Double Headline:

The Dreaming Spires + The Annie Keating Band

The Dreaming Spires are brothers Robin and Joe Bennett, Jamie Dawson, Tom Collison and Nick Fowler.

The band released debut single Everything All The Time in 2012, following up with an album, Brothers in Brooklyn, in 2013, both on Clubhouse Records. The debut album was compared to "Big Star by way of Gram Parsons and Teenage Fanclub" The Independent, and these are references that often come up when people hear the band live. 

This year marks a decade since the release of second album Searching for the Supertruth, which was nominated for Album and Artist of the year at the inaugural UK Americana Awards, where they performed their anthem "Dusty in Memphis" onstage.

Americana UK writer Graham Bollands recently put Searching for the Supertruth in his Top 10 British Americana albums of the 21st century, noting the band's "distinctive harmonies in the tradition of The Byrds or The Everly Brothers, and at times the sound has the anthemic qualities of Big Star or Gram Parsons."

The Annie Keating Band features Keating on acoustic guitar and vocals, rising star Joe Coombs on electric/slide guitars, Scott Warman on bass and Jamie Dawson on drums.

“A MUST SEE” – Bob Harris, BBC Radio

“Tremendous. Razor sharp rockabilly, sweet country and swampy blues, the band at full tilt. Annie

Keating with her crack combo of UK players blew everyone away. Exhilarating.” – Americana UK

Talent spotted by BBC Radio‘s Bob Harris with the release of her breakthrough album, “Belmont” in 2008, Keating has been growing in stature and reputation, having released 11 critically acclaimed studio albums as well as a new live Vinyl album featuring her crack combo UK band. A staple of the contemporary Americana scene, Annie Keating writes and sings like a woman who knows deep down that heartache is the price of hope, and she can make us believe — in that way that only the best artists can — that all of it is worth the cost. 

“Honest, refreshing.” NEW YORK POST

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.

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.