04 November 2018
Newsdesk
London Roots Festival is back for 2018, bringing you the latest in Americana, roots, folk, blues and world music, taking place until Nov 22. This year’s Roots Festival takes place across eleven music venues, from renowned destinations including: The Union Chapel, Electric Ballroom, Dingwalls andThe Lexington,to the more intimate spaces like The Slaughtered Lamb, Green Note andWaiting Room and, as has become the festival’s trademark, the more unique and ornate such as: Bush Hall, St Pancras Church, St Johns andSt Mary’s Music Hall.
Brimming with talent plucked from a rich and diverse array of roots scene luminaries worldwide, the line-up includes everyone from the African Gospel Choir revisiting their celebrated interpretation of Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ album and legendary Geordie veteran mastersLindisfarne, to the explosive and passionate Grammy award winning Fantastic Negrito.
Experience the extraordinary and wondrous landscapes of Lancashire-born Callaghan, the homestead storytelling of Finbar Furey, the Afro-fusion stylings of Zimbabwe’s Mokoomba. A little closer to home, meanwhile, the Cornish eight-piece vocal act Fisherman’s Friends, the real-life fishermen who were plucked from obscurity to score a record deal with Universal and a Top 10 album with ‘Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends’.
Exeter duo Sound of the Sirensbring their upbeat and tightly harmonised vocal gymnastics to the Slaughtered Lamb. The much-tipped John Smithdelves deeply into the traditions of both British and American folk with his stripped back singer-songwriter stylings, and the joyfully frenetic Trampled by Turtlesmake the trip from Minnesota to showcase their high speed bluegrass shenanigans.
Celebrated newcomers join the line-up, multi-instrumentalistSam Kelly & The Lost Boys’, with the haunting voices and soaring harmonies. Robert Vincent, the talented and accomplished songwriter will take you on journey through his highs and lows. Meanwhile, much loved hero of the roots underground, Tom Baxterreturns to present his first new LP in a decade, the long awaited ‘The Other Side of Blue’, at the Union Chapel.
London Roots Festival is the brainchild of renowned promoter and scene tastemaker David Messer,responsible for bringing roots music to the forefront of London’s music scene. David says: “it’s great to see artists getting the credit they deserve,” insisting that one of the main aims of the festival is “to give new artists a platform to be heard… I hope to see some of these headlining their own shows in the future.”
Dates – London Roots Festival
Tue Nov 6 – Robert Vincent, The Lexington
Tue Nov 6 – Tom Baxter, Union Chapel
Wed Nov 7 – Callaghan, Dingwalls
Fri Nov 9 – Tellamure + Andy Cutting, St John’s Music Hall, Leytonstone
Fri Nov 9 – Lindisfarne, Union Chapel
Sat Nov 10 – Bruce Cockburn, St Pancras Church
Sun Nov 11 – Sam Kelly + The Lost Boys, Bush Hall
Mon Nov 12 – Vagabond Voices (Dean Owens & Yvonne Lyon), The Green Note, Camden
Tues Nov 13 – Over The Rhine, Union Chapel
Wed Nov 14 – Jake Morrell, The Slaughtered Lamb
Thu Nov 15 – Finbar Furey, Union Chapel
Thu Nov 15 – Sound of the Sirens, The Slaughtered Lamb
Thu Nov 15 – John Smith, St Pancras Church
Thu Nov 16 – Trampled by Turtles, Electric Ballroom
Thu Nov 22 – Joshua Burnside, The Waiting Room
Photo credit: Luca Viola
