Category: CQAF2023/2024

Do you ever wish you were in the room when magic happens? In the room for when Beethoven wrote his symphonies. when Shakespeare wrote his classics, When Cher sings anything. Well now is your chance (kinda) I gave you Politics for Bitches and What Would Beyonce Do?!

Now brace yourself for my female Book of Mormon. I can’t sing or play music. But I did grow up on Sister Act 1 and 2. This is a rough and ready idea, a pitch for a musical, and you can help me develop it! It’s all about Mary Magdalene. An epic one-woman experiment.

‘She should be a household name’ **** (Evening Standard). 

‘She wrote the stand-up hit of the decade’ (Guardian). 

‘A trailblazer’ (Scotsman).

Take a leisurely stroll on a Sunday afternoon to find out a little more about some of the historic pubs of the Cathedral Quarter area of Belfast.

Each pub, from Kelly’s Cellars to the Dirty Onion, The Duke of York to White’s Tavern, and The Morning Star to McHugh’s has fascinating tales and links to our city’s history that will be teased out. You’ll learn why several establishments claim the city’s ‘oldest pub’ title, which of them is in fact the oldest tavern, and what precisely the ‘oldest’ claims of some of the others relate to!

Exploring the oldest part of Belfast town before it became a city in 1888, you’ll hear about early merchants and importers, where secret societies met, the pick-up points for mail coaches, old jails, former whiskey warehouses, newspapers of long ago, and more.

The tour will start from outside Kelly’s Cellars at 2.00pm. The tour will end at 3.30pm outside McHugh’s, where you may choose to stay on to enjoy a drink or coffee and perhaps an afternoon traditional music session.

The tour will cover up to 1.5 miles and will take place whatever the weather, so please come prepared. No refreshments are included as part of the tour ticket.

Mark Watson’s 12-year-old son has just got a phone. His 70-year-old dad has been through the most frightening experience of his life. Both a dad and a kid himself, around the midpoint of his life, the Taskmaster star and multiple award-winner – now also famous as one-third of YouTube cult sensation No More Jockeys – returns.

He’ll consider the search for meaning that we’re all on, with or without Google. There’ll be a lot of jokes, and a show that’s different every night.

‘A genius-level comic doing what he does best… it’s magical to watch and just so funny’  ★★★★★ Time Out Melbourne 

‘Quite unlike anything else I’ve seen in almost 20 years of covering the Fringe…witty, warm, perfectly judged’ ★★★★★ Telegraph

‘An hour or two of our limited span on Earth in his uplifting, witty company is time excellently spent’ ★★★★ ½ Chortle

‘A master at letting us in on his vulnerability’ ★★★★ The Times

‘This is a stand-up operating at the very top of his game’ ★★★★ Independent

Victoria and her band of superlative musicians perform a carefully-selected set of songs made famous by the ‘High Priestess of Soul’, Nina Simone. An award-winning artist, Victoria is best known for her passionate and powerful vocals, evinced by her most recent album, 2020’s Sophisticated Lady.

Victoria is complimented by the supremely talented pianist and composer Dr. Neil Burns, himself a classically-trained, genre-defying musician. The band is completed by in-demand virtuoso players Rohan Armstrong (double bass) and Andrew McCoubrey (drums) who, together, capture how exceptionally affecting this music is live, moving effortlessly through Jazz, Gospel, Blues, Soul, Classical, Folk and beyond.

Interweaving Nina Simone’s life story from classical pianist to ‘Freedom Singer’, Victoria celebrates and interprets how she used music to profoundly connect with her audiences, offering community and comfort to those fighting for their basic rights. Come and enjoy a musical celebration of an extraordinary life lived in song.

Niamh O’Reilly is still a ‘fridget’ – she’s never been kissed – and at 14, she’d want to hurry up.

Tonight at the local teenage disco, her friends are on a mission to change that – whether she wants to or not. Set in Dublin in 2007, Niamh takes you on her journey through the “innocence and discovery and fun – and mortification and terror” (★★★★, Irish Times) of Irish adolescence.

Fresh off a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023 and winner of Bewley’s Little Gem Award at the Dublin Fringe Festival 2022, Frigid is a coming of age comedy about frenemies, first times and figuring it out.

Written and performed by Rosa Bowden with live DJ Ciarán Gallagher and directed by Hildegard Ryan.

Tickets: 1.00pm – £10.00 (Including Lunch), 8.00pm – £10.00

‘A funny, nostalgic ode to teenage girlhood and all its awkwardness” ★★★★★The Student

‘An amazing comedy, with heart wrenching and tender moments’ ★★★★★  TheReviewsHub.com

‘A one woman performance of utter charm’ ★★★★The Arts Review

‘Packed with jokes, great storytelling, and a healthy dose of nostalgia’ ★★★★The Independent

‘A sharp picture of Dublin teen life’ Irish Independent

‘A blisteringly witty show’ Euronews

‘A first-class performance’ Fest Mag

The dishevelled prince of €10 eBay keyboards tries to make you feel alive with a new pageant of laughter, song and occasionally getting up from a chair. It’s gonna be a big one.

Star of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4), Live At The Apollo (BBC) and Along For the Ride with David O’Doherty (Channel 4).

Musical comedian and professional overthinker Selena Mersey is in a long-term relationship for the first time in her life. Unfortunately, she’s also been reading about Freud. Can Selena’s straight-passing relationship survive the weight of anxiety, progressive politics, and an incredibly impactful psychology A Level?

Presenting Madonna/Whore: a filthy, Freudian, feminist odyssey into the desire to be both and neither a mother and a slut. After a sellout run at Brighton Fringe, Mersey returns with a souped-up redux of the psychodynamic sensation, featuring songs, stand-up, burlesque, and a live birth. Let this shambolic chanteuse enchant you out of your Freudian slip and show you what relationship counselling really looks like. Sex dolls go free.

WINNER: Lamb Queer Comedy Award 2023 | WINNER: Brighton Seagull ‘Best Concept’ 2023

“Heartfelt and hilarious […] Mersey is a star of the Fringe”★★★★★ (The Reviews Hub)

“She will dazzle and charm you” ★★★★ (Broadway Baby)

“A welcome jolt” (Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke)

Musical Comedy Awards finalist 2023 | Burlesque Idol semi-finalist 2022 3 million views on TikTok

Nominated: Best Show – Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2023

To the hairdresser at [redacted] Salon: You can take my money. You can take my dignity. You can take too much off the ends. But you cannot take my right to talk about it on stage. This is a show about the worst haircut of Ania Magliano’s life. Winner of Best New Show at Leicester Comedy Festival 2022, Ania sold-out both runs of her critically acclaimed shows at the 2022 and 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her second show ‘I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This’ was ranked #1 in Time Out’s The 11 best comedy shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023 list.

Ania has previously supported Marc Maron, Cat Cohen and Ed Gamble on tour, and writes for Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date.

‘Will have you crying with laughter’ ★★★★ Guardian

★★★★ Times

★★★★ Time Out

★★★★ iNews.co.uk

John Francis Flynn will release a new album Look Over the Wall, See the Sky on Nov. 10th, following on from his critically acclaimed debut album and accompanying live performances.

Look Over the Wall, See the Sky picks up where I Would Not Live Always left off. John masterfully unpicks traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force. They float in a surreal space between the past and the present, the analog and the digital, between love and tragedy.

The unconventional use of instruments and jagged arrangements gives the work a magnetism by drawing you into its curious orbit of experimental folk. Look Over The Wall, See The Sky is a re-imagining of traditional Irish music: powerful, hopeful and free.

John Francis Flynn is a singer and multi-instrumentalist who creates contemporary music using traditional and folk material. His debut album I Would Not Live Always was released on Rough Trade imprint River Lea Records in 2020, earning rave reviews and winning 2 awards at the RTE Folk Awards.

‘I Would Not Live Always offers a singular and striking clarity of vision.’ **** UNCUT

‘John Francis Flynn’s ‘My Son Tim’ Is An Extraordinary Piece Of Music’ CLASH

‘like a threatening thunderhead perforated with golden shafts of sunlight: lysergic synth lines, intermittent bursts of overdriven guitar, a clarinet saturated in tape delay and a treated tin whistle disrupt the atmosphere of these old songs without ever diminishing their power.’ **** THE GUARDIAN

Slide guitarist and songwriter Dave Arcari’s alt.blues sound owes as much to trash country, punk and rockabilly as it does to pre-war Delta blues and has been showcased via seven internationally-acclaimed solo album releases on labels including Buzz (UK), Dixiefrog (France) and Blue North (Finland).

After a successful Kickstarter campaign his latest album Devil May Care is set for release on red vinyl in November 2023.

A top three finalist in UK Blues Federation’s UK Blues Awards 2023 Arcari’s music features in numerous BBC TV programmes as well as  popular USA series The Deadliest Catch. While continuing to build his audience in the USA with annual tours since 2013 – including official showcases at SxSW in Austin, Texas – Arcari maintains his presence on the UK and European touring and festival circuits with regular live shows throughout the year.

The ultimate validation for Arcari’s music and performance came in 2019 when National Reso-Phonic Guitars launched the ‘Dave Arcari signature model’ guitar. Arcari joins an elite and exclusive group of players who have signature models and is the first – and only – musician outside the USA to be honoured by the iconic instrument maker whose name is synonymous with the development of the blues genre.

Join author and comedian Marc Burrows on a journey through the life and work of Sir Terry Pratchett, based on his Locus Award-winning biography and officially endorsed by the author’s estate.

Explore Pratchett’s life, influences, impact, wit and wisdom, from his days as a school librarian to his time as a trainee journalist to his untimely death from Alzheimers in 2015.

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Discworld and discover the joy, anger, and delicious cock‘n’ bull stories of one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Warning: includes bad puns and unnecessary footnotes.

“Burrows does a fantastic job of navigating both the super-fan and the novice through the story of Pratchett’s life, work and legacy. He also explores the impact of good storytelling, and how Pratchett – as a genius storyteller – used that to good effect. As does Burrows in this show.”
★★★★★ Three Weeks

“Funny, clever and profound, The Magic of Terry Pratchett is a strong and intelligent show for fans of fantasy, puns and good stories. Unmissable.”
★★★★★ Starburst Magazine

“The Magic of Terry Pratchett is a slam dunk must for any reader of Pratchett. Furthermore, you can and should bring your non-Pratchett-savvy friends. The show is surprisingly poignant, with difficult subjects tackled with sensitivity and controversial choices made for, I think, the better.”
★★★★★ (4.8) Edinburgh Reviews

The award-winning, viral sensation returns with a brand-new hour following her sell-out 2022 run.

As the year 2000 approached, Sooz was about to turn 15 and the PlayStation 2 was about to launch… it was a new beginning for the world. But with the Millennium Bug, was the world also about to end!?

Now, almost a quarter of a century later, things feel eerily similar… New millennium, video games, Alanis Morissette… a show for anyone who remembers the year 2000 or had big dreams as a kid.

‘Kempner has funny bones’ **** (Scotsman). 

‘Brilliant’ (LA Times).

Featuring Anthony Toner, Mark Crockard and Marcus McAuley.

Hank Williams, Glen Campbell, Don Gibson, Kris Kristofferson, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson…

I’m so Lonesome I could Cry, Galveston, Sea of Heartbreak, Love Hurts, Always on my Mind, ….

Just some of the names and songs that have built the foundations of country music and the craft of great songwriting. Lyrics and music that have survived and will continue to survive because they speak to the heart.

Beautiful melodies, touching words, soaring harmonies and intricate solos are the core of great country music. Anthony Toner, Mark Crockard and Marcus McAuley have come together as ‘The Boondocks’ to play the old school country songs they love and hope you do too.

Why not join them as we go out to the Country for Lunch?

Formed in Austin, Texas by main songwriters and lead vocalists Alexander Beggins and Kelsey Wilson, Wild Child emerged with their first album, Pillow Talk, in October 2011. The band quickly earned a reputation for spirited live shows and won multiple awards at the SXSW Festival in March of 2013.

Their second LP, October 2013’s The Runaround, featured the viral hit Crazy Bird, which led to U.S. television appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and CBS This Morning.

Wild Child released their third album, Fools, in October 2015. It spent a week at number 14 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart. The following June, they drew a crowd of 25,000 at a local radio station’s outdoor music series.

Another album, Expectations, appeared in February 2018 and reached as high as number six on the Heatseekers chart as well as landing in the Top 20 of the Billboard Independent and Vinyl Albums charts.

During the five years between Expectations and their next album, End of the World, Wild Child were sidelined from touring with the rest of the music industry due to the pandemic, endured the Texas ice storm of 2021 (the inspiration for the title track) and established their own label, Reba’s Ranch Records.

End of the World arrived on the label in March 2023 and has been met with widespread critical acclaim. A live act not to be missed.

An intimate acoustic Tribute to the music of JONI MITCHELL. Featuring songs ‘California’, ‘Blue’, ‘Woodstock’ ‘Both Sides Now’, ‘Coyote’, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, ‘A Case Of You’.

UK singer/songwriters Zervas & Pepper present what they consider to be the nucleus of Mitchell’s work, that pivotal break-out period 1968-1976 with the voice, guitar and piano front and centre.

An intimate acoustic evening that should feel like the audience is having a private listening session at Joni’s house in Laurel Canyon during the summer of love.

Zervas & Pepper are Welsh Singer/Songwriters Paul Zervas and Kathryn Pepper that have been creating and performing original music for over a decade professionally.

The duo and their recording/touring band enjoy cult success on the UK and European Folk/Americana scene and have released five critically-acclaimed studio albums and undertaken countless live headline and support tours, receiving strong national and international network radio support throughout their career and their original music garnering praise and accolades from the likes of CSN&Y legend David Crosby, BBC DJ’s Mark Radcliffe, Bob Harris, Lauren Laverne and Don Letts.

‘This Flight Tonight’ is a celebration of Joni Mitchell’s music that the duo have had in the making for many years, and now 2023 will see them finally take this show on the road for the first time. The carefully-crafted set list will feature songs from Joni’s million-selling albums such as Clouds, Ladies of the Canyon, For The Roses, Court and Spark, featuring many cuts from her 1972 landmark release ‘Blue’.

Band Line up – Kathryn Pepper – Lead Vocals/ Dulcimer/ Percussion, Paul Zervas – Acoustic Guitar, Andrew Brown – Bass Guitar, Laurie Rich/Charlie Herbert– Piano, Sam Andrews – Electric guitar/ Congas, Percussion.

Northern Ireland Opera presents ‘ Cabaret de la Boîte Noire’.   After a sold-out presentation last year we return to the Black Box for another fabulous hour of glamour and sparkle, taking you into the worlds of Bernstein, Sondheim, Weill and Kander and Ebb.

Join us as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival’s ‘Out To Lunch’ programme, with captivating performances featuring cabaret classics staged by Northern Ireland’s award-winning national opera company. Lunch is included in the ticket price.

“As a music maker and curious explorer of the inner human experience, Sakamoto’s life and work offers the gift of limitless inspiration. Playing his music is like looking deeply into your own soul…a profound experience.”

Contemplating his mortality in 2017, Sakamoto said he wanted to make “music I won’t be ashamed to leave behind – meaningful work”. By any metric, he already had. His view of himself was perpetually in flux. He had become interested in human playing through this circuitous route of the sampler: “I discovered something new about the piano.”

The significance of this return to the piano became increasingly apparent as his career moved from youthful pop star to chameleonic mature artist; the piano became an instrument at the centre of personal freedom, rather than an archaic evolutionary stage leading to the synthesiser.

And now, what can we say, he showed us music is never really about certainty, only possibility, and in possibility there is a way to live, a positivity that Ryuichi Sakamoto never abandoned.

Derry-born Ruth McGinley is widely recognised as one of Ireland’s leading pianists. Her career has been wide-ranging and daring, collaborating with some of the most acclaimed musicians working today, and straying from the typical classical-pianist journey.

But it is perhaps the spaces between where Ruth’s interests really lie. A determination to walk her own path, Ruth’s love of music goes far beyond the classical world.

A highly sought-after collaborator, Ruth loves to cross musical boundaries and work with musicians from a diverse range of backgrounds including jazz, folk, electronic and film.

The story begins in 1970’s Belfast, where life for young Danielle is as troubled at home as it is on the streets.  Mistreated at home, expelled from school at fifteen and homeless at twenty, Danielle feels like she is drowning.

But there are lifeboats around her, people who will save her if only she can trust them enough to take their hand. Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotion, a stunningly crafted script and a powerhouse performance.

About the Author
Cathy Carson is a writer and spoken word artist who combines poetry and storytelling to explore human connection and condition.  She has performed for radio, television, festivals, podcasts and theatre.  In 2022 Cathy was shortlisted for the Saboteur award for Best Spoken Word Artist and in the same year ‘ Becoming Marvellous’ won the Saboteur award for Best Spoken Word Show.

Sam Baker is a lyric writer, artist, and survivor. His songs are stories of everyday people facing everyday challenges: a young Mennonite welder who finds love, a ditch digger supporting his family, a veteran grappling with post-war life, a single mother driving around with a car full of baby junk, a widower writing ‘her’ name in the sand, and a straight-haired orphan in a house full of curls. They are survivors. Like Sam.

In 1986 Sam was on a train for Machu Picchu when a bomb exploded in the carriage he was riding in. Seven died. Through a series of miracles, and the help of everyday people doing their best–his angels–he survived.

Physical recovery was hard.  Emotional recovery harder. Melody came to him–compelled him to turn an old guitar upside down so his gnarled hands could play.

Slowly, the words came–one true line–“Sitting on the train to Machu Picchu, the passenger car explodes.”  He made a record. Then another. There were glowing reviews, more records, awards in Rolling Stone; sold-out shows in Europe, Canada, and the US and songs in TV shows; and an hour with Terry Gross on Fresh Air.

Sam uses his art to tell his story–whether from a symphony in Oregon, an art gallery in Santa Fe, a large theatre in Kansas City, a small room in The Netherlands, or a song-writer retreat with soldiers. He travels the world sharing his songs, grateful for each day, helping us see the beauty in little things and hope for things to come.

‘Simultaneously beautiful and broken…Sam Baker is an artist worth waiting for.’ – NPR

‘The Bard of the Workaday World’ – WALL STREET JOURNAL

‘Maybe the most captivating songwriter in America.’ – LONE STAR MUSIC

​‘Sam Baker is an island of warmth and hope in dangerous times.’ – NEON FILLER

One of the most multi-faceted minds in roots music, Alison Brown is a GRAMMY-winning musician, GRAMMY-nominated producer, former investment banker, and co-founder of The Compass Records Group which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023.

Although Alison began her musical career as a teenager in the Southern California bluegrass scene, she has built a reputation as one of today’s most forward thinking and innovative banjo players. She is known for taking the instrument far beyond its Appalachian roots by blending bluegrass and jazz influences into a sonic tapestry that has earned praise and recognition from a variety of national tastemakers including The Wall Street Journal, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, and USA Today.

On her new release, aptly titled On Banjo, Alison continues her musical explorations on a set of original compositions that explore the range of the banjo.The album features an eclectic cast of collaborators including Steve Martin, Kronos Quartet, Sharon Isbin, Anat Cohen, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan and members of the Alison Brown Quintet.

Alison is the recipient of the USA Artists Fellowship in Music and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. In 2019, she was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame. Alison serves on the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy and as co-chair of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.

“Like James Taylor’s voice or B.B. King’s guitar, Alison Brown’s banjo is an instrument possessed of a unique sonic signature and an inescapable beauty….an artist who never ceases to delight.” —Billboard Magazine

“Alison Brown left a career in investment banking for a life as a banjo musician. Anyone who thinks this was a foolish move hasn’t heard her play.”—The New Yorker

Portland, OR-based singer, songwriter, and producer John Craigie adapts moments of solitude into stories perfectly suited for old Americana fiction anthologies.

Instead of leaving them on dog-eared pages, he projects them widescreen in flashes of simmering soul and folk eloquence. On his 2022 full-length album, Mermaid Salt, we witness revenge unfurled in flames, watch a landlocked mermaid’s escape, and fall asleep under a meteor shower.

After selling out shows consistently coast-to-coast and earning acclaim from Rolling Stone, Glide Magazine, No Depression, and many more, his unflinching honesty ties these ten tracks together.

The album comes from the solitude and loneliness of lockdown in the Northwest. Someone whose life was touring, traveling, and having lots of human interaction is faced with an undefinable amount of time without those things.

So, he began writing new songs and envisioning an album that was different from his past records. The sound of everyone playing live in a room together was traded for the sound of song construction with an unknown amount of instruments and musicians—a quiet symphony.

During this period, he explored the environment around him “from the Oregon coasts to the waterfalls” and read books about Levon Helm, Billie Holiday, and Ani DiFranco. “I got time to silence all the noise and chaos of touring and look inward,” he observes.

Craigie had reached a series of watershed moments in tandem with Mermaid Salt. Beyond headlining venues such as The Fillmore and gracing the stage of Red Rocks Amphitheater, his 2020 offering Asterisk The Universe earned unanimous tastemaker applause.

Rolling Stone noted, “tracks like ‘Don’t Deny’ and ‘Climb Up’ bridge a Sixties and Seventies songwriter vibe with the laid-back cool of Jack Johnson, an early supporter of Craigie,” while Glide Magazine hailed it as “one of his best records.”

Perhaps, No Depression put it best, “For many weary and heavy- listeners hearted, the album might be exactly what they need.” Along the way, he generated over 40 million total streams and counting, speaking to his unassuming impact. In the end, Craigie offers a sense of peace on Mermaid Salt.

The story and songs of Irish emigration & the American Civil War

Lumiere brought together two distinct voices cut from the same geographic cloth. One is Éilís Kennedy, whose sound has ready access to the soul without need for scaffolding or spotlights. The other is Pauline Scanlon, an award- winning singer from the same Kerry town of Dingle.

Since their debut launch, the duo has toured their distinctive sound from the cosy snugs of their native Dingle to international concert halls, and a worldwide audience has connected with their offering of real music, by real singers, communicating real emotions.

As a duo, Lumiere takes something that is sacred and age old and re-imagines it simply and beautifully, reclaiming beauty, truth and trust for the modern age. The big themes of love and loss, of place and people, of longing and lament, are present in both records Lumiere and My Dearest Dear.

The Duo’s immersion in the west Kerry singing tradition, and their ability to communicate it’s beauty remains a steadfast trait of their live performances. In the past decade both singers have produced a huge body of work in solo albums, but the draw to sing together has always been there. Lumiere are re-emerging in new light, with fresh stories to tell and old songs to reveal and awaken.

The Wilderness Way is a cross-Atlantic historical fiction set in Donegal and the US during the American Civil War. Inspired by true events, it tells the harrowing tale of a family evicted by Glenveagh landlord John Adair in 1861. To escape the workhouse two brothers emigrate to New York where they are drafted into the Union Army.

Set against the wild landscapes of Ireland and the battlefields of the American Civil War, this sweeping narrative takes us on an epic journey to understand the strength and endurance of the human spirit.

 Debut novelist Anne Madden, from Belfast, has teamed up with Lumiere to highlight through song the big themes of the book – eviction, emigration and the fate of so many Irish in the Civil War (1861-65).

 “I’m delighted to launch my novel with the tremendously talented Lumiere whose haunting harmonies and musical repertoire of this period will really bring the story to life. I think this will be a very special event for anyone interested in Ireland’s recent past and the eternal human struggle of emigration.”

The Wilderness Way, is published by HarperCollins, and will be available to buy along with Lumiere music at the event.

Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia Kater’s jazz-fueled 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, Kaia draws on influences rooted in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia, all of which reflect the diversity of her background; her family’s deep ties to the Canadian folk music scene; her college years spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia and her father’s experience growing up in Grenada, arriving in Canada in 1986, after the U.S. invasion.

Kaia released her first EP Old Soul (2013) when she was just out of high school. Since then, she’s gone on to release three more albums, Sorrow Bound (2015), Nine Pin (2016) and Grenades (2018).

For the JUNO-nominated and Polaris Music Prize long-listed Grenades, Kaia 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, Kaia took part in the Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Center, released a new single, and wrote original music for The Porter (BET+ 2022), for which she garnered a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song in a Drama Series.  Her next album, recorded in Montreal with Joe Grass as co-producer, will land in late 2023.

“…plaintive, mesmerizing…writes and performs with the skill of a folk-circuit veteran…”-Rolling Stone

“You want some authenticity in your folk music or bluegrass – I give you Kaia Kater.” –No Depression

“A star in the making...“–Folk Alley

Sign Crushes Motorist is a slowcore-influenced project of artist Liam McCay, who is 18 years-old and just finished secondary school.

The music is inspired by slacker and lo-fi alt-rock music with a particular nod to Duster, the San Jose, California band who released three main albums in the slowcore genre in the 90s before taking a near 20 year hiatus that they ended in 2019 to release once more. The project name, Sign Crushes Motorist, is the title of a Duster song. McCay has also cited the late Apistat Commander as an influence.

Sign Crushes Motorist is just one of McCay’s pseudonyms which also includes Take Care, Birth Day, Make His Ribs Show, Manta, Hold, Miserable Teens Club, Roaming, Death Trap, Moon Water to name some.

Sign Crushes Motorist is the McCay’s main project and has garnered over 1.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, though his other aliases like Birth Day and Take Care are also doing good listening numbers on various platforms.

Sign Crushes Motorist has two albums to date – 2022’s I’ll Be Ok and the most recently album releases last month – Hurting.

‘Michael and Michelle’ is actor and musician duo Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey, Anatomy of a Scandal, The Gentlemen) and Michael Fox (Downton Abbey, Dunkirk.)

It took a single evening for the pair to bond over a shared passion. What started as a casual jam – in between shooting scenes and encouraged by a friend – quickly turned into something distinct. Until then, Michael and Michelle had been preoccupied by various professional distractions – most notably the hugely popular TV show Downton Abbey, which brought them together.

Both were looking for a new way of expressing themselves – and music runs in their blood. Growing up, Michael had always been in bands, cutting his teeth through a range of styles from indie to folktronica while writing his own songs.

Michelle grew up in a noisy household on a diet of Joni Mitchell, Alison Krauss and Indigo Girls – she sang on various London stages including Ronnie Scott’s before acting took the front seat. After that first jam, they hustled a recording studio in Downtown LA and got to work.

Now, six years later, they are exclusively signed to Decca UMG and in May 2022 released their first EP, The Watching Silence – four self-penned songs produced by Iain Grimble (Mumford and Sons, Daughter, Catfish And The Bottlemen) recorded last year in Crouch End’s Church Studios.

The tracks were mixed by Danton Supple (Coldplay, Elbow, Morrissey) and the duo are joined across the EP by Chris Mass (Mumford and Sons) on percussion and Tommy Heap (Willy Mason) on piano and bass. Critical acclaim and media support include The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, BBC Radio 2 and BBC local playlisting.