‘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.

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 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 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.

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'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

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.

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

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!