Chuck Johnson - 27th October
"You can feel air moving, sand sifting, and sun baking as Johnson’s guitar chords gradually stretch across the horizon. It feels like a universe unto itself." Pitchfork 8.1/10
Chuck Johnson's 'balsams' was our favourite record of 2017. We've went to great lengths to bring him to the UK so that we can share his incredible music with you. Come along and join us for a blissed-out evening of his transportive music and hear why he ended up on so many of the 'Best Record of the Year' lists from 2017. It's something very special indeed.
“Johnson epitomised and transcended the adventurous spirit of the New American Primitives scene, Balsams being a solo pedal steel record with an ambient bent that made it as close to Daniel Lanois’ work on Eno’s Apollo Soundtracks as it did any notional folk tradition. Wonderful.” ‘Best albums of 2017’ 8/10 UNCUT
“Graceful contemplations overflow… ethereal, emotionally expressive, painterly, intimate yet vast.” ‘Best of 2017’ Tiny Mix Tapes
“Loops of pedal steel guitar that rest on the edge of dusk, just when the tumult of day subsides and seeps into the soul’s reflection.” ‘Best records of 2017’ NPR
"A reflection of an artist’s total immersion in the idea of “place,” its spectral songs often swallowed up in the shadows of giant redwoods, the coos of owls, and the howls of far-off coyotes." Aquarium Drunkard
Scottish Album of the Year-nominee Adam Stafford, who created our favourite record of this year so far with ‘Fire Behind The Curtain’, will open the night.
Adam’s performance with Chris Forsyth at Golden Hum last year was spellbindingly magnificent and we’ve been looking for an opportunity to invite him back since. A noted figure in the UK's creative community, Adam's music and visual arts work has built up into a singular catalogue. His new work 'Fire Behind The Curtain' might well be his most individual project yet, taking some eight years to complete. Neo-classical in tone, the songwriting deals with the crippling depression and anxiety that have dogged him since childhood. Critics raved over the record and we think you’ll love his performance too.
“Adam Stafford's new album is a rich and haunting record of intelligence, beauty, depth and darkness – it's a monumental piece of work.” 5/5 The Skinny
“Simply astonishing… Adam Stafford is back and he might just have surpassed his own standards.” Clash Magazine
“Stafford’s new album is a major document of a prolific career which shows off his exceptional ability for composition and capturing an emotional mood. The music is raw and analogue, a living relic of a different time when sonic experimentalism was based simply around what could be done with a guitar and a basic array of recording equipment.” 4/5 The Scotsman
“An absolute triumph of an album.” - Nemone, Electric Ladyland BBC 6 Music
“Astonishing… a ritual of chants and rhythm, which builds to reach a psychedelic, orgasmic, euphoria of sounds.” The Fountain 92%
- Fletcher Tucker was originally scheduled to support Chuck. He reluctantly had to withdraw because of a family medical situation.