When: 7.30pm on Saturday 15 August 2026
Where: Kamera at Lloyd & Platt, 617 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester, M219AN

We’re delighted to welcome Jeffrey Silverstein and Bobby Lee to Kamera – with Black Brunswicker!

Jeffrey Silverstein is a songwriter from Portland, Oregon. His music lives at the intersection of the loner-folk, cosmic country and kraut-laden choogle. He’s just signed with Full Time Hobby. Having played shows throughout the US with such names as Steve Gunn, William Tyler, Rose City Band, Widowspeak and more, Silverstein is now turning his attention back across the Atlantic for co-headline shows with Bobby Lee in the UK and Sweden this summer.

Bobby Lee trades in a wide screen brand of cosmic country-folk, full of space and pawn shop guitars. There are touches of JJ Cale’s analogue Americana, the swampy groove of Tony Joe White and Richard Thompson’s sinewy, modal guitar work. Amps hum in the warm afternoon sun, kids and dogs snooze on the grass and broken drum machines keep time with the universe.

Bobby released his debut album, Shakedown in Slabtown, in August 2020, on his own Natural Histories imprint, which Mojo Magazine described as a ‘word of mouth sensation amongst discerning heads’.  It was swiftly followed by Origin Myths in March 2021, released on the legendary Tompkins Square Records, becoming album of the week on Huey Morgan’s 6 Music show and gaining support from BBC’s Late Junction, No Depression, the Guardian, NTS and WFMU. His third album Endless Skyways, also Tompkins Square, landed in June 2023, with a return to the full band sound of his debut.

2025 saw the release of Last Ride – a collaboration with ambient pedal steel explorer Joe Harvey-Whyte on LA’s Curation Records (Beachwood Sparks, Pacific Range, Triptides). Taking in Paris, Texas-esque dusty instrumentals, west coast canyon-rock, brit-folk pastoralism, kosmische choogle and new-age mellowness. The UK pair bonded over their broad church approach to cosmic country, where Eno and Arthur Russell stand shoulder to shoulder with Gram and JJ Cale.

Opening this special triple bill is Black Brunswicker. Black Brunswicker is the solo project of Etta Helfrich. Originally from Indiana, USA, Etta moved to Manchester in 2020 and has been based there since. Self-described as ambient folk melancholia, Black Brunswicker is a synthesis of Etta’s musical interests: American primitive and new age guitar, ambient drones and tape-based experimentation, and ecological field recordings.

Drifting guitar melodies, awash in a sea of reverb, are anchored by the soft movements of tape loops and field recordings, creating an immersive listening experience. It’s music with no place to be, encouraging introspection.

Kamera is the brand new venue upstairs at Lloyd & Platt (formerly The Lloyd’s) in Chorlton – by the team behind the Castle Hotel and Gullivers. The pub downstairs offers Indian street food by Chapati Cafe.

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When: 7.30pm on Friday 8 May 2026
Where: The Eagle Inn, 19 Collier Street, Salford, M3 7DW

PLEASE NOTE: This show has already sold out! But watch this space for a big follow-up show, to be announced soon.

We’re delighted to be working with Gustaffson again!

Gustaffson host an intimate live show at The Eagle Inn, Salford. This will be the bands first live performance of 2026, playing music from their critically acclaimed debut album Black & White Movie –plus a chance for their audience to hear brand new material.

The Eagle is favourite venue of the northern five-piece, which has been a staple in their musical journey so far – a back drop for music videos and post studio drinks.

‘Best Five Artists of October 2025’ – The Manc & Audio North

‘Blurring the boundaries between music and film’ – ITV Granada

‘Gigs of the year 2025’ – RGM Magazine

They will be supported by Manchester folk acoustic artist Mark Kelly.

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When: 7.30pm on Friday 8 May 2025
Where: Hallé at St Michael’s, 36-38 George Leigh Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 5DG

PLEASE NOTE: Due to demand, this show has been upgraded to Hallé at St Michael’s. All details remain the same, except doors are now 7.30pm. Original tickets remain valid and more tickets have been released.

We’re delighted to welcome Belle Chen back to Manchester!

Notes fall like raindrops, quickening pace as the clouds gather. The piano melody splish-sploshes into the electronic soundscape; the trees become denser, the journey more profound. Belle Chen‘s album Ravel In The Forest, released on the Platoon label, leads the listener through ancient woodland, quiet clearings and tropical canopies. We’re accompanied by birds, a chameleon, a dragonfly – the wonder of the natural world is imbued into this imaginary space.

Receiving a standing ovation at her EFG London Jazz Festival debut in 2024, Belle is praised as an artist who is ‘original and provocative… feels like the sense of discovery’ by Brian Eno. The Australian Music Prize-nominated artist’s latest album charted at No 7 on UK Official Chart (Specialist Classical) and No 15 on Australia’s ARIA Chart (Classical).

In her live shows, Belle takes a quirky, yet tender approach to musical storytelling. With the unmistakable influences of Maurice Ravel, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Joe Hisaishi’s melodic sweetness shining through, Belle blends sonic synth explorations, classical virtuosity, and free flowing improvisations that feel equally at home on jazz or experimental stages.

This is a solo performance that is not to be missed, with Belle performing tunes from her Ravel In The Forest album and new material.

This concert takes place in Hallé at St Michael’s – a former Roman Catholic church, which was founded in 1859 and became the heart of the Little Italy Community in Ancoats.

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

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When: 7.30pm on Saturday 9 May 2026
Where: The Strines Nightingale, 105 Strines Rd, Strines, Marple, Stockport SK6 7GE

We’re excited to welcoming Kaïa Kater to the Strines Nightingale for an intimate show – with special guest Gabriel Minnikin!

Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaïa Kater‘s jazz-fuelled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim from NPR’s Tiny Desk, the Guardian, Rolling Stone and No Depression. Through her artful banjo playing and lush songwriting, Kater draws on influences rooted in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia, all of which reflect the diversity of her background; her ties to the Canadian folk music scene; her college years spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia, her father’s experience growing up in Grenada, and her recent work in film composition.

Kater’s new JUNO-winning album, Strange Medicine, celebrates the power of women and oppressed people throughout history, while also sharing deep self-reflection, reinvention, and meditations on her own life. Taking the helm as co-producer, alongside Joe Grass (Elisapie, Barr Brothers), the album finds Kater expanding her creative scope with cinematic arrangements, and working with guest artists such as Taj Mahal, Allison Russell and Aoife O’Donovan. Its release has provided her the foundation for touring across North America, the UK, and Europe with notable performances at Reeperbahn, Junofest, Celtic Connections, Newport Folk Festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, the legendary Cayamo Cruise, and many more.

Kater released her first EP Old Soul (2013) when she was just out of high school. Since then, she’s gone on to release several albums, Sorrow Bound (2015), Nine Pin (2016), Grenades (2018) and Strange Medicine (May 2024). For the JUNO-nominated and Polaris Music Prize long-listed Grenades, Kater leaned into a wide array of sounds and styles in order to convey a broad range of emotions and topics, most notably her Caribbean ancestry and her father’s experience as a refugee in Canada.

In 2020, Kater took part in the Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Center, leading her to write original music for The Porter (BET+ 2022), for which she garnered a Canadian Screen Award. She also wrote and performed music for the new film, My Dead Friend Zoe (March 2024).

‘You want some authenticity in your folk music or bluegrass – I give you Kaïa Kater’ – No Depression

Special guest is Gabriel Minnikin. Critically acclaimed Nova Scotia artist Gabriel Minnikin is a mainstay in the international music scene. At a young age the multi-instrumentalist became a sought-after session musician and songwriter internationally. He has toured Canada, America, UK, and the EU extensively. In 2024 Minnikin released his sixth studio album, Anne Lorraine, which has been turning heads as he continues to intrigue listeners with his unique brand of Canadiana.

This show takes place at the Strines Nightingale – a lovely country pub, formerly called the Sportsman, which re-opened in autumn 2022. Strines is on the Piccadilly-Sheffield train line, and on the 358 bus route from Stockport to Hayfield. This show will run until 10.30pm at the latest.

Book tickets now.

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When: 6.30pm on Sunday 10 May 2026
Where: New Century, Mayes Street, Manchester M60 4ES

We’re excited to host the Manchester leg of the Cowboy Junkies – Celebrating 40 Years and Beyond tour!

An evening with Cowboy Junkies promises a career-spanning show, including songs from their recent album, Such Ferocious Beauty, which was released in 2023, to universal critical acclaim.

In 1988, Cowboy Junkies proved that there was an audience waiting for something quiet, beautiful and reflective. The Trinity Session was like a whisper that cut through the noise — and it was compelling. Since its release, they have enjoyed an enduring career in which they have stayed their course, maintaining a low-impact excavation of melody and evocative language delivered sotto voce in singer Margo Timmins’ feathery alto.

Formed in Toronto in 1985, Margo was joined by siblings Michael Timmins on guitar, Peter Timmins on drums, and Michael’s lifelong friend Alan Anton on bass to begin a journey that has evolved over 29 albums. There’s an appreciation of each other that keeps them constantly working. ‘It’s that intimacy and understanding of what each one of us brings to the table,’ says Michael.

‘Taking their influences from classic blues and folk but also the punk of their youth, the band roamed across a wide musical terrain, overlaying their songs with a hushed intricacy. This was beautiful’ – The Telegraph

‘As this show demonstrated beyond any doubt, whether their own or their version of songs by others, Cowboy Junkies are an incredibly diverse band. Vocally, musically, together and individually theirs was a performance of total absorption’ – Americana UK

‘Cowboy Junkies remain at the top of their craft as they continue to define new territories for their unique sound to explore’ – Lonesome Highway

This show – a co-promotion with Edge Street Events – will be fully seated. This show is for ages 14+.

Book tickets now. 

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When: 7.30pm on Thursday 21 May 2026
Where: Hallé St Peter’s, 40 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6BF

We’re excited to be working with Jerron Paxton again!

Growing up in Los Angeles, Jerron Paxton would sit with an ear by the radio, eagerly absorbing the nuances and history of Black American traditional music that connect him to his ancestral roots in the South.

A songwriter, inheritor of tradition, and a walking, talking jukebox, Paxton approaches his craft with equal part wit and reverence, with a knack for leg-pulling and cracking wise. Things Done Changed (Smithsonian Folkways) is an album of original songs that sound beamed in from nearly a century ago, when jazz and blues were performed as a means of both personal and cultural survival.

Lick by lick, Paxton builds a bridge between generations gone and generations to come, singing the heartaches and joys of the past and present.

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

This is an unreserved seating show.

Book tickets now.

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When: 7pm on Friday 22 May 2026
Where: Low Four Studio, Deansgate Mews, Great Northern, Manchester M3 4EN

We’re excited to present a free entry show at Low Four featuring Tulpa and more!

Tulpa are an indie rock band from Leeds. Their sound contrasts detuned and lo-fi guitar textures with hyper-melodic vocals, creating songs with emotional warmth and sonic intrigue. The group consists of Josie Kirk, Daniel Hyndman, Myles Kirk and Mike Ainsley. They have recently supported Throwing Muses, Pale Blue Eyes and The Bug Club and have recorded a live session for Marc Riley and Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music.

In the creative hotbeds of the UK’s DIY festivals and indie venues Tulpa have already gathered a loyal following. Live, their songs lean into texture and tone, creating a dreamy atmosphere and distortion that feels like a big hug. The songs meander from catchy hooks into tangents of musical experimentation and guitar wizardry. The lyrics are sometimes abstract, sometimes mysterious, but always direct and powerful expressions of universal human emotion.

Tulpa’s debut album Monster of the Week was be released by Skep Wax Records in November. It was recorded by Jamie Lockhart (The Cribs, Mush, Drahla). The record is the first ever album to be produced at Jamie’s new studio at Lamigo Bay, a picturesque and remote region of the Highlands.

FFO: Breeders, Pavement, Yo La Tengo etc.

Joining Tulpa is new band Scania, who blend digital with analogue; samples with live instruments; New Wave with electronica and Transpenine travel.

And opening the show are DDHP – four people from Manchester who own many cats and who all believe Matt was the most important member of Weezer. FFO: The Replacements, Pixies and The Rentals.

This free entry show is part of Mews Fest 2026 – no need to book in advance, just turn up on the night!

This show takes place at Low Four – a recording studio situated on Deansgate Mews in the Great Northern warehouse. This intimate venue features a fully stocked Cloudwater bar.

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When: 7pm on Sunday 24 May 2026
Where: Carlton Club, Rowan Lodge, 113 Carlton Road, Whalley Range, Manchester M16 8BE

We’re delighted to be promoting the Manchester leg of Anna McLuckie’s ‘The Little Winters Tour’ – at the Carlton Club!

Anna McLuckie is a Scottish singer, songwriter and Clàrsach player. Raised on classical and traditional music, Anna’s writing draws on her musical beginnings and also takes influence from her love of popular music and more experimental sounds. Her music sits in a world of contemporary folklore; her songs layered with interweaving harmonies, story led lyricism and free form structures.

Based in London, she has performed in places around the world from Rockwood Music Hall NYC, to a concert series in Russia, to house shows and folk sessions. She’s appeared at festivals across the UK and supported the likes of Jake Xerxes Fussell, Rozi Plain and Richard Hawley.

In 2024 Anna took part in the Making Tracks residency and toured the UK with renowned global roots musicians. She is currently being mentored by English Folk Expo (Soundroots UK) and Kick Arts UK. Her first full length album, The Little Winters, is set to be released at the start of 2026.

‘Lush indie-folk at its finest, with Anna backing her dexterous picking with some equally sublime vocals’ – Klof Magazine

‘A voice like birdsong’ – Bella Caledonia

‘A haunting collection of nu-folk poetry set to music’ – Only A Northern One

Special guest is Ellen Beth Abdi. Mancunian music-maker Ellen Beth Abdi crafts wonky, soul-infused pop with live loops, pokey drums and quietly subversive lyrics. A rising force in Manchester’s scene, she’s supported The Stone Roses, performed with New Order and A Certain Ratio, and shared stages with Olivia Dean, Hollie Cook and Angélique Kidjo. Her debut album dropped in May 2025 via her own label, Sweet Twenty-Three Records.

Book tickets now.

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When: 7pm on Monday 25 May 2026
Where: YES Basement, 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB

We’re excited to welcome Charlie Parr back – this time, to YES.

In the music of Charlie Parr, there is a sincere conviction and earnest drive to create. The Minnesota-born guitarist, songwriter, and interpreter of traditional music has released 19 albums over two decades and has been known to perform up to 275 shows a year. Parr is a folk troubadour in the truest sense: taking to the road between shows, writing and rewriting songs as he plays, fueled by a belief that music is eternal and cannot be claimed or adequately explained. The bluesman poet pulls closely from the sights and sounds around him, his lyrical craftsmanship built by his influences. The sounds from his working-class upbringing—including Folkways legends such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie—imbue Parr’s music with stylistic echoes of blues and folk icons of decades past. Parr sees himself merely as a continuer of a folk tradition: “I feel like I stand on a lot of big shoulders,” he said in an interview. “I hope that I’ve brought a little bit of myself to the music.”

With a discography simultaneously transcendental in nature and grounded in roots music, Charlie Parr is the humble master of the 21st century folk tradition. Parr started recording in Duluth in 2002, where he lives today. Life in the port town on Lake Superior has a way of bleeding into his work the same way his childhood in Austin, Minnesota does. Parr self-released his debut album, Criminals and Sinners, and did the same for his sophomore album 1922 (2002). With growing popularity abroad, Parr signed with Red House Records in 2015, where he recorded break-out albums Stumpjumper (2015) and Dog (2017). Parr’s music has an overwhelming sense of being present and mindful, and his sound is timeless.

Parr’s mastery of his craft is only more apparent when contextualised within the history of folk tradition of which Parr has dedicated his practice The land and lives around and intersecting with Parr have always influenced him, from the hills and valleys of Hollandale, Minnesota to the Depression-era stories from his father. Parr strives to listen to everything: “I don’t see that I’d ever be capable of creating anything if it weren’t for these inspirations and influences, books and music as well as the weather and random interactions with strangers and animals. So, the well never runs dry as long as my eyes and ears are open,” Parr said in a 2020 interview. Before he was even 10 years old Parr was rummaging through his father’s record collection—sometimes drawing dinosaurs on the vinyl sleeves—and listening to country, folk, and blues legends, many of whom are staples in the Folkways catalog. When Parr sings and plays his resonator or 12-string, you can hear influences like Mance Lipscomb, Charley Patton, Spider John Koerner, Rev. Gary Davis, and Dock Boggs. This is especially true in his playing, when, after a diagnosis of focal dystonia, Parr turned to greats like Davis, Doc Watson, and Booker White for two-finger picking inspiration. Gifted a 1965 Gibson B-45 12-string by his father, Parr has never had a formal lesson and learned by listening to records and watching musicians he admired.

Parr’s first album with Smithsonian Folkways, Last of Better Days Head (2021), foregrounded his lyrical craftsmanship and sophisticated bluesman confidence, with spare production highlighting Parr’s mastery of guitar and elevating his poetry. Last of Better Days Ahead is a portrait of how Parr saw the world in that moment, reflecting on time and memories that have passed while holding an enduring desire to be present. In his 2024 release, Little Sun, Parr weaves together stories celebrating music, community, and communing with nature. Putting forth an ambitious and raw album that exemplifies the best of Parr’s sound: a blend of the blues and folk traditions he continues to carry with him and the steadfast originality of a poet.

Local support comes from Jon Coley. Jon Coley is an acclaimed folk singer songwriter. He plays an eclectic mix of Blues, soul and folk, mixed with fresh original songwriting. He is renowned for his unique guitar playing passionate vocal performances, reminiscent of Van Morrison and Amos Lee. Jon is influenced by performers such as Nick Drake, Neil Young, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Sam Cooke, Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones, classic blues and especially the music of John Martyn. He has quickly become a legendary figure in his present home of Manchester, and his family’s native Liverpool, where his grandfather worked to book bands for the Cavern Club alongside Bobby Wooler and owner Ray McFall. After years of live touring, Jon released his Mercury nominated album If All I Ever Wanted Was All I Ever Needed to critical acclaim in 2021.

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When: 7pm on Thursday 28 May 2026
Where: Low Four Studio, Deansgate Mews, Great Northern, Manchester M3 4EN

We’re delighted to welcome Carla J Easton to Low Four Studio!

Following her 2023 album Sugar Honey, Scottish songwriter, producer and now filmmaker Carla J Easton (Teen Canteen, Poster Paints, The Vaselines) made an award-winning documentary called Since Yesterday, about the history of pioneering Scottish girl groups. Often a collection of women who hardscrabbled their way through the industry with little more than, as the cliche goes, three chords and the truth, their stories inspired Easton to take a new approach to her fifth album I Think That I Might Love You. She picked up the guitar and learned it for the first time, pushing her keyboard sound to the fringes on an album that’s a celebration of guitar-led music – pop, indie and power. The single Oh Yeah, out 11 February, is the first track and mission statement of this sound.

The single, like the rest of the album, was recorded off the floor at the fabled Chem 19 studio and is an example of the collaborative nature of I Think That I Might Love You. Co-written with Simon Liddell (Poster Paints, Frightened Rabbit) – the rest of the album features collaborations with MALKA (Hen Hoose), Man of the Minch, Stevie Jackson (Belle and Sebastian), Johnny Scott (Chvrches) and outsider indie legend Darren Hayman of Hefner – Oh Yeah was written after Easton and Liddell had gone to see a Teenage Fanclub show.

‘Oh Yeah is the sound of loving someone who doesn’t quite love you back, but giving that love anyway,’ explains Easton. ‘Knowing the cost and paying the price with a defiant smile; beauty with a bruise underneath. It’s a song about reaching outward, leaning forward, heart wide open, and hoping to be caught.’

‘It’s not bitter – I think it’s brave to let yourself glow for someone even if they are half a step away. Musically, there are big Teenage Fanclub guitars, huge strings, and harmonies stacked like confessions you never quite say out loud. It’s the sound of standing in your bedroom, heart pounding, replaying voice notes that don’t say what you hope they will, and still pressing play again. The reckless, gorgeous place where you still believe love might turn around and choose you.

‘It was brilliant to work with Simon again on some new songs!’

Done in under two minutes, Oh Yeah is a Jenga tower of harmonies, 4/4 drums, riffs, melodies that almost threatens to collapse under the weight of its sheer joy but comes out the other side as a celebration of love, friendship and community.

Oh Yeah and I Think That I Might Love You are both produced by Howard Bilerman (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Wolf Parade, U.S. Girls, The Weather Station).

The album was made with support from Creative Scotland.

Main support comes from Creepy Crawly. Creepy Crawly is the project of Bristol-born and Manchester-based musician Rachel Cawley, weaving bittersweet narratives through shimmering, multilayered songwriting. Her distinctive crystalline vocals guide listeners through ethereal dreamscapes, moments of eerie unease, and the satisfying crunch of ’90s alt-rock melancholy. Growing up in the rural West of England, her music is, in part, inspired by a childhood soundtracked by folk revival artists and traditional British folk music. But the pull of the city was huge and, aged 18, she moved to London and submerged herself in the many worlds of music available to her there – working at venues, writing for music magazines, temping at record labels – and going to a lot of gigs. But, as it so often does, London spat her back out.

And so, during a period of self-reckoning with the question of ‘how the hell did I get here?’, living a life that seemed frighteningly ordinary, she returned to writing songs – tracing out the path of how she found herself in a place she didn’t want to be – and armed with newfound hope and resilience, plotting a route back out of it. The result of this reflective work is her debut album Like a Real Thing, which will be self-released on 30 May 2025 and draws from a diverse palette of influences including Scott Walker, Big Thief, Laura Marling, Anne Briggs, Cat Power, Breeders and Heatmiser.

Opening the show is Broken Chanter. Broken Chanter is the stage name of Glaswegian songwriter David MacGregor. Broken Chanter can be MacGregor on his own or, more often than not, with an array of extremely talented musicians joining him. His latest album, Chorus Of Doubt, (‘Agit-pop with heart, 8/10’ – UNCUT) was released by Chemikal Underground in April 2024 and was on the longlist of 20 for the 2024 Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award. Prior to this incendiary new gem of an LP, MacGregor has released two critically acclaimed albums as Broken Chanter – 2019’s eponymous introduction to his new guise (‘A stunning, stately debut’ – The Skinny) and 2021’s Catastrophe Hits (‘Muscular, fast-moving indie-pop’ – The Scotsman).

He spent 2007-2017 as the principal songwriter of Scottish alt-pop darlings Kid Canaveral – a band that could get you to dance, laugh, and weep all in the space of the same set. Their debut LP Shouting at Wildlife was described by The Herald as ‘a Scottish pop classic that should be mandatory in every record collection in the country’, and saw the band perform across a large chunk of the western hemisphere, with the similarly well-received follow-up Now That You Are a Dancer being longlisted for the SAY Award in 2014.

This show takes place at Low Four – a recording studio situated on Deansgate Mews in the Great Northern warehouse. This intimate venue features a fully stocked Cloudwater bar.

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

Book tickets now.

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