NEW ROOTS presents… three much respected UK singer-songwriters in an intimate solo performance triple bill
Scottish singer-songwriter SAMANTHA WHATES is a hugely respected figure on the London roots scene. Her beautifully crafted poetic songs retain a strong affinity with her Scottish roots, cultivating a sound that is both thoroughly contemporary and rooted in tradition, and uniquely her own. She was recently a key member of Rough Trade Records signings Picapica alongside Josienne Clarke, Adam Beattie and Sonny Johns. Her debut album Dark Nights Make For Brighter Days and current album ‘Waiting Rooms’ have both enjoyed both critical acclaim and extensive radio play (BBC 6 Music, KCRW, Resonance FM).
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 current album, ‘The Wide Afternoon’, produced by UK folk giant Gerry Diver (Sam Lee, Lisa Knapp, Tom Robinson), was released to universal press acclaim.
Jack was a showcasing artist at the legendary South By Southwest Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas at aged 17, and was 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.’ Anais 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 songwriting talent, 5/5’ – The Telegraph
ROBIN ELLIOTT’s full-length debut album, There is a Land, was released in November 2019. Co-produced by longtime collaborator and Radio 2 Folk Award Winner Ben Walker (Folkroom Records), it weaves diverse strands of influence into a compelling, coherent whole. At the centre is Elliotts voice: beautiful, strange and distinctive, equally adept at the high and plaintive as the declamatory or the dry. And there are jokes, odd references, intricate vocal harmonies, jazz players, weird skips beyond the fourth wall. Live shows have taken him around the UK several times with contemporaries Jack Harris, Samantha Whates and Cameron Niven, and further afield into France, Italy and Brazil.
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!
