Anglo-American troubadour (and sometime rooftop balladeer) James Riley crafts music that seamlessly blends joyously anthemic songcraft with poetic storytelling, delivered with an assured and candid folk voice.
After a 2-year writing and recording odyssey in Nashville, James returned to London to release his debut album “Transatlantica” in March 2020. With the worst timing, the ensuing lockdown wiped an entire summer of touring from the calendar. Undeterred, he garnered national media attention by hosting full-band rooftop concerts live-streamed from his house in Tottenham, North London. A product of the live series was the creation of the critically-acclaimed folk-grime fusion project ‘Rooftop Assembly’.
Recently resuming his musical journey on more conventional stages, James has spent the past couple years playing to audiences at Glastonbury, The Great Escape, and Wilderness and Towersey Festival with his trio, James Patrick Gavin on fiddle, and Tim Fairhall on upright bass.
James will spend the early part of 2024 on a writing retreat in the US, ahead of the release of his sophomore album – slated for the spring of 2025.
‘One of my highlights of the year’ Verity Sharp, BBC Radio 3
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 7pm. Music starts 8.30pm. The venue is mixed seated and standing. Tables are limited and available on a first come first served basis so, if you’d like a seat, we recommend arriving early!
