessional, melodic album with an orchestral, cinematic feel - received outstanding critical acclaim and has been nominated as ‘UK Album of the Year’ at the UK Americana Awards 2024. Michele also received a second nomination for ‘UK Artist of the Year’.
Michele will be performing with a full band for this show.
John Bramwell and The Full Harmonic Trio +support Dave Fidler
Following his successful solo show in Redmile in 2023, we welcome back John Bramwell with his band to play songs from his upcoming and hotly-anticipated album “The Light Fantastic”!
John Bramwell has been on a never-ending rolling adventure since his workings away from the cherished, Mercury Prize-nominated Mancunian band, I Am Kloot. February 23rd 2024 will mark the release of the much-anticipated sophomore album 'The Light Fantastic', to be released via Townsend Music.
Mary Gauthier +special guest Jaimee Harris (US)
Cosmic American are delighted to welcome back Mary Gauthier to Nottingham for a show at the Metronome in April 2024.
As she has so eloquently accomplished over the past 25 years, acclaimed singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier has used her art once again to traverse the uncharted waters of the past few years. “I’m the kind of songwriter who writes what I see in the world right now,” she affirms. Thankfully, amid dark storms of pandemic loss, she found and followed the beacon of new love: Her gift to us, the powerful Dark Enough to See the Stars, collects ten sparkling jewels of Gauthier songcraft reflecting both love and loss.
Her eleventh album, Dark Enough to See the Stars, follows the profound antidote to trauma, Rifles & Rosary Beads, her 2018 collaborative work with wounded Iraq war veterans. It garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album, as well as a nomination for Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association. Publication of her first book, the illuminating Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, in 2021, brought her more praise. Brandi Carlile has said, “Mary’s songwriting speaks to the tender aspects of our humanness. We need her voice in times like these more than we ever have.” The Associated Press called Gauthier “one of the best songwriters of her generation.”
Special Guest Support :JAIMEE HARRIS
Austin’s Jaimee Harris has the sort of voice that reaches into your heart and makes you feel less alone, more connected, and somehow seen. Jaimee Harris is poised to become the next queen of Americana-Folk, a slightly edgier Emmylou Harris for the younger generation. She draws comparisons to Patty Griffin, Ryan Adams, and Kathleen Edwards – all writers who know how to craft a heartbreakingly beautiful song with just enough grit to keep you enthralled. Harris writes about the basic human experience, in a way that is simple, poetic, and often painfully relatable.
Hannah White +support Kate Ellis
This will be a full-band show - and what a band - absolutely not to be missed!
Hannah White began 2023 standing on the winner's podium at the Americana Music Association UK Awards, as a hugely popular winner for UK Song of the Year with the goosebump-inducing 'Car Crash.' But the London-based singer-songwriter is one of those artists who is always about the next thing, and the year will culminate in the release of a completely fresh adventure in her fast-expanding career: the exciting new album Sweet Revolution. produced by Michele Stodart of the Magic Numbers. Fresh from performing to thousands, supporting Paul Carrack's autumn UK tour and delighting audiences throughout festival season at Black Deer, Glastonbury and The Long Road Festival.
Sweet Revolution record expands hugely on the outstanding song craft and “Americana noir” ambiance of 2022's widely-praised About Time, of which Maverick wrote: “The emotion she conveys in her vocal delivery gives you chills as her words tug at your heartstrings.” Acoustic magazine called White “arresting and wholly believable. A voice you will want to protect and become besotted with,” while W21 Music wrote of “the restraint, the range, the softness, the clarity...a masterpiece."
It's that down-to-earth sincerity that is stamped on Hannah's personality just as it is on her music. When people talk about her songs, they talk about her combination of autobiographical honesty, social conscience and joyful musicality, and that conversation is getting louder all the time.
SUPPORT: Kate Ellis
Born In Louisiana, Kate Ellis uses melancholy folk/Americana to conduct fearless soul-searching.
A journalist for the Observer described “hauntingly beautiful songs”. Americana-UK gave her latest album, Spirals 9/10, calling it "An irrefutable, unquestionable joy", while Folk Radio UK noted it was "Beguilingly sung, melodic, warm, tender, open and insightful in its vortex of emotions – an early contender for the year's best-of lists."
"She's been likened to Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Gillian Welch. We couldn't agree more." SONGWRITING MAGAZINE
"Wryly reflective, sweetly melodic, touchingly compassionate, warm-hearted." MAVERICK ★★★★
"With her delicate, melodic music with the ring of truth to her words - and that most elusive quality, soul - Ellis joins the front rank of singer-songwriters. Highly recommended." - R2 MAGAZINE ★★★★
"Kate Ellis put down her law degree to pick up a guitar – thank God she did!" BBC Radio Ulster
"Hits you straight in the heart. One of those artists that on first listen, you just know you're going to love." Talk Radio
Our Man in the Field
We are pleased to welcome back Our Man in the Field - this time for a full band show at The Chapel in Nottingham. Check out the new album “Gold on the Horizon”.
‘Gold on the Horizon’ is mellow but with a rebellious edge. Ellis comes across as humble, unassuming, but also a curious traveler, a troubadour following the major questions wherever they lead.” - No Depression
“We were lucky enough to tour with Our Man In The Field, and all of us in The Delines became huge fans. Their new album is the best thing they’ve done so far….and that's saying something. It's currently on repeat in our van and is a true beauty of a record.” - Willy Vlautin - The Delines
Our Man In The Field is UK singer/songwriter and actor Alex Ellis, with assistance from a band that includes Henry Senior (pedal steel, dobro), Greg Bishop (drums, harmonies), Raul Biancardi (synth) and Luke Ydstie (bass). Plying a winning combination of indie-folk and Americana with significant soulful country vibes that nods to the likes of Ray LaMontagne, Damien Rice, Wilco, Ryan Adams, and Lambchop, OMITF issued a well-received debut album, ‘The Company Of Strangers’, in 2020 and wowed audiences promoting it when guesting for the likes of The Delines, playing festival dates and touring in their own right.
His recently released 2nd album, Gold On the Horizon, which was produced and mixed by Tucker Martine (Modest Mouse, Rosanne Cash, case/lang/veirs), is a 12-song collection of life observations and the urge to explore their universal meanings through Ellis’s fly-on-the-wall, tuneful alter-persona. Recorded at Flora Recording and Playback in Portland, Oregon, the album ranges from raw and barren in “Come Back To Me,” which showcases Ellis’s soulful vocal harmonies and a sparse arrangement of acoustic guitar and pedal steel, to the spacious mirror ball slow-dance of “Go Easy.” The album opener “Feel Good.” is a full and striding desert noir of horns, backup vocals, and baritone guitar. What informs Ellis and Gold On the Horizon is a lifetime of inspiration and the creative space to “wait for something magical to happen.”
SUPPORT: TBC
Sarah Jane Scouten
Sarah Jane Scouten is a Canadian folk and Americana songwriter, having been nominated for 4 Canadian Folk Music Awards, a Western Canadian Music Award, and an International Folk Music Award. She is a songwriter of rare quality, combining sounds of early country music, ballad singing, folk rock, and soul. It’s modern indie Americana that knows exactly where it comes from, with confidence and sophistication only bought by time.
An Evening with Sam Baker
We’re delighted to welcome back to our stage Sam Baker (USA) , for an evening of musical storytelling at The Old Cold Store.
Sam Baker is a lyric writer, artist, and survivor. His songs are stories of everyday people facing everyday challenges: a young Mennonite welder who finds love, a ditch digger supporting his family, a veteran grappling with post-war life, a single mother driving around with a car full of baby junk, a widower writing ‘her’ name in the sand, and a straight-haired orphan in a house full of curls. They are survivors. Like Sam.
Kevin Montgomery +special guests Jude Johnstone and Michael Scott Boudreaux
NB - Due to building refurb at St Peter’s Church in Redmile, this show has now moved to The Old Cold Store in Nottingham.
Kevin Montgomery is an American singer, songwriter.
Nashville plays a big part in Montgomery's development as a songwriter. His parents got married on a Thursday night in Littlefield, Texas so they could be at the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night. Dad wrote songs for and played with Buddy Holly. Mom sang with Elvis (suspicious minds) and their next-door neighbour was Patsy Cline.
Kevin Montgomery's recording career began with his debut album "Fear Nothing" on A&M Records in 1993. He has toured the US with acts including Sheryl Crowe, Stephen Stills and David Crosby and featured on a duet with Mary Chapin-Carpenter on the 1996 Buddy Holly Tribute album "Not Fade Away" singing his father's composition "Wishing", his father also co-producing the track.
Montgomery has written songs for Juice Newton and Martina McBride. Sang on Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance".....his debut album on A&M Records was critically acclaimed. He has released several records since independently and toured relentlessly, including four 50 States and 50 Days tours. The last visit to Nottingham was with Garry Tallent from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
SPECIAL GUEST : JUDE JOHNSTONE
Jude Johnstone is an American singer-songwriter. Her songs have been covered by Laura Branigan, Trisha Yearwood, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, Johnny Cash, Stevie Nicks, Mary Black, and others. Johnstone wrote the No. 1 song "The Woman Before Me" on Yearwood's debut CD, which also won an award from Broadcast Music Incorporated. In 1997, Johnny Cash won the Country Album of the Year Grammy for American II: Unchained for which Johnstone wrote the title track. She is to Trisha Yearwood what Jimmy Webb was to Glen Campbell.
SPECIAL GUEST SUPPORT : Michael Scott Boudreaux
Michael Scott Boudreaux, born and raised in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, is a singer/songwriter and accomplished guitarist whose 2020 debut is sure to turn the heads of country music listeners. His influences of Classic Country, Classic Rock, Texas Country, Americana, and Louisiana Roots music give him a sound like no other. Michael began playing guitar at the age of three and started singing and playing for others not long after. Over the years, he began to develop an appreciation for songwriting and has studied artists such as Robert Earl Keen, Willie Nelson, Charlie Robison, Bruce Robison, and many more. Performing live as a teenager and eventually participating in festivals such as South Louisiana Songwriters Festival as a writer, his experiences as a performer and a writer come in a broad range
Boudreaux released his debut EP in 2020, with plans to release new music in the very near future!
Julianna Riolino +support Cormac Nagle
Julianna Riolino knows how to capture and highlight beauty before it fades. On her debut LP, ‘All Blue,’ Riolino reflects on her own past, the memories of pain, healing, and love strewn through it.
Old 97s +support Espanola
Cosmic American is delighted to welcome the Old 97's to Nottingham to celebrate 30 years of the band with its original members.
Old 97's is an American alternative country band from Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1992, they have since released twelve studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and have one live album. Their most recent release is Twelfth.
They were pioneers of the alt-country movement during the mid-to-late 1990s, but lead vocalist and primary songwriter, Rhett Miller, has described the band's style as "loud folk". The band's name is in reference to the Wreck of the Old 97.
ATO Records released the band's next studio album, aptly named Twelfth, on August 21, 2020. The twelve tracks were produced by Vance Powell, who produced Graveyard Whistling. Old 97's noted that the recording sessions in Nashville started on the night of a deadly tornado outbreak and right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Bill Kirchen Trio +support Littlewolf Band
Touring the UK from his home in Austin, Texas, here’s the Titan of the Telecaster BILL KIRCHEN with his band (Paul Riley, bass; Malcolm Mills, drums) promoting his recent album release.
Cosmic American and DHP Present Kassi Valazza +support
DHP and Cosmic American Music present Kassi Valazza
There is a cult-like fascination growing around Kassi Valazza following the self-release of her 2019 debut album Dear Dead Days and her surprise 2022 EP Highway Sounds. She is seated squarely at the vanguard of new American songwriters strengthening and broadening the sound of country music as she tours with celebrated acts such as Melissa Carper and Riddy Arman. The Southwestern native resides in Portland, a hotbed of songwriters producing albums that both bear the torch and bend the arc of American roots music, where she recently signed with Fluff & Gravy Records — a label known for launching Anna Tivel and Margo Cilker.
An Evening with Rod Picott
For this show, Rod will be playing two sets, with the show kicking off at 8.15pm.
“Songs like Raymond Carver short stories” – Houston Chronicle
“Great writing is all about story, and Rod is so damn good at story” – Mary Gauthier
Over twenty-three years, thirteen albums, three published books and thousands of shows Rod Picott has worked; powered by the fuel of the blue-collar world he was born into. Through white-knuckled determination Picott has been fortunate to open for Alison Krauss and Union Station, play the Shrewsbury Folk Festival, appear several times on the BBC2 Bob Harris sessions, play the Maverick Festival and receive the “Song of the Year” award for his co-write (w/Slaid Cleaves) “Broke Down” at the Austin Music Awards.
Picott’s latest album, tentatively titled A Puncher’s Chance, was produced by musician and filmmaker Neilson Hubbard (John Prine, Lucinda Williams). A Puncher’s Chance features some of Picott’s sharpest writing to date. There is darkness rolling through the collection, but also hope and grace. Picott is a writer who mines the invisible, working-class men and women of the world he comes from and does this with the grace and dignity, only someone who knows the splinters of that life first-hand can conjure.
An Evening of Words and Music with Dan Stuart (Green On Red)
Dan Stuart – Marlowe’s Revenge Tour
Dan’s solo acoustic show will feature songs along with stories of the early days with Green on Red and throughout his solo years!
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Dan Stuart aka Marlowe Billings is set to return to Europe for his first shows since 2018 featuring songs from across his solo and Green on Red catalogue and a very brief reading from his third and latest novel Marlowe’s Revenge along with stories of his time with Green on Red. Green on Red will be releasing the first volume of their back catalogue this Sept featuring the years 1980-1984.
Dan’s latest novel sees him returning to Tucson, Arizona in the '90s to get clean and save a failing marriage. Staving off demons with countless rounds of golf, he stumbles into his hometown’s crime-ridden underbelly, where old friends and a brewing cartel war threaten his sobriety, his sanity, and his life.
Dan Stuart is a musician and author who was the leader of Green on Red, a band associated with both LA's Paisley Underground of the 1980s and the beginning of the so-called Americana movement. His "false memoir" The Deliverance of Marlowe Billings was published in 2014 to critical acclaim which was followed up with The Unfortunate Demise of Marlowe Billings in 2018. All three of his books have albums by the same name, with the last getting Americana Album of the Month in UNCUT Magazine, Dan has released over 15 albums between Green On Red and his solo years.
"I want to thank the El Tiradito shrine that Marlowe Billings rides again. Dan Stuart was in one of my favourite bands, Green on Red, and now has created Marlowe Billings my favourite golf-loving, ex-junkie, trouble-collecting miscreant. With Marlowe’s Revenge, Dan Stuart proves once again he keeps getting better and better." —Willy Vlautin, award-winning author of The Motel Life and songwriter for The Delines and Richmond Fontaine
“Marlowe's Revenge is top-rate screwball noir, a finger-clicking mix of guns, drugs, golf and rock & roll. Think Carl Hiassen, Dave Barry, and Laurence Shames, with a little Charles Willeford on the side. Hip, hardboiled and hilarious.” —ALLAN JONES, author and former editor of Melody Maker and UNCUT Magazine, author of Can't Stand Up For Falling Down: Rock 'N' Roll War Stories
David Ramirez Band (US) +support Jonny Morgan
Rare opportunity to see David in an intimate setting with a full band.
David Ramirez is an American Americana musician from Austin, Texas. Ramirez has released six full-length albums. The first two, American Soil (2009) and Apologies (2012), were self-released. Thirty Tigers released his third, Fables, in 2015, his fourth, We're Not Going Anywhere in 2017, and his fifth album, My Love is a Hurricane in 2020.