Henry Normal

Henry Normal is a writer, poet and TV and Film producer and founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Literature festival) and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival.

In June 2017 he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to Television.

He co-wrote and script edited every episode of the multi-award winning Mrs Merton show and the spin off series Mrs Merton and Malcolm. He also co-created and co-wrote the first series of The Royle Family.

With Steve Coogan he co-wrote the BAFTA winning Paul and Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan’s Run, Tony Ferrino, Doctor Terrible and all three of Steve’s live tours and the film The Parole Officer.

Setting up Baby Cow Productions Ltd in 1999 Henry Executive Produced all, and script edited many of the shows of its seventeen and a half year output during his tenure as MD.

Highlights of the Baby Cow output during this time include Philomena, I Believe in Miracles, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, Uncle, Marion and Geoff, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf, Hunderby, Camping and Alan Partridge,

Since retiring in April 2016 Henry has written and performed seven BBC Radio 4 shows “a normal family’, ‘a normal life’, ‘a normal love’, ‘a normal creativity’, ‘a normal nature’, a normal universe and ‘a normal communication’ combining comedy, poetry and stories about bringing up his autistic son. These shows are often now available on BBC sounds.

He was recently given a honorary doctorate of letters by Nottingham Trent University, another by Nottingham University, and has had a beer and a bus named after him in Nottingham !

Henry performs poetry at Literature Festivals around the UK and has 10 recent poetry collections out from Flapjack Press including a hardback selected works ‘The Escape Plan’. Henry also has a memoir ‘A Normal Family’ published by Two Roads Press telling the story of his family which is co-written with his wife, Angela Pell.

Just Dickens!

Other Lives Productions

Other Lives Productions herald the Christmas Season as they present Just Dickens, a Gallimaufry of readings, snippets, anecdotes, factoids and semi-dramatisations from “the man who invented Christmas”

Richard Avery and Neil King bring alive characters dreamt up by Charles Dickens - among them Mr Pickwick, Ebenezer Scrooge, The Signalman, Bill Sykes, The Uncommercial Traveller, Uriah Heap, Wilkins Macawber, Abel Magwitch, Wackford Squeers, Sairey Gamp, Daniel Quilp and many others…

Gareth Davies-Jones

Get in the mood for the festive season with Gareth Davies-Jones' Acoustic Christmas show, where he creates a space away from the hustle and bustle of what Christmas has become. Armed with a variety of instruments and a selection of stories and anecdotes, you’ll be taken on a journey through some of my favourite songs and carols of Advent and Christmas. Listen, sing along, remember, look to the future, lose yourself in the music.

“Rich, soulful vocals, a fine ear for melody & masterful acoustic guitar playing” R2 Magazine

Gareth is a singer, songwriter and story-teller who has been writing, recording and performing as a professional musician for over twenty years. He has travelled the length and breadth of the UK armed with a rich distinctive voice and now two decades worth of perceptive and compelling songwriting spanning some sixteen albums and song-writing collaborations.

Belle Roscoe

Belle Roscoe is an Australian sibling duo, Matty and Julia Gurry, whose harmony-driven folk/rock/Americana sound has drawn comparisons to Fleetwood Mac and The Black Keys. They’ve performed to audiences of 150,000+ in a year, closed the Cannes Film Festival, and played London’s O2 Arena, New York’s Bowery Electric and LA’s United Artists Theatre. Their music has been shaped by collaborations with Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang, engineer Andrija Tokic, members of Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit, legendary Muscle Shoals session players including a chance encounter with Elvis’s bassist, Norbert Putnam. 

Their new EP, ‘Talking to the Walrus’, arrives in 2026.

Amy Speace

Multi award winning singer/songwriter and a highly respected writer and poet, Amy Speace has been one of Nashville's premiere folk artists of recent years.

“What Amy Speace says – what she sings – she sings with a confluence of poetry and 

honesty.” - Jon Pareles, The New York Times

Heralded by Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Billboard Magazine and NPR’s “Weekend 

Edition,” Amy Speace was discovered by Judy Collins, who signed her to her record label 

and has recorded her songs. She’s the 2020 winner of the AMA UK’s International Song of 

the Year. “The Blue Rock Session,” her 10th solo album, was released in December 2025 

and reached #1 immediately on the Folk Radio Charts. It is a truly solo acoustic project 

Amy recorded in 3 hours at The Blue Rock Studio during a writer’s retreat there. Her 2024 

release, “The American Dream,” became the #1 record and the title track was named #1 

song in the FAI Radio Charts for its first month out. She has been featured on NPR’s 

Dave McCabe

Dave McCabe is the songwriter, frontman and founding force behind legendary Liverpudlian band The Zutons, and one of Britain’s most distinctive voices of the last two decades.

Raised in Liverpool and shaped by the city’s famously uncompromising music scene, McCabe has always written from instinct rather than fashion. His songs draw on soul, rock and roll and classic pop songwriting, delivered with a vocal style that is as fearless as it is emotionally direct.

McCabe has continued to write constantly, for himself and for others. In recent years he has been quietly building a new collection of songs that mark the beginning of an exciting solo chapter. These acoustic shows are the first opportunity for audiences to hear that next phase take shape, with brand new material written for an upcoming Dave Zuton album due for release in 2026.

Stripped back to voice, guitar and songwriting, the performances offer a direct connection between artist and audience. This is not about looking back, but about hearing great songs in their purest form, and discovering new ones at the moment they come to life.

Rachel Croft

Rachel Croft returns to Newbald Live with an intimate solo performance of her original songs and unreleased tracks, as part of her UK and Europe wide tour in 2027.

Rachel Croft is an internationally recognised musician and multidisciplinary artist, with works featured on Netflix and BBC Two, and support from Gibson.

Known for her exceptional vocals, creative force, and electrifying stage presence, Rachel has performed from Europe to Central America, been honoured as Caffè Nero's Artist of the Month, and released music from Abbey Road Studios.

"Such a great classic artist in every sense" — Dave Stewart, The Eurythmics

"Truly exceptional" — Jericho Keys, BBC Introducing

"An emotive and uncompromising alternative artist, unapologetic and at the top of her game" —

Atwood Magazine

Sorrel Nation

Sorrel Nation returns to Newbald with a full band and a very special guest in John  Adams. Sorrel has built a growing reputation for her distinctive voice, powerful live perofrmances and evocative storytelling.

Her debut album, Lost En Route, was acclaimed by critics and fans alike and the second album Creeping Thyme, has been equally well received.

Special guest John Adams is a singer-songwriter who can measure his live streams and youtube views in the hundreds of millions, mainly excellent cover versions of classic hits, but also is a talented writer and live performer of his original material. John's opening set will be the perfect complement to Sorrel's full band show that follows.