7.30 pm The Sebright Arms, 31-35 Coate St. Bethnal Green E2 9AG. Ph 020 7729 0937
Playing tonight with his full band, Benedict Benjamin is Ben Rubinstein, formerly of The Mariner’s Children and Peggy Sue (Wichita Records). His debut album ‘Night Songs’ is a collection of timeless compositions recorded in a series of churches, bedrooms and kitchens across London and Kent with producer Dan Blackett (Landshapes, Bella Union). Benjamin is first and foremost a songwriter versed in the classic traditions of the form, capable of crafting both operatic crescendo and lullaby-like stillness shot through with the heartbreaking swoon of Roy Orbison, the soothing harmonies of the Everly Brothers and the honesty of Jeff Tweedy. His songs undercut the dream-like beauty of early 60s pop music with lyrics both frank and poetic. In September 2017 he and his band played the prestigious Green Man Festival. His forthcoming second album will be released in early 2018.
‘LIKE NOTHING I’VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE, I WAS JUST BLOWN AWAY BY HER’ CERYS MATTHEWS, BBC 6 MUSIC
£7.00 adv / £8.50 door
The Harrison, 28 Harrison Street, Kings Cross, WC1H 8JF. Ph: 020 7278 3966
Doors open 7.30 pm. Nearest tube Kings Cross, 5 mins walk.
Leonie Evans began performing at the age of 5 and has never stopped….Her never ending tour has brought her to the furthest reaches of Britain, Europe, Japan & the USA. What sets Leonie Evans her apart from just a discography and list of tour dates are the countless guest vocals, collaborations, performances in the streets and jazz clubs of New Orleans, London, Bristol, spontaneous jams at parties and festivals and, perhaps most precious of all, the sprawling web of connections growing between Leonie and her ever-expanding family of musical sisters and brothers.
Her output to date has included two exquisite albums of dreamy, jazzy, unclassifiable song craft as part of the Bristol-based quartet Rae, a series of limited edition solo CDs, and a just-released, ecstatically received album ‘Collaborations Volume 1‘, recorded in nine different locations and featuring thirty four guest musicians. Artists featured include Riognach Connolly (The Breath/ Honeyfeet), Brooke Sharkey, Liam Magill (Syd Arthur), Low Chimes and Adam Beattie.
‘Like nothing else I’ve ever heard in my life, I was just blown away by her’ Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 6 2016
‘Jazz and Folk flirt en route to New Orleans via Canterbury with Evans’ slinky, supple vocal…One slot on Later with Jools holland is all it would take’ Prog Magazine
Canadian chanteuse Gabrielle Papillon has just released her sixth album, ‘Keep The Fire’– though stemming from her acoustic folk roots, it pushed her further into the world of modern electronica through her collaborations with award-winning Canadian producer Corey LaRue (Best New Act, Canadian Radio Music Awards 2017). Over the course of her career Gabrielle has shared the stage with Ron Sexsmith, Amelia Curran, and Ria Mae amongst many others. She won the 2015 Music Nova Scotia Awards for Recording of The Year and was nominated for the 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards, Contemporary Album of the Year. Her songs have been featured extensively on television series’ across the US, Canada and Australia.
‘One of the finest new songwriters in Canada’ Tom Power, host of CBC’s Deep Roots
The Harrison, 28 Harrison Street, Kings Cross, WC1H 8JF. Ph: 020 7278 3966
Doors open 7.30 pm. Nearest tube Kings Cross, 5 mins walk.
Ma Polaine’s Great Decline play a highly potent mix of rhythm and blues and country soul with flavours of gypsy jazz, vaudeville and music hall, all performed with a focused intensity- think 40’s era Billie Holiday transplanted to Tom Waits ‘Sworfishtrombones’. Singer Beth Packer moves between double bass, accordion and harmonica, with partner Clinton Hough on electric or acoustic guitar (and an occasional percussive foot), all accompanying Packer’s extraordinary voice- at times powerful, poignant, sensitive and always deeply soulful.
★★★★★ ‘…the singer’s compelling and never overplayed delivery gives this set its sustained, just-under-the surface intensity’. Roots Music Report
★★★★ ‘….an intangible element peculiar to themselves’ R2 Magazine
‘The icing on the cake is their vocalist. Stunning singer Beth Packer is someone to get to know’ .8/10 Blues and Soul magazine
‘…like some new wonderful step in evolution, an album of great warmth and heroic concealment..the most complete and uniquely enjoyable [release] of the year so far‘. 9.5/10 Liverpool Sound And Vision
Jack Harris‘s songs take a compassionate look at things both common and uncommon, and see them differently. They are literate, curious, often in character, and always intriguing. His latest album, ‘The Wide Afternoon’, produced by UK folk giant Gerry Diver (Sam Lee, Lisa Knapp, Tom Robinson), was released in November 2016 to universal press acclaim. Jack was a SXSW showcasing artist at 17, as well as the youngest ever winner of the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Award in 2005 (previous winners include Gillian Welch, Devon Sproule and Anais Mitchell). He has been the recipient of the PRS ATOM Award for new music creation, as well as an EFDSS creative bursary for songwriting.
‘Jack Harris is a priest of song who holds himself to a rigorous, ancient code of beauty most of us have forgotten exists.’ Anaïs Mitchell
‘A lyricist of great descriptive precision and a flair for revealing observation’ – Folk Radio UK
‘A unique lyrical mind’ – Q Magazine
‘A natural and captivating song writing talent, 5/5’ – The Telegraph
New Roots is committed to promoting events that shine a light on up and coming talent in the UK alt-folk scene. It’s committed to providing artists with an environment that is sympathetic to what they do, giving musicians the respect they and their music deserves – for this reason we ask for no talking and no use of mobile phones while artists are performing. Our music policy comes from the kitchen table, the roots of public performance- intimate, acoustic based, high quality musicianship with as little interference between performer and listener as possible.
The Harrison, 28 Harrison Street, Kings Cross, WC1H 8JF. Ph: 020 7278 3966
Doors open 7.30 pm. Nearest tube Kings Cross, 5 mins walk.
Tobias Ben Jacob on stage at 8.15 pm / Ben Smith & Jimmy Brewer onstage at 9.15 pm.
Blessed with a wonderfully emotive voice and a talent for songwriting that ranges from the intimate to the epic, Tobias Ben Jacob played in The Roots Union alongside Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin (winners of Best Duo at the BBC Folk Awards.) Some career highlights to date have included a session for BBC’s ‘Late Junction‘ on Radio 3, sharing the stage with Fleet Foxes J.Tillman, and appearances at Glastonbury, Green Man, Secret Garden Party,Larmer Tree and Electric Picnic.
‘Inventive and thrilling’ R2: Rock n Reel
‘Definitely one to watch out for’ Late Junction .BBC Radio 3
‘Stand out new folk… superb.. excellent’ Chris Hawkins, BBC Radio 6
Legendary singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading discovered Ben Smith & Jimmy Brewer in 2012, choosing them to support her on tour. She loved them so much she called them again in 2015 to repeat the engagement. The duo combine classic close harmony style with superbly honed songwriting craft to produce a brilliantly accessible roots sound, taking influence from the The Everly Brothers to Simon & Garfunkel, John Martyn to the countrified Grateful Dead. They’ve just released their eponymous debut EP, and in Sept 2017 were invited to showcase at the hugely prestigious AmericanaFest in Nashvillle- great things await!
New Roots is committed to promoting events that shine a light on up and coming talent in the UK alt-folk scene. It’s committed to providing artists with an environment that is sympathetic to what they do, giving musicians the respect they and their music deserves – for this reason we ask for no talking and no use of mobile phones while artists are performing. Our music policy comes from the kitchen table, the roots of public performance- intimate, acoustic based, high quality musicianship with as little interference between performer and listener as possible.
Doors open 7.30 pm. Nearest tube Farringdon, 6 mins walk.
INMIRIAM is a new project from Ellie Rose Rusbridge inspired by the biblical story of poet and prophetess Miriam. Ellie’s influences span a childhood steeped in scared choral music and traditional Irish folk tunes. Her adolescence was soundtracked by Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush and Martha Wainwright who sparked her first attempts at songwriting aged 13. She recently completed an MMus in Creative Practice at Goldsmiths University where experimental pop and vocal music are at the forefront of her research and practice.. This eclecticism plays out in a remarkably original artist, her songs are intricate in detailed arrangement, rich in melody and sensitively bound in poetic sentiment.
“Dusk-lit songs, strong and tender and sung in a voice that curls darkly at the edges in a way that’ll entice fans of Joanna Newsom and Regina Spektor” – Time Out Magazine
“A rare and totally individual talent… Her music straddles folk, pop and classical and cannot be easily pigeonholed into any genre. In a favourite song of mine, ‘Hejira Again’, she responds to Joni Mitchell’s 1976 album and reveals a humility and awareness of the rich heritage of female singer-songwriters into which she has stepped. “ – Sam Lee, Folk Musician, founder of The Nest Collective.
Ed Dowie‘s music career began in 1998 when his Bournemouth-based psychedelic-dub-pop band Brothers in Sound – stablemates of the legendary Beta Band on cult Parlophone subsidiary Regal Recordings – released three EPs and the album Family Is For Sharing, all of which were met with considerable critical acclaim. Now signed as a solo artist to renowned Scottish indie label Lost Map, home to Rozi Plain and Pictish Trail, he released his debut album “The Uncle Sold’ in January this year.
‘A deceptive simplicity affirms the talent and ability of this accomplished, bold and starry-eyed visionary’ – The Quietus
New Roots is committed to promoting events that shine a light on up and coming talent in the UK alt-folk scene. It’s committed to providing artists with an environment that is sympathetic to what they do, giving musicians the respect they and their music deserves – for this reason we ask for no talking and no use of mobile phones while artists are performing. Our music policy comes from the kitchen table, the roots of public performance- intimate, acoustic based, high quality musicianship with as little interference between performer and listener as possible.
New Roots 