When: 7.30pm on Wednesday 14 October 2026
Where: YES Pink Room, 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB

We’re excited to welcome John Craigie back – to YES this time!

For over a decade, John Craigie has made music that brings people in, not with spectacle but with sincerity and songs that feel like conversations.

His new album I Swam Here, out 6 February 2026 on Zabriskie Point Records, was written and produced by Craigie and recorded between New Orleans and Astoria. Seven tracks were cut at Deslonde St Studios with musicians handpicked by Sam Doores of The Deslondes, including Howe Pearson, Max Bien Khan, Jonny Campos, and a guest appearance from Desiree Cannon. Longtime collaborator Anna Moss appears across much of the record. The remaining tracks were finished at the Rope Room in Astoria, carrying over the same spirit and palette. The cover art, painted by Brittany Schall, nods to the design of mid century samba and jazz records.

The album’s singles trace the path of its making. “Fire Season,” engineered by Bart Budwig, was one of the first songs written and features Cooper Trail, Nevada Sowle, Luke Ydstie, and Jamie Greenan. “Dry Land” was reworked in Astoria after early New Orleans sessions didn’t feel right. “Edna Strange,” inspired by Marty Robbins, is the only track where Craigie plays steel string acoustic, with Max Bien Khan on nylon string leads and a trio vocal arrangement in place of Moss’s harmonies.

Following 2024’s Pagan Church with TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, which spent six weeks at #1 on the Americana Albums chart, I Swam Here feels both expansive and intimate, shaped by the musical history of the Gulf Coast and the stillness of the Pacific Northwest.

Craigie remains a tireless live performer, touring throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia, appearing at festivals like Newport Folk, Pickathon, Edmonton Folk Festival, and High Sierra, and sharing the stage with artists such as Langhorne Slim, Sierra Hull, Gregory Alan Isakov, Brett Dennen, and Jack Johnson. His annual #KeepItWarm Tour donates $1 from every ticket sold to regional nonprofits, and his John Craigie On The River trips on the Tuolumne and Rogue rivers have become cherished gatherings for fans.

I Swam Here is a grounded, collaborative step forward, blending New Orleans grit with Pacific Northwest quiet, and showing a songwriter still widening the world of his music.

Tour support comes from Jobi Riccio. Jobi Riccio is an artist known for her vulnerable vocal delivery, compelling live performances, and her powerfully intimate yet universal lyricism. Riccio is stepping into her next chapter with Face The Feeling, her forthcoming album on Yep Roc Records due May 15. An “Emerging Act of the Year” nominee from the Americana Music Association, Riccio first broke through with her 2023 debut Whiplash, a coming-of-age record rooted in folk and country traditions. On Face The Feeling, she pushes far beyond those foundations, embracing a bolder, electric, indie-rock-driven sound that mirrors the album’s emotional depth.

Where Whiplash captured the restless search for escape, Face The Feeling finds Riccio choosing to stay, confronting grief, rage, self-doubt, desire, and devotion head-on. Written between Colorado and Nashville and co-produced with longtime collaborators Isaiah Beard and Jesse Timm, the album balances light and dark, restraint and release, as Riccio leans into discomfort as a path toward growth. Songs like “Pilar, NM,” “Wildfire Season,” and “Doesn’t Matter” reveal an artist willing to sit inside complicated feelings rather than outrun them.

Having performed at the Grand Ole Opry, made her national television debut on CBS Saturday Morning, and toured with Lucius, Jason Isbell, and Iron & Wine, Riccio arrives at Face The Feeling with clarity and confidence. The result is her most expansive work yet: a fearless excavation of self and a declaration of artistic evolution.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 8 May via Seetickets.com

Attend on: Facebook