RAoul Vignal
We’re super excited to announce that we’ve been helping Raoul Vignal put together a mini-tour of middle England, with dates at some amazing venues in Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, Derby and finishing with a show in our geodome at Lost in the HiIlls Festival.Raoul Vignal plays authentic, modern folk music. His trademark delicate and earthy fingerpicking, alternate tunings and hushed and gentle vocals are formed in rural kitchens and scenes of pastoral contemplation. In these isolated places where time stands still and the incessant urges of the urban bustle disappear, he weaves captivating compositions with subtle shades of melancholy and entrancing, spirited arpeggios. Raoul Vignal’s music is both timeless and deeply embedded in the aura of contemporary life, with echoes of José González, Nick Drake, Kings of Convenience, Sun Kil Moon, Ben Howard and Nick Mulvey.You’re in for a real treat, make sure you get down to one of these shows.
5th May • Dubrek Studios, Derby
6th May • Fuel Cafe Bar, Manchester
7th May • By Our Hands We Make Our Way, Nottingham
8th May • Hagglers Corner, Sheffield
9th May • Mash, Macclesfield
11th May • Lost in the Hills Peak District
A Vibrant Sound , is a programme of multicultural concerts and a series of artist residencies a collaboration between Creative Peaks and Dubrek Studios in Derby. The project will combine unexpected, international and traditional instrumentalism with innovative and experimental sound production. Check out the programme via the link (above) or: www.a-vibrant-sound.com
Saturday 20th April Watts Russell Arms
Vikasati are an elusive duo from the midlands who perform semi-improvised jazz and broken beats. Jacob (keys) and Ant (drums) use a delicate balance of light and shade to breathe life into their jazz inflected melodies and intricate, dynamic progressions. Polyrhythms and textural, fluid grooves help to paint a subtle and progressive vision. Their recent release, ‘Prodigium’, is a 23-minute emotive epic, a journey through the inner psyche. Sounds like: GoGo Penguin, Mammal Hands and Cinematic Orchestra
Tickets: £7
Vegan dish: £8
Ticket & vegan dish: £12
Friday 28th June
Watts Russell Arms
John Haycock takes the kora (21 string African harp) and runs it through a series of electronic devices creating lush soundscapes and solid beats and overlays it with woodwind instruments, bridging the gap between ancient West African Folk melodies and modern electronica, visiting influences from hip-hop to ambient to dub along the way. He has been studying kora closely under the master Gambian griot Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh for several years having also spent time In West Africa absorbing the culture.Through this relationship John not only learned how to play the Kora, but also how to construct the instrument, and is able to guide anyone searching for a Kora of their own.
past concerts
Saturday, 18th November
Watts Russell Arms
Old Spot Music duo, Rowan Piggott and Joe Danks, combine a love for traditional Appalachian music with modern sensibilities to produce a sound that is unique, energetic and filled with joy – foot-stomping fiddle tunes and lazy banjo backbeats, unique arrangements and close harmony singing that produce bursts of joyful harmonies.
Rowan Piggott is a folk fiddler, traditional singer and tune collector who grew up in the foothills of the Burren on the west coast of Ireland, surrounded by traditional music. Joe Danks is a multi instrumentalist and singer based in Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Joe released his debut solo album Seaspeak in 2021 to critical acclaim and national press coverage
auka
Saturday, 23rd September
Watts Russell Arms
“Auka” comes from an Old Norse word meaning to grow or augment, a term that sums up the band’s organic and distinctive approach to music-making. Intimate, Celtic-infused contemporary folk melodies gradually swell with turbulent and powerful waves of energy.
Since releasing their acclaimed debut album Evergreen in 2021, the Sheffield trio have honed their sound performing at festivals and venues across the UK. Kirsty Lomax’s lyrical Irish flute and whistle melodies are accompanied by intricate and precise rhythmic guitar from Matt Gilchrist, underpinned by expressive jazz-folk double bass from Joss Mann-Hazell.
tamsin elliott &
tarek elazhary
Friday 15th September
Watts Russell Arms
Tamsin Elliott is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and film-maker based in Bristol. With roots in folk music, experimental and ambient sounds. Check out her critically acclaimed debut solo album ‘Frey’on Penny Fiddle Records.
Egyptian educator and composer Tarek Elazhary seeks to preserve the musical heritage of the Middle East, while exploring its place within a contemporary context. He is the co-founder of instrumental band Dokkan, which blends eastern influences with contemporary western instrumentation.
shunya &
dudu kouate
Thursday, 17th August
Watts Russell Arms
Alan Keary, performing under the alias Shunya is, a multi-instrumentalist and producer, with a strong musical heritage, writing and producing music from the age of fourteen. His sound is a contortion of influences, stemming from his background in classical violin and jazz bass, and growing with the sounds of Manchester's electronic music scene. For this concert he performs with Senegalese musician, Dudu Kouate, of the Historic Art Ensemble of Chicago. Dudu sings, hits, strums and blows a variety of his 200 instruments leading the audience on a journey to the roots of the sounds of the earth.
skylla
Thursday 3rd August
Watts Russell Arms
Skylla is the solo project of composer and bassist Ruth Goller (Melt Yourself Down, Rokia Traore, Sam Amidon, Vula Viel) featuring outstanding UK vocalists Lauren Kinsella (Snowpoet) and Alice Grant (Matthew Herbert). The music is inspired and influenced by Bulgarian folk song, free jazz, James Joyce and the Italian Alps where Ruth grew up. Bass guitar harmonics in experimental tuning systems sparkle beneath other-worldly polyphonic songs.
‘SKYLLA' takes after the mythical three-headed sea monster of the same name, their music is both mysterious and arresting.
wychbury
Friday 28th July
Watts Russell Arms
Wychbury are a contemporary folk duo of guitarist Che Bradley and vocalist Rhiannon Kenny. Their intimate performances are a blend of traditional folk songs and their equally timeless original material. The delicate storytelling of Rhiannon’s vocals and the clarity and inventiveness of Che’s guitar playing have made them favorites on the emerging Leeds folk scene.
"Their brains just seem to naturally work on a level of curiosity and invention that most of us only aspire to."
sentido andino
Saturday 17th June
Watts Russell Arms
Sentido Andino will be performing a collection of traditional Andean folk songs and South American laments. This father and daughter duo will transport you to the Andean mountains with their mesmerising and intricate arpeggios and soaring passionate vocal melodies, imbued with the spirit of the Incas. Instruments include the charango, cuatro venezolano, ronroco boliviano and the bombo andino.
juliette lemoine &
heather cartwright
Thursday 27th April
Watts Russell Arms
Juliette Lemoine’s emotive cello compositions are a euphoric celebration of the theme of freedom. Redefining the role of the cello in Scottish music, the fluidity of her bowing and ornamentation is inspired by traditional fiddle techniques, breathing new life into the instrument. She’s performed at Blas Festival, Celtic Connections, HebCelt, Aberdeen Jazz Festival and the BBC Proms and she’ll be joining us after the recent release of her stunning debut album ‘Soaring’.
Showcasing a Fylde guitar, custom made in Cumbria by Roger Bucknall, Heather Cartwright experiments with open tunings and fingerpicking techniques. She has recently been on tour to Austria with Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2018 winner, Hannah Rarity, and performs regularly with singer and songwriter Beth Malcolm.
tom harris
Saturday 6th May
Watts Russell Arms
Tom Harris is a sound artist whose practice takes in everything from social history and deconstruction, to meditation and creative processing. Searching for identity and inner peace, whilst navigating a passage through the labyrinth of the city walls, he explores the constant tension between hope and the insistent and sinking energy of dark matter. The muses tease and taunt and the beats and textures pull against each other to form a carefully considered impression of organised chaos. Thoughtful ambient soundscapes with undercurrents of scratched and sliced hip hop.
string beats
Saturday 20th May
Watts Russell Arms
String Beats will be performing a selection of Indian classical and folk music. The trio consists of sitar, sarangi and tabla. They blew us away with a stunning performance at Lost in the Hills festival in September 2022 and will be back in May with an extended performance.
jimsun
Friday 2nd June
Watts Russell Arms
Jimsun aka Jaime Gonzales, will be cooking up a semi-improvised lo-fi set with hip hop, folk, Latin, soul and dub flavours. Silky smooth vocals merge with kooky loops, twisted effects, filters and time-stretched samples to create his signature sun-drenched soundscapes.
millicent chapanda
Friday 9th June
Watts Russell Arms
Millicent Chapanda is a Zimbabwean cultural artist, traditional mbira player, percussionist, singer, dancer and storyteller. Her music is nourished by Zimbabwean traditional ceremonials where vibrant spiritual and secular music is a key part of bringing people together in devotion, praise, reflection and celebration.Join her for an incisive, participatory and inclusive gathering of mbira expressions; a celebration of Shona culture that calls on the ancestral spirits, rising through the transcendental cascading sound of the mbira and the pull of the voice to the outer worlds.
guohan
Saturday 8th April
China-born DJ and producer Guohan charters an otherworldly inward journey past ancestral rock carvings and through bustling city streets, telling mythical tales of the sunrise and the sunset along the way. His palette is multi-cultural, drawing on influences from hip-hop and jazz, traditional music and everyday life. The fractured rhythms and harmonies are a reconstruction of memories and missing links, documenting the forgotten moods and colours of contemporary life.
Guohan also plays alongside Pete Beardsworth and Tom Towle in eclectic jazz / hiphop trio Three Body, and is a founding member of Running Circle, Nottingham’s slick artist-led record label, releasing music with love and vision.
two mirrors
Saturday 11th February
Creative Peaks is a unique arts and music organization, bringing together a diverse mix of words, image, movement, and the natural world. With our venue nestled between the River Dove and Thor’s Cave in the Peak District National Park, we offer a one-of-a-kind environment for collaborative and experimental performances.