Gary Stewart
“Year & a Day EP launch”

Gary Stewart’s ‘Year and a Day’ EP takes you right back to likes of Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ and early Joan Baez whilst remaining contemporary alongside modern folk breakthroughs such as Laura Marling and Mumford and Sons. Scottish born Gary combines all the traditional aspects of folk with his own unique freshness and tenderness.

Now based in Leeds, the Perthshire boy caught the attention and imagination of traditional and modern music lovers up and down the U.K with the release of his Debut Album, “Boy Cries Wolf” which featuring performances from friends and long time collaborators Ellen Smith and Rosie Doonan. The album picked up support from all sides including radio 2 plays from Steve Lemacq.

Gary went on to grace the Festival circuit at Glastonbury, Kendal Calling, Live At Leeds, Greenbelt, Larmer Tree and more Folk Festivals than can be named! Along the way he has supported the likes of Laura Marling, Noah and the Whale, Fionn Regan, James Yorkston, Emma Pollock, James & Nick Harper.

Live, as well as on record, Gary delivers his songs with a good measure of Celtic Flair, his songs filled with themes and stories of love, paranoia and prostitution.

The EP opens with the tender ‘Thorns’ followed by ‘Eve’, both tracks gracious and elegant. ‘Green’ jumps out as the penultimate track, raising the tempo, brimming full of Celtic charm. Blue closes the EP, an expansive and warm song packed full of soaring harmonies.

Having just returned from touring with Ellen and the Escapades as the bass playing in her band, Gary is set to release ‘Year And A Day’ on the 18th of June 2012 on Babaganoush Records.

‘Year and a day’ is a beautifully written EP which honours Gary Stewart’s craft as one of the most distinct singer/songwriters in the UK, and bound to set him up in the pecking order alongside some of the familiar names he has supported along the way.

www.garystewart.tumblr.com
www.garystewart.bandcamp.com

with very special guests
Three Blind Wolves

Loud, hairy, and unpredictable, Three Blind Wolves are four young Glaswegians delivering country rock with a razor sharp edge. Drawing influences from Neil Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival and even Led Zeppelin, the boys have sold out venues across Scotland with their wild stage presence, transfixing harmonies and captivating performance.

The band released mini-album Sound of the Storm on Communion Records in March 2011 to critical acclaim, with track Emily Rose bagging a well-deserved place on the July MOJO magazine cover CD and sealing their soaring momentum with a coveted place on the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park 2011 and have played to the world’s taste-makers at Eurosonic in The Netherlands, SXSW in Austin, TX and CMW in Toronto, ON already this year and we’re delighted they join us on the last date of their UK Tour.

http://www.threeblindwolves.com/
http://www.facebook.com/threeblindwolves

and an exciting new collective
Jonny Firth’s Broken Bones Orchestra

Completing the party is another welcome return to Leeds from a fellow much closer born, infamous one man blues machine Jonny (the) Firth has been away from the music scene for a while but is back with a bunch of friends.

Rumoured to be part of this ramshackle orchestra are the likes of Rosie Doonan, Micky P. Kerr and many more, including some multi talented Scottish chap on the skins.

http://soundcloud.com/jonnythefirth

Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Thursday 17th May 2012
7.30pm – 11pm

Tickets £5 adv. available here

http://www.facebook.com/CommunionLeeds
http://www.oportobar.co.uk/

Tim Burgess and Mark Collins (The Charlatans Acoustic) and Willy Mason to headline the regions first Communion Unplugged weekend.

The Legendary Tim Burgess and his Charlatans counterpart Mark Collins will be headlining Newcastle’s first Communion Unplugged weekend with support on the 12th of May from the amazing Ren Harvieu and Josh Kumra.

American singer songwriting Icon Willy Mason will headline Friday the 11th of May with strong support from the amazing, Lucy Rose.

Formerly Ouseburn Unplugged the event sold out all three nights in 2010 and 2011 at Newcastle’s Cluny, and has featured artists such as Ben Howard, Gate Cape Wear Cape Fly, Little Comets and David Mcalmont.

This year the setting in a disused warehouse on the banks of the Tyne really excited us, comments North East gig promoter Steve Davis. Local artists will also get their chance to shine with the likes of Ajimal, The Jar Family, Natasha Haws, The Lake Poet and Amy Holford all featuring alongside their idols.

One of the highlights of the weekend is an intimate Book Reading with Tim Burgess of the Charlatans who will read and elaborate on key moments in his illustrious career at an Art Gallery in Hoults Yard.

Full Lineup

Friday 11th May

Willy Mason http://www.willymason.net/
Lucy Rose http://lucyrose.net/
The Lake Poets http://thelakepoets.com/
Ajimal http://soundcloud.com/ajimal
Natasha Haws http://soundcloud.com/haws
Motion Tourist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk51sG-BT3s

Saturday 12th May

The Charlatans Acoustic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZTWK1BXR5c
Ren Harvieu http://renharvieu.com/
The Soviets http://thesoviets.co.uk/
Josh Kumra http://www.joshkumra.com/
The Jar Family http://www.thejarfamily.com/#/
Amy Holford http://amyholford.tumblr.com/

Warehouse 34, Hoults Yard

Doors 6pm

Tickets are £15 per day or £25 for the weekend available here

Thursday, 26th April at Captain’s Rest, Glasgow

This month we have an interesting mix of artists for you

Randolph’s Leap – are a Glasgow based Folk Pop band armed with tunes packed with melody and more than their fare share of humour! We had them supporting Washington Irving in February and they had the whole audience singing along- not to be missed!

http://randolphsleap.bandcamp.com/

Saul Ashby – Our Brothers and Sisters in London have been raving about Saul for the past 6 months and finally now the rest of the UK will get their chance to see him live. Bagging comparisons to the legendary Elvis Costello recently, this will be a rare treat.

http://www.saulashby.com/

This Silent Forest – Singer Songwriter Graeme McDonald leads his merry 6 piece band to the Communion Stage for the first time. Well crafted Folk songs allied with a pop sensibility.

https://www.facebook.com/thissilentforest

Sam Airey – Leeds based acoustic troubadour is fast making a name for himself south of the border, bagging airplay on 6Music and Amazng Radio in support of his recent EP release- sure we’ll see more of him up here.

https://www.facebook.com/samaireymusic

Bronagh Monahan – Belfast born singer, has set up home in Glasgow now and has recently been recording her debut EP, caught our eye at a show earlier this year, truly spellbinding voice.

https://www.facebook.com/BronaghMonahanMusic

Doors: 7:30PM

Tickets: £6 adv. available here

Communion Oxford are very proud to present Pete Roe, Louise and the Pins, Pale Seas, Dan Whitehouse and the Method on Sunday 27th May 2012 at The Jericho Tavern, Oxford.
With such an ace line-up what better way to kick off the summer than an evening at the Jericho Tavern?

Pete Roe
Having toured with the lovely Laura Marling many a time, Pete Roe has stepped into the limelight with his EP ‘The Merry-Go-Round’. Recorded entirely live and solo, ‘The Merry-Go-Round’ really shows off Pete’s tender vocals and storytelling capabilities, as a result he’s been likened to Bert Jansch and John Martyn.
www.peteroe.org

Pale Seas
Pale Seas have been making waves of hype online and are an awesome live act. Formerly known as Netherlands, Pale Seas are a Southampton born, London based Dream Folk band, they’re truly unique and we love them. They are currently making their way around the country with EP Something or Nothing.
www.placestohaunt.com

Dan Whitehouse
Singer/Songwriter Dan Whitehouse has been compared by listeners to James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Tom Baxter. Dan writes music steeped in timeless roots traditions, laced with lyrical twists that narrate modern life. Following on from his 3 EPs (The Balloon, The Bubble, The Box), his debut album to be released on 23rd April 2012 is acoustic at heart, sensitively embellished with a creative band of musicians who add their distinctive sounds to Dan’s muse.

+ Special Guest

Doors: 7PM

Tickets:  £5 adv. from here

Communion Belfast brings you the lanch of the long-anticipated, Farriers debut album, “Years Ago In Our Backyard”. In keeping with our push to bring over acts from the UK & further afield, we’re delighted to announce that we’ll have Three Blind Wolves returning to Belfast to support Farriers on this launch show. The last time we had anything like this was the Napoleon EP launch with Nathaniel Rateliff, which sold out. We have a feeling this one will be going the same way.

Sunday, 27th May 2012, The Black Box, Belfast.

Farriers

The Co. Down based band will released their debut album, “Years Ago in Our Backyard” on Sunday 27th May the album features 10 tracks written and recorded at Hillhouse Studios.

The culmination of 3 years work, the album draws on influences of Americana and Irish folk sounds and takes the listener on a journey through truthfully uptempo folk, darkly alcoholic gospel and heartfelt moments of melancholy.
The process of deciding on what made the album was a tricky one, but through their live shows and enthusiastic crowd interaction, the final tracklist fell into place. The album includes live show favourites such as San Remo, a tale of a small town that lies in the path of a bigger journey , The Fire’s Burn, which tells of unforgettable nights out with friends, and new songs like the title track Years Ago In Our Backyard, a song about long lamented youth in sprawling North American cities.

http://farriers.bandcamp.com/

Three Blind Wolves

Loud, hairy, and unpredictable, Three Blind Wolves are four young Glaswegians delivering country rock with a razor sharp edge. Drawing influences from Neil Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival and even Led Zeppelin, the boys have sold out venues across Scotland with their wild stage presence, transfixing harmonies and captivating performance.

The band released mini-album Sound of the Storm on Communion Records in March 2011 to critical acclaim, with track Emily Rose bagging a well-deserved place on the July MOJO magazine cover CD and sealing their soaring momentum with a coveted place on the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park 2011 and securing slots at major Showcase Festivals Eurosonic, SXSW and CMW.

http://bandcamp.threeblindwolves.com/

Gareth Dunlop

Born and raised in Belfast, Gareth Dunlop has been crafting songs and a career which has seen him named 2011 Young Songwriter of the Year at the Annual Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, have songs featured in numerous hit television series including Cougar Town,One Tree Hill,Private Practice,Army Wives,Life Unexpected, and more. He’s opened for Jeff Beck, Jools Holland, Nanci Griffith, Angus & Julia Stone, Paul Carrack, The Steeldrivers, Imelda May…not to mention Snow Patrol performed Dunlop’s song, Firefly, with a full orchestra and invited him to join the band on stage as the lead vocalist for their special homecoming performance in Belfast.

This is what he does. It’s what he’s always done. Not a stranger to Communion Belfast, it’s an absolute delight to have him back on the stage and we look forward to hearing what he’s been working on recently.

http://garethdunlop.com

Doors 7:30pm

Tickets £7 are available from communionmusic.co.uk/live and blackboxbelfast.com

We’ve got yet another fantastic lineup for the next San Francisco show on Monday, 7th May at Cafe du Nord.

Skinny Singers

Skinny Singers are Tim Bluhm and Jackie Greene.

skinnysingers.com

John Fullbright

With the release of ‘From The Ground Up’ (Thirty Tigers/Blue Dirt Records), Oklahoma singer/songwriter John Fullbright is certain to join any conversation about the best new artists in music today. Firmly rooted in a variety of musical styles, John draws on what has come before but without imitation. Forget labels when you listen to John Fullbright. He is not folk, not Americana and not pop, but possibly the best definition of them all. Fullbright’s earliest songwriting heroes, Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury certainly infuse this record, but so do Jimmy Webb and Randy Newman and many of Fullbright’s lesser-known songwriting friends from Oklahoma and Texas.

www.johnfullbrightmusic.com

Breathe Owl Breathe

After years of writing one-off children’s stories, Micah Middaugh has created a limited edition canvas-covered book that reads from outside covers inward, ending at the center. And in the middle, slipped between a hand cranked copper block printed sleeve, are two new Breathe Owl Breathe songs pressed onto black 70 gram 7″ vinyl. A project that took close to 3 years to complete, and all within the confines of his home studio (Cavern Lantern Wonder Welding) in the Jordan River Valley of Northern Michigan. Every single cover, page, sleeve, and block was made in Michigan.

www.g-rad.org/breatheowlbreathe

honeymoon

The dictionary defines a honeymoon as “any new relationship characterized by an initial period of harmony and goodwill”; this was the intention when Monterey/Bay Area singer/songwriters Lauren Shera, Christina Bailey, and Sara E. Bollwinkel began playing music together in early 2010 as a collaborative to showcase their individual songs and the music they began writing together: an indie-folk blend with traditional roots and pop sensibility. Each of the three young women have a unique and powerful stage presence that commands an audience’s attention as they trade off lead vocals and switch between instruments with ease; combining pristine three-part harmonies with masterful arrangements played on guitar, banjo and violin. The ladies are accompanied by Matt Bollwinkel on bass and Mark Quinn on drums, rounding out their sound perfectly. Between their original material and their choice selection of cover songs, honeymoon manages to weave the nostalgia of Americana music with the force of indie-rock in a way that is undeniably moving and unique. Since they formed, this energy and talent has consistently lead new fans to discover their music and become enthusiastic supporters of the group. Whether they are baking pies or making music, the harmony and goodwill are always present with this wonderful group.

www.honeymoonismusic.com

Jackie Greene

At age 31, Jackie Greene has accomplished what many artists strive decades for. He has recorded seven albums of original work, an EP, DVD, and a recently released book of lyrics. Greene has been involved in many high-profile side projects. Included in his endeavors are performing with Levon Helm at Levon’s famous ‘Ramble’ and featured performer at Warren Haynes annual Christmas Jam. He is currently planning a summer tour with a new ensemble, Trigger Hippy, featuring Steve Gorman of The Black Crowes and Joan Osborne. There will also be a series of shows with Jackie Greene, Bob Weir, and Chris Robinson as an acoustic trio.

www.jackiegreene.com

Doors: 7.30pm / Show: 8pm

Tickets: $10 adv. available here

Everyone loves something for free. Fact is, we love bringing you great, new, exciting music and we’d do it for free every night if we could. Still, this is a chance for us to give something back, a party to celebrate the wonderful nights of music we’ve had together. Without you, these would not have happened. So, get your dancing shoes on and come party with us.

We are proud to bring you some of the UK’s youngest, freshest talent in Belfast’s newest bar, The Hudson on Friday, 27th April 2012

The Filthy Six

The Filthy Six are the most exciting, authentic soul jazz outfit in the country today and have established themselves as one of the finest live acts around. Their hip-shakingly powerful mixture of jazz, funk and soul will rock your socks off. Fact.

With their latest release, “The Fox” due out on Acid Jazz records on 16th April, we cannot wait to enjoy a night with the Filthy Six!

thefilthysix.com

The Jepettos

A band from Derry, who launched themselves in 2012 to great acclaim. Influenced heavily by the airy vocals of Sufjan Stevens and the quirky lilt of Lisa Hannigan, this 5 piece woodwind and string ensemble is headed up by husband-wife songwriters Mike and Ruth whose collaboration creates a natural yet unpredictable sound.

Check out lead single “Goldrush” on their website. You’ll start to get the idea.

facebook.com/TheJepettos

Saul Ashby

We are delighted to introduce you to Saul Ashby and his band, who are undertaking a Communion UK tour and this will be their first stop in Ireland. Saul releases his debut single, Debutantes, on Fly Records, a label who launched the careers of Mark Bolan 40 years ago. Raised in London and having studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Ashby trained as a jazz drummer before moving to New York and finding his true passion as a songwriter. His debut single is a vibrant and contemporary twist on classic guitar-stop music from artists like Elvis Costello and Edywn Collins.

saulashby.com

+ Special Guest & ATFL DJs

Doors, 8pm. Tickets not required, because it’s FREE!

Sunday, 6th May 2012 at Notting Hill Arts Club, London

Communion are proud to present yet another jaw dropping 7 band bill for this month’s Communion. First up we have Nathan Holme with his wonderful, looping, melodic weirdness. Next is one of Kent’s finest folk singer songwriters, Lucy Kitt. Tom the Lion skips from naked piano ballads, driving guitars, and percussive electro, to stargazing folk.

Leaders of Men are are a new exciting five piece from Dublin rumoured to be the next big thing. Let’s Buy Happiness join us off the back of their support tour with Primal Scream. Even in a scene as vibrant as the current one in Brooklyn, Savoir Adore bring something entirely unique and exciting to the table with their addictively lush slant on pop. Amber States are an indie folk 5-piece formed in London in 2010. At once uplifting and melancholic, their songs are crafted from strong melodies and beau. Topped off with Marcus Foster and ATFL DJ’s.

Doors: 6pm

Tickets: £7 adv. available here

It’s with great pleasure that we announce the latest bands to join Bushstock Festival 2012:
Amber States, Daughter, Dog is Dead, JP Cooper, Matthew and the Atlas and Nick Mulvey.

Full lineup here.

Buy Tickets

Communion Oxford – 22nd April 2012 – Jericho Tavern

Henry Parker
Henry Parker is an incredibly talented guitarist and singer/songwriter born and bred in Oxfordshire. With his band ‘Magical World’, Henry will transport you back to the sound of 60s folk and blues artists whilst putting a fresh young spin on this classic style.

The Fallows
The Fallows are an acoustic indie/folk band based in Coventry and winners of BBC Introducing (Coventry & Warwickshire) Artist Of The Month for February 2012. “This is real music from real life. Every lyric and note is carefully crafted from pieces of stories, past feelings and the hope of new experiences. Bags of great songs and energy promise a gig that is buzzing with passion.”

Prita
Prita Grealy’s live sound ‘Hip-So-Fo’ is unique crossing genres Hip-Hop, Soul and Folk with the use of live loop pedal layering. Her striking voice and look captivate audiences with her warm persona fans describe her show as ‘uplifting, inspiring and like watching open-heart surgery’.

Joyce the Librarian
This Bristol based group have a gorgeous warm sound and will not fail to make you smile. “Their sound is understated but undeniably beautiful, simple guitars and flashes of cello and trumpet back softly-spoken lyrics.”

Doors 7.30pm

Tickets £4 adv available here