When: 7.30pm on Tuesday 19 September 2023
Where: The Castle Hotel, 66 Oldham Street, Manchester M4 1LE

We’re pleased to be working with System Exclusive for the first time!

System Exclusive are Ari Blaisdell and Matt Jones – a Pasadena, California duo bearing an armful of mini synths and a pocketful of Tarantino-dusted riffs who make heart-throbbing, capital P pop punch with more than a hint of post-punk.

Blaisdell’s vocals hearken back to open-hearted 80s hitmakers unafraid to quaver in the name of love, and they’re buoyed by Jones’ laser-gridded synth concoctions and heavy hand on the ones and twos. The self-titled debut via Castle Face Records has seen the band invited to perform in many new countries as well as lengthy tours across the USA, the road awaits.

System Exclusive will be embarking on an extensive 22-date UK tour throughout September 2023 including a performance at the prestigious End of the Road Festival.

Local support comes from Industries. Industries is an electronic music project by Markus Hetheier. His music explores and subverts musical structures and ranges from field recordings, distorted sounds to harmonic melodies and large beats. He is an electronic music producer, DJ, sound artist, workshop facilitator and practice-based PhD researcher at the School of Digital Arts (SODA).

Sadly Phia Sky isn’t able to perform due to illness.

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

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Tuesday 19 September 2023
Where: YES, 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB

We’re excited to welcome Rachel Sermanni back to Manchester – this time, to YES!

Hailing from the Scottish highlands, Rachel Sermanni is an enchanting singer-songwriter, whose performance and lyrics draw from a deep well of mysticism, dreams, nature and the simple-complex experience of being human. A contemporary folk musician influenced by a wealth of genres including jazz, rock, old-time and traditional, she is announcing today her newest foray into her sonic subconscious, Dreamer Awake.

Inspired by the works of Nan Shepherd, and the parallel experience of the Heroine’s journey as one of descent, as opposed to the glorified heights of the archetypal Hero, Dreamer Awake is, as Sermanni tells us, about ‘…the journey of someone skimming the surface of their experience, resisting the pull of the earth initially then slowly descending into the dark and the unknown with fear, willingness and curiosity. Becoming pregnant, giving birth and crossing the threshold into motherhood is exactly this’. Channelling the metamorphic experience of becoming a mother, and processing the demise of a long-term relationship, Sermanni dove deep into her psyche and returned with songs that have a sharpness, an acuity of feeling, and that capture the fluidity of our mind and the depth of our emotional experience.

To realise Dreamer Awake, Sermanni decamped to Middle Farm Studios, Devon with co-producer Peter Miles. Recording live to tape with people that, ‘most of the time, are jazz improvisers,’ the sessions were conducted with an almost Lynchian approach, with Sermanni choosing ‘to flow through [the experience] like a dream’. The result is an album that captures the intimacy of the room, and the immediacy of these songs that transform thought, memory and emotion into such wondrous light. Shared with us now, the first glimpse of this experience, Jacob, explores the break-up that preceded the album, the complex realisations that followed, and the important step of practising, or regaining, self-love. In Rachel’s own words, ‘This is a song that reflects on an ended relationship and the growing I’m doing thanks to therapy, a lovely therapist called Jacob and the VERY simple & clear tools he is offering me to help me see & understand old habits. Again, a kind of coming into power. A simple act of recognising that I’m loved, and worthy of love’.

Rightly described by critics as a ‘folk noir gem’ (Mojo), ‘stately, poetic’ (Clash) and ‘folk of the highest order’ (Time Out), Rachel Sermanni has been making music for over a decade and has developed her artistic voice over her many releases, each time pushing boundaries and experimenting with different musical textures while maintaining the raw emotional connection, to herself and others, that defines her music. Her previous work includes the albums Under Mountains (2012), Tied to the Moon (2015) and So It Turns (2019), which was inspired by her time studying and volunteering at a buddhist monastery in the borders of Scotland and was recorded in Berlin. Rachel Sermanni has toured the globe, played alongside artists such as Mumford & Sons, Fink, Ron Sexsmith, John Grant, The Staves, Karine Polwart, The Maes and many more at venues and festivals all over, most recently playing with Charlie Cunningham. She also runs a songwriting workshop called Cultivating A Creative Life and her podcast, Rachel Sermanni’s Finger That Points To The Moon, similarly explores her relationship to creativity and inspiration, with the hope that it will help point in the direction of truth for herself and those listening.

You can pre-order Dreamer Awake at rachelsermanni.lnk.to/dreamerawake.

Tour support comes from Lewis McLaughlin. Lewis McLaughlin is a 22-year-old indie singer-songwriter hailing from Leith. Since winning the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Award in 2022 he has been captivating audiences from Hebcelt to Latitude Festival with his powerful performances. Inspired by artists like John Martyn, Bon Iver and Villagers, Lewis creates soul-stirring melodies and thought-provoking lyrics that resonate with listeners.

His accomplished debut album Feel The Ground You Walk Upon is a life-arming listen, one moment will have you misty-eyed, wishing you could hold a pint aloft with your dearest pals and in the next, have you contemplating your most intense personal struggles. All the while Mclaughlin’s warm timbre blazes perpetually, unifying and comforting the lost souls that gather in its glow.

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Wednesday 20 September 2023
Where: The Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, Manchester M3 1DA

We’re delighted to be working with Erland Cooper once more – this time, at Stoller Hall!

Prolific Scottish composer Erland Cooper, who merges music with evocative storytelling and conceptual art, tours his ambitious fourth studio album Folded Landscapes. Hailed as ‘nature’s songwriter’, for his work celebrating themes of the natural world, place, people and time, Folded Landscapes pushes Cooper’s connection to the environment even further into unchartered new realms.

Folded Landscapes, to be released on 5 May 2023 on Mercury KX / Decca, sees Cooper work through the lens of urgent observations surrounding climate change creating a potent, experimental new work. In early 2022, Cooper began a collaboration with Scottish Ensemble, a collective of pioneering musicians crossing art forms, to champion music for strings. Using drastic temperature changes – from sub-zero to hottest on record – he developed this piece for chamber string ensemble, piano, voice, harpsichord, electronics and field recordings.

The finished album figuratively and literally thaws over seven movements and features UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage along with other special guests and samples, including activist Greta Thunberg, visual artist Norman Ackroyd and multi-award winning author, naturalist and conservationist Dara McNaulty leading a murmuration of familiar voices. Field recordings of the natural world include the California wildfires and crashing glaciers. Yet, out of the doom and gloom, beauty and hope bloom on Folded Landscapes.

Cooper explains: ‘I hope in this new work, a listener will be rewarded for their patience from a cold, glacial ascent by a slowly thawing, burning hope.’

Simon Armitage explains: ‘It was a natural fit. Erland is a poet who works with the language of music; finding and folding words into the landscapes of his compositions was a near-spontaneous happening. If geology could speak its dreams and geography could sing in its sleep, this is what it would sound like.’

Click here to join Erland Cooper’s official newsletter.

Tour support comes from Midori Jaeger. Midori Jaeger makes emotive songs that refuse to fit into a box. Performing solo accompanying herself on the cello, she has toured the UK and EU and recently opened for Julian Lage at Union Chapel. With lyrics confronting belonging, gender and mixed heritage, her music repeatedly leaves listeners deeply moved. As a globally active cellist and vocalist, Midori has performed with Daughter, Emmy the Great, Patrick Watson and Courtney Pine, including at Barbican Hall, Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Albert Hall.

Book now via Seetickets.com.

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Thursday 21 September 2023
Where: Academy 3, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PR

PLEASE NOTE: Due to essential maintenance at Gorilla, this show will move to Academy 3. Doors now open at 7.30pm and all original tickets remain valid.

We’re excited to welcome Josh Rouse and his band back – this time, to celebrate 20 years since the release of 1972!

In honour of its 20th anniversary, Yep Roc Records is proud to be reissuing Josh Rouse’s 2003 album, 1972. This is the best-selling album in his catalog, which is not surprising, considering it contains some of his most well-loved songs, many of which have become standards in his live set-list.

1972 is a collection of songs that pay homage to the songwriters whose songs were popular on AM radio in the year Josh was born. Fluttering strings, hand claps, flutes and the production of Brad Jones provide the right atmosphere for this incredible batch of songs. Highlights include the single Love Vibration, James and Rise.

For this special 20th anniversary show, Josh will be joined by his four-piece band.

‘The most intimate album of the year, and one of the warmest’ – Q Magazine

‘1972 is a delightful album, its 10 songs redolent of the spirit and sound of the era, with understated echoes of period heroes, from Al Green and Marvin Gaye to Neil Young and James Taylor, and an underlying theme of impending change’ – The Independent

Special guests are Later Youth. Later Youth is the solo project of British singer-songwriter and producer Jo Dudderidge. His distinctive voice and piano style take centre stage within wistful songs that swoop through a modern take on soul, folk-rock and Americana.

Having fronted revered Manchester cult heroes The Travelling Band, spanning four acclaimed albums, the now London-based multi-instrumentalist has also made his name playing for other artists including Ren Harvieu, Aldous Harding, James Walsh and Lissie.

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

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook

When: 8pm on Friday 22 September 2023
Where: Band on the Wall (bar stage), 26 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JZ

We’re excited to be welcome Cinder Well to town!

Cadence, the new album from Amelia Baker’s experimental folk project Cinder Well, drifts between two far-flung seas: the hazy California coast where she grew up, and the wind-torn swells of Western Ireland that she’s come to love. Released in April 2023 on Free Dirt Records, the album’s name refers to the cycles of our turbulent lives, to the uncertain tides that push us forward and back.

With Cadence, Baker expands Cinder Well’s sound to include percussion as well as trance electric guitar and expansive string parts courtesy of Cormac MacDiarmada of Lankum. While there are still hints of the doom folk that Cinder Well is known for, Cadence balances heavy lyrics with a more expansive sound that nods to LA’s mythical Laurel Canyon years.

‘There’s a real weight in the opening that pulls you in, lifted by percussion over which Baker’s words really do work their magic’ – Folk Radio UK

Support comes from Sara Wolff. There’s an old saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ and it’s this attention to detail which is woven through Sara Wolff’s songwriting. Her new EP Magic Hour (Small Matter Records) marks a shift in her sonic universe after what she calls ‘a year of sound’ and revisiting her native Bergen reshaped the homespun nuggets crafted in her cosy Liverpool abode. Now expanding her pool of people and production skills outside, Sara’s music is present as it pulls from the past, and muses on the weird paradox of time with wide-eyed wonder.

Playing, or rather, experimenting with sound has always been Sara’s superpower in the face of adulting. Following her debut EP When You Left The Room, collaboration and composition has led the way. Lacing a crimson thread through a tapestry of rich arrangements, her mix of alternative folk, rock and art pop has been honed through composition and field recording; performing as a session musician; embarking upon her second UK tour with her band and a trusty four-track cassette machine, and sharing stages with artists like Fenne Lily, Rozi Plain, Helado Negro and Peter Broderick.

‘It’s a criss-crossing journey which sprinkles flavours of Jenny Hval, Tune-yards, Madeline Kenny and Fiona Apple along the way’ – Secret Meeting

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

This show is a co-promotion with Band on the Wall. This is a 10+ show – under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7pm on Saturday 23 September 2023
Where: YES Pink Room, 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB

We’re excited to welcome Tiny Ruins back to Manchester – this time, for a duo show at YES!

A rare blend of eloquent lyrical craft and explorative musicianship, the songs of Tiny Ruins are etched into the memories of crowds and critics worldwide. Traversing influences that cross genre and era, the artistry of Hollie Fullbrook and her band spans delicate folk, lustrous dream pop and ebullient psychedelia. Building on the sparse arrangements and a novelist’s eye for detail cultivated over the past several years, the group’s greatly anticipated fourth album is out on Ba Da Bing Records, Marathon Artists and Courtney Barnett’s label Milk! Records.

If Olympic Girls was an album suffused with existential emptiness, portraits often sketched from afar or in empty buildings, Ceremony zooms right in, unafraid of intimacy and connection. It feels comfortable and generous, it speaks of openness and tenderness, the appreciation of others.

Now over a decade in, Hollie Fullbrook’s evolution as Tiny Ruins has reached an apex of power, as she’s become a deft bandleader of incredible musicians. Ceremony has many moods, ranging from intense minimalist Diving & Soaring that evokes a classic folk vibe through to the heavier Neil Young-inspired Dorothy Bay, boppy danceable In Light of Everything, and the hooky, uplifting Dogs Dreaming.

Noodly 70s electric guitars, eclectic percussion and prominent bass make it their most listenable and accessible album to date. The songs are all of a theme – exploring the coastal shores of the Manukau Harbour and working through a psychological ‘shellscape’, while tending toward a joyful / hopeful take on the passing of time. Ceremony is the band’s highest achievement, an album about confronting confusion, loss, dislocation and ultimately realising the beauty of life’s unpredictable paths.

Tour support comes from Lily Lyons. Lily Lyons is a singer songwriter from London and Cornwall. Lily released her debut EP in 2022 followed by a string of shows in the UK and US with Grammy Award-winning pianist Kevin Hays. She recently supported Roo Panes at two sold out shows at Union Chapel in London.

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Saturday 23 September 2023
Where: Low Four Studio, Deansgate Mews, Great Northern, Manchester M3 4EN

Gratis – our series of free entry shows – returns, with Lost Map Records artist Amy May Ellis playing at Low Four!

Embark on a journey to the North York Moors – a wild and wide- open landscape full of nature and beauty, history and mysticism – through the enveloping music of Amy May Ellis. Raised in a remote dale in the middle of the Yorkshire uplands, Amy’s warm and delicate folk-leaning DIY songs are steeped in the culture, scenery, folklore and wildlife of the countryside that surrounded and shaped her as a child, and continue to shape her understanding of the world today.

Since 2018, Amy has released a series of four EPs, each exploring an element; Weathered by Waves, We got Fire, Where my Garden Lies, and When in the Wind have all received support from BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, Uncut Magazine and Rough Trade. They have also fuelled headline tours around the UK and Ireland and landed Ellis a spot at Brighton’s Great Escape festival. She has guested for artists such as Michael Chapman, Alessi’s Ark, Hiss Golden Messenger, Tiny Ruins, Ryley Walker and Willy Mason.

Now based in Bristol, Amy has released her debut album Over Ling And Bell with Lost Map Records, a label based on the Isle of Eigg off the west coast of Scotland.

‘Elemental folk rooted in the Yorkshire Moors’ – Uncut, 8/10

‘A soundtrack for anyone looking to reconnect with the wild’ – For The Rabbits

Local support comes from Séamus Óg. Based in Manchester, Séamus Óg is an Irish singer songwriter hailing from Carrickfergus. His quartet, formed from port towns in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, each draw from their own celtic origins and stories. Together creating a beautiful blend of instruments intertwined in rich harmonies, and stories full of heart, that will have you swept into a dream state and lingering on adventures taken, and mapping those to come.

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

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

This is a free entry show! Click here to reserve a place now.

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Tuesday 26 September 2023
Where: Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW

We’re delighted to welcome Guadalupe Plata back to Manchester – this time, to Gullivers!

2023 is the year of the return of Guadalupe Plata with their seventh studio album and a return to their original duo formation. Released in May on Everlasting Records, Guadalupe Plata is their first new album in four years. It was preceded by the single En Mi Tumba, which is intended as the epitaph of a knife fight victim whose grave is never visited. A soul in pain that has passed through the earth without pain or glory. Unusual chromatic notes for the group’s career coexist here with recognisable Gun Club hints on the slide.

Guadalupe Plata hail from Úbeda in Jaén, Spain, and comprise of Pedro de Dios Barceló and Carlos Jimena. As with their previous works, this new album does not have a title, but it does overflow with good music. Carlos explains the process: ‘The record was recorded in two different locations with the same sound studio project, based on a four-track Tascam 246 recorder with type II chrome cassettes, using 18 Tudor brand cassettes. All the recordings were made by the band in Úbeda, looking for new sounds with the freedom of having unlimited time to do it.’ They call this process the Estudio Ataúd (Coffin Studio). The digitisation, mixing and recording of the extra tracks was carried out in La Mina (Seville) in a joint production between Guadalupe Plata and Raúl Pérez where they finished adding both ‘dark saxes and eight-bit keyboards’.

The cinematographic representation of the desert is an influence on the instrumental passages of Guadalupe Plata. In these times when reality is stranger than fiction, the apocalyptic chromatic effects and crepuscular tones left in the Andalusian sky by the cloud of dust from the Sahara were the inspiration for Calima. The song took on a new life with the contribution of the sinuous winds of Matías Cordero, which also appear on Maleficio and Y.N.T.M.A (the latter an acronym for ‘Ya no tengo mi ataúd’ (I don’t have my coffin anymore), a title that was sinisterly suggested by the young son of an old friend).

La cigüeña is a cover of a song by Agapito Marazuela, guitarist and compiler of Spanish folklore from the last century, and tells the tale of a battle between a stork and a snake. The images and mysterious Andalusian details brought by the melody fit perfectly inside the universe of Guadalupe Plata, who display here their most characteristic drums, a percussion played with a bottle of anise that breathes fire, a guitar following one of the rumba rhythms created by Peret and, may Agapito forgive them, a voice with a vocoder effect.

Another resource on this record worth drawing attention to: Carlos uses a kerosene drum on Zapateado to pay tribute to Robert Belfour, one of the last great bluesmen whose footsteps the band literally tried to follow, unsuccessfully, during days spent playing in Clarksdale and Memphis invited by the Deep Blues Festival.

La Tía Tragantía is a tale from Andalusian oral tradition. A legend about the daughter of a king of Cazorla who ends up becoming a half-serpent, half-woman being that was told from generation to generation to scare children. In the context of this generational transmission we also have to understand El Cóndor Pasa, with a very strong traditional bond in their homes, it was the song with which Pedro’s father taught him to play the guitar. After the introduction, the speed of the tape was slowed down, giving rise to a chaotic effect created by chance – the second guitar was recorded with an amplifier whose batteries were about to run out. Yet another last nod to the roots of Guadalupe Plata is Stabat Mater, the hymn of the Cofradía de la Soledad, one of their favourites of Úbeda’s Holy Week.

Ruina tells the emotional ups and downs of a long night round between the Granada neighborhoods of Realejo and Sacromonte, in which a heart broken by mourning began to find relief.

In Al Infierno Que Vayas we find ourselves at a crossroad: the starting point is the lyrics of a flamenco falseta by Rafael Farina to which T-Model Ford style guitars are added as well as deconstructed drums and percussions which reminiscent of Captain Beefheart. All passed through the blender of the Úbeda musicians, for whom there is a clear parallel between the lyrics of flamenco and blues, ‘with a point of broken or crazy love stories, of not turning your back on pain, but facing it’.

The album cover, designed by Pedro, is a game board that unfolds on the back of a coiled snake with the added difficulty that all the squares lead to ruin. The photographs that come with the release, taken by Carlos, are inspired by The Duellists by Ridley Scott and serve to remind us that since their birth, 15 years ago, Guadalupe Plata had never entered a studio in their original duo format.

Local support comes from Ahmed & The Romans. The son of the Egyptian James Brown and three Italians pieced together from the bowels of the old empire. A real treat, a real sonic treat to bite into.

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Thursday 28 September 2023
Where: Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW

We’re delighted to welcome Will Samson back to Manchester – this time, to Gullivers, with guest Rebelski!

In his over 10 years of releasing records, the music of Will Samson has always been underpinned with ambient characteristics and qualities. Though often led by his tender voice, Samson’s work is deeply textural, always offering as much space for instrumental excursions as the lyrical narratives he layers above them. Until now, Will has considered his solely-ambient work more as side-projects, contemplative digressions from his more defined musical path.

Having previously released an EP via 12k back in 2016, Samson returns to Taylor Deupree’s experimental label to fully embrace the genre with the release of the Harp Swells LP – his first full-length ambient album.

‘Samson’s meditative mix of folk and electronica has an almost spiritual dimension’ – UNCUT

‘As a purveyor of music that ventures through complex sound layers and texturally rich tones, it’s obvious why we are fans of his’ – i-D

‘Intricacy and tenderness recalling kindred spirits such as Nils Frahm and Sufjan Stevens‘ – The Sunday Times

‘Samson has made a beautiful album that adds another layer to an already interesting artist’ – Clash

Special guest is Rebelski. ‘After several years touring the world as keyboardist with Doves, Peter Hook And The Light and Echo And The Bunnymen, I’ve finally made the time to go back to my roots and compose an ambient album, based purely and simply around the piano. Released now on Cassette and digital. Also coming to limited edition deluxe heavyweight vinyl in December 2023.’

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7pm on Sunday 1 October 2023
Where: The Castle Hotel, 66 Oldham Street, Manchester M4 1LE

We’re pleased to be working with Ben P Williams for the first time – performing with Shimna!

Ben P Williams is a difficult artist to pigeonhole and is all the better for it. Discovering The Beatles LPs in his parents cupboard aged five, he instantly became obsessed and began a voyage of musical discovery which has lasted his whole life. Moulding the classic song-writing sound of Paul Simon with the laid-back nature of Jack Johnson, Ben draws inspiration from the greats while injecting his own wit and imagination for lyrics which perfectly encapsulate relatable experiences to make you smile.

As a guitarist, Ben has worked with Grammy Award-winning producers, appeared on BBC 1, ITV and Channel 5, and played concerts as the support act for major artists such as Nile Rodgers and Chic, Will Young, Mick Hucknall and Lisa Stansfield. He has supported artists on European tours and at festivals around the world including South By South West Festival in Texas.

After years of working on other peoples’ projects, Ben woke up one day and randomly wrote a song by and for himself. This first song opened the floodgates and was the catalyst for Ben to pursue his solo endeavours as a singer-songwriter. His debut album, Who Do You Think You Are?, was released in 2015 to critical acclaim and received airplay on BBC Radio 2 (Dermot O’Leary Show) and BBC Introducing Manchester.

Ben has since released three further albums, Put It On Ice in 2017, the stripped back Minimum of Fuss in 2019 and Under The Radar in 2023. These albums have seen support from BBC Radio 6, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Introducing.

Ben will be performing with Shimna, an outrageously talented musician and songwriter who has recently moved to Manchester from New Zealand, and is already taking the Manchester music scene by storm.

‘So beautiful’ – Janice Long, BBC Radio 2

‘The best song of the year so far’ – BBC Radio Manchester

Opening the show is Harriet Dagnall. Harriet Dagnall has been writing and performing since the age of fourteen. Originally from Bolton, she was raised on an eclectic range of music and still draws influence from the likes of Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac and Cocteau Twins. Whilst other influences include The Japanese House, Alvvays and The War on Drugs, cut her and she bleeds Dad music.

Combining elements of dream-pop and indie rock with soaring ethereal vocals, Harriet reluctantly refers to herself under the catch-all ‘alt-pop’. Her debut EP, Dead Time, released in 2022, received support from BBC Introducing, Alex Rainbird and Tom Robinson’s Fresh on The Net. She is currently working on her second EP, which she hopes to release next year.

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook