Upcoming events

Note: change of lineup as Myles Knight is no longer able to play.

Jess Silk
Guitarist, singer and songwriter from the Black Country. Her shouty but melodic brand of folk/punk music often has her being likened to a female Frank Turner or Billy Bragg, and it gets people sitting up and listening. Armed only with an increasingly sticker-covered acoustic guitar and a distinctive, gravelly voice that many don`t expect.

Brad Dear
A raw and rowdy modern folk sound of foot stomping anthems and sing along choruses

William Harper
A singer/songwriter in the alternative folk scene. He has been active on the UK festival circuit since 2005 playing with ‘festival favourites’ Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs at major festivals This is a chance to witness a totally different side to him as he goes solo and sings his own songs about various subjects from love to politics and a few well chosen, reworked covers

Jake Martin
Jake’s sound is a distinctively energetic and engaging blend of brash acoustic punk, and melodic indie folk. He intelligently blends tales of life, love, and the road, with dark satire, politics, and his own cheeky brand of cider fuelled humour

Warren Ireland
One man, a guitar and a loop pedal. Warren Ireland is a modern day troubadour with an arsenal of songs for all kinds of tastes. His originals touch on some of the closest subjects to our hearts, including personal battles, love and unity. An absolute power house of an up and comer.

Serious Child is songwriter and roots musician Alan Young from West Sussex. He draws from a wide range of acoustic musical influences from folk to pop to bossanova to explore the world around us with a poet’s ear for emotion and a comedian’s eye for everyday detail.

“brimming with vigour and style” ⭑⭑⭑⭑ RnR

“the year’s first home-grown album of depth, vision and commitment” ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ Spiral Earth

“taking acoustic rock to new levels” ⭑⭑⭑⭑ Maverick

“a jamboree of versatility and melody” Featured Album of the Month, Folk Radio UK
www.seriouschild.com

Andy Ruddy is a 31-year old singer songwriter from Bradford, currently working for the charity Give A Song performing to vulnerable people in lockdown. In 2015 he released his debut album ‘Everything Is In Order’ with the help of ex-Shed Seven musician Fraser Smith. It was a surprise hit, peaking at No.6 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart. The following year he was nominated for ‘Best Unsigned Male’ at the Best of British Unsigned Music Awards and by 2018 had released his second album ‘Vital Signs’ which charted at No.12. His more recent music has featured on the series finale of BBC1’s The Syndicate and been played at Bradford City, his beloved home team.
www.andyruddymusic.com

Kirsty McGee

Somewhere between Jazz, Folk, Gospel and Americana there’s an area of music that doesn’t have a name. With a cartographer’s attention to detail, Kirsty McGee – a wandering maverick and spellbinding live performer with a voice that has been described as having the texture of smoke and velvet – has spent the past fifteen years and seven albums mapping this place, tracking the common origins of song.

Tickets – £8.70 advance or £10.70 (inc donation to The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation)

Rescheduled show TBC

*This date has been rescheduled from 19th April/ 6th Dec, tickets purchased for either of those shows are valid for this date*

One of the finest bands on the Americana/Alt Folk circuit, Noble Jacks are coming to The Portland Arms, straight off the back of their sell out tour with The Dead South.

With the fiddle leading the charge, Noble Jacks are out to take no prisoners with their high-energy footstompin’ rhythms, which have taken crowds by storm across the UK.

2017 saw the release of Noble Jacks’ debut album What the Hammer to much acclaim. A fiddle driven thrill ride, the band set out to capture the raw energy of their notoriously hectic live shows. Achieving radio play internationally, including support from BBC Introducing and Radio Caroline, the riotous album has become a firm fan favourite.

Since this point Noble Jacks have been touring relentlessly, with sold out shows across the UK on their headline tours, as well as shows at major festivals including Glastonbury, Isle of Wight and Bestival, plus major European festivals. With their second album, Stay Awake, released Spring 2019, the Jacks went straight into the top 10 Official UK Americana Album Charts – with a sold out Concorde2, Brighton (650 cap) launch party.

Hailed as the finest purveyors of folk-influenced Americana, the band were invited to showcase at this years Americana Fest in Nashville where they went down a storm!

+ Supports TBA

The long awaited album ‘Herstory’ is finally being gigged out on this date, the album is now being released 21st May 2021… meaning you have 6 months to get to know the tunes before coming to sing along with us in or out of tune
We plan to play the whole album (more or less) in its entirety, with a few old classics thrown in. We also have our phantom guitarist Jason Lewis Williams joining us for the occasion.
You will be able to purchase copies of Herstory on Vinyl & CD plus our entire back catalogue and T shirts/vests will be available at knock off prices!
With intrepid, artful support from the enchantress Naomi Randall, Eloquent absurdity from Simon Lee Morgan and the purveyor of ear treats and beats DJ Johnny Cabbage.
All being well… its shaping up to be a hum dinger of an evening!
Stick it in ya diary! Lets make this happen! More info will unfold as we make our way towards this day XKX

Paul Henshaw

Thumping lumps out of his guitar and singing passionately about life and his own experiences, Paul Henshaw is one of the RIOT FOLK family’s hardest workers, touring relentlessly across the UK, Europe and afar.

2010 saw the release of the melodic debut album ‘Don’t Die Wondering’, and 2 years later followed by “Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never win”

In 2014 he went back to the studio with anger and attitude to produce his first full band studio album titled; ‘I Refuse to Sink’. Then in 2016, Henshaw and friends, now known as Paul Henshaw and the Scientific Simpletons, went into the studio to produce ‘You Just Lost the Game’, this album was quickly followed in May 2017 by the third studio album for the band ‘Fishing for Owls’.

Fishing for Owls reached #1 in the Amazon album download charts with the singles ‘Stones’ and Fay’s Song’ reaching #1 and #3 respectively.

In October 2018 came the release of the third solo studio outing for Henshaw with the strangely titled ‘56A’, which includes the much talked about lead song ‘What if’ and is by far the most complex and heartfelt work Henshaw has produced to date.

Nov 1st 2019 saw Henshaw and the band release their brand new 14 song album, with a 6 week UK and European tour the year was a huge success

Paul also played Glastonbury Festival in 2019.

Early 2020 saw Paul team up with Dan Booth from FEROCIOUS DOG to play a short run of intimate duet gigs that was hugely popular and received universally positive feedback. The pair also released “REVISIT” a duet album consisting of 10 Henshaw penned songs.

Three Years Younger

Three Years Younger is an indie-pop duo from Suffolk, made up of sisters Megan and Charlotte Simpson. They love to sing in close harmonies, which have been described as “angelic” and “spine-tingling”. In 2019 they won the Under 18s Cambridge Band Competition and Kimberley Rew Award and were excited to perform at Camp Bestival and the Big Weekend in Cambridge.

Last year Three Years Younger released their debut Ep ‘Close the Door’, which was critically acclaimed by various media stations, including BBC Introducing.  Now equipped with a full 4-piece band, Three Years Younger is excited to hit the stages with a full sound and lots of new songs.

TBC

Bands TBA

This has been rescheduled from Saturday 8th May 2021. All tickets remain valid.

Roddy Woomble is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s finest songwriters.

Known for his enigmatic lyrics, warm baritone voice and consummate gift for a tune, Roddy has released five solo albums to date – ‘My Secret Is My Silence’ (2006), ‘Before The Ruin’ (2008, with Kris Drever and John McCusker), ‘The Impossible Song & Other Songs’ (2011), ‘Listen To Keep’ (2013), and ‘The Deluder’ (2017). Roddy’s first poetry collection ‘Instrumentals’ was released in 2016.

For the past two decades Roddy has also been the frontman of much loved Scottish alternative rock band Idlewild, releasing eight studio albums, and touring worldwide as a headline act, but also in support to R.E.M., Pearl Jam and U2 amongst others.

Thursday’s Band and Black Scarr

Two contrasting bands who like and admire each others’ work, and have played on the same bill several times.

Based in the Cambridge region, Thursday’s Band offers a unique combination of fiddle, viola and guitars that’s been described by different listeners as spine-tingling, spellbinding, utterly awesome, and ‘the most beautiful music I’ve heard in years’.

Coming from an eclectic background that includes folk, country, rock, cajun and classical music, the band is made up of Lucinda Fudge (viola, vocals and songs) Mark Gamon (guitar, vocals and songs); Matt Kelly (fiddle, viola, mandolin, vocals and songs); and Nick Blishen (guitar). Much of their repertoire is original – focused always on intelligent songwriting – with live sets enhanced by the addition of sympathetic covers and exuberant tunes.

Five years in, the entire band are agreed: this is the best thing we’ve ever done. They have performed at many folk clubs and several times at The Portland. Thursday’s Band have released two full albums, Chittagong Tattoo (2019) and All We have in Common (2016)

Look at video clips on youtube or at the band’s website:  www.thursdaysband.co.uk.

About Chittagong Tattoo:

 ‘This is very good… Granny Mean is stunning. Quietly finger-picked, violin in the background, a rising chorus, and lyrics which capture the many emotions of someone with dementia… It works. It shouldn’t but it really does. Let the Fire Die Back…. is driven by violin and the interplay between male and female vocal. You pick up the story in the gaps between the images – and you want to join in that refrain. Difficult Man is a delightfully human song. The Chittagong Tattoo is a powerful title track. And Leavings has… lovely interplay between the instruments as they hand the lead briefly from one to the other and a final verse that brings light to darkness… It feels like you might want to see if you can get them to your folk club…’  (folking.com)

Black Scarr are Johnny Black and Emma Scarr, an East London duo formed by two singer songwriters with different styles and influences, but whose co-writing has collided to produce a collection of songs that move audiences to laughter and tears.

Honest and gritty, this urban folk/country duo produce songs full of stories and themes that are modern but classic-sounding and timeless, personal and everyday, still universal. BlackScarr have become known for live performances bursting with energy and chemistry. Prepare to tap your toes to upbeat melodic country tunes and be touched by hard-hitting, yet poetic lyrics that will stay with you. Guitar, fiddle, harmonica and classic harmonies document the trials, contradictions, fears and delights of middle-aged life and love.

Black Scarr have performed at many folk clubs including Royston, Watford, Redbourne, Loughton, Hitchin, and Warwick, and many other venues in and around London, as well as a number of festivals.

Black Scarr won ‘Best audience reaction’ award at the ‘Love Folk Live’ competition run by Folkstock and have won Watford Folk Club song writing competition.

Black Scarr have recorded 5 CDs – find these and lots of other goodies on our website:

http://www.18tilidie.com/

Bands TBA

New Yorker Darwin Deez is influenced by other New York artists such as The Strokes and The Mouldy Peaches. Darwin Deez began his career by performing at open-mic nights in New York, in the same cafes where Regina Spektor and Adam Green would often play. Deez has followed his own quixotic path and has quickly become a bona fide pop star on his own terms. He continues on his one man mission to improve the world through his particular streak of curiously addictive pop songs and bursts of gloriously unfettered synchronized dancing.