Award-winning British songwriters, composers and multi-instrumentalists Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington are The Blackheart Orchestra. One of the must-see bands pioneering folktronica duo blend musical styles seamlessly sidestepping boundaries to create music huge enough to fill a cathedral. Always producing something beyond all easily marketed genres, their multi-instrumental sonic landscapes have always been too unpredictable and adventurous for the mainstream. Fusing acoustic fragility and pulsing electronica, The Blackheart Orchestra bring together stringed instrument dexterity with 80's synthesisers and clear classical influences. Often mistaken for an eight-piece band on first listen, they are found on stage continuously changing from electric and acoustic guitars, bowed guitar, piano, organ, bass and electronic percussion to vintage synthesisers, omnichord and melodica in a complex choreographed weave of musical moods and textures. One moment their sound is minimal and molecular, the next a mountain-like wall of sound with vast symphonic climaxes. Their four critically acclaimed albums and mesmerising live shows have won them obsessive worldwide fans, plaudits from musical giants and placements on TV commercials and films. Chrissy Mostyn's haunting vocals, the Mike Oldfield-like multi-instrumental playing of Rick Pilkington plus their fearless combination of conventional and unconventional all reflect their self-created universe where art meets sound and words paint pictures that take you with them on their deep musical journey into the human psyche.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are pillars of the modern acoustic music world with rich and remarkable careers that have span for over twenty-five years. Welch & Rawlings, whom the New York Times has hailed as “American folk masters,” are widely recognised as leading exponents of their genre, with every new release a notable event.

It's 1919 and Bedford, a penniless playwright, moves to a country cottage in Kent convinced that he is capable of writing of a very good play. However, his new neighbour Professor Cavor is a scientific genius on the verge of discovering a substance that will change (or possibly destroy) the world. Thrown together by chance, the unlikely duo form a bond, forged from Bedfords avarice and Professor Cavors ambition, and set off in a metal sphere to boldly go where no men have gone before. Will our intrepid explorers find life? Probably, but not as we know it Written and performed by Mark Jardine, this new stage adaptation of The First Men in the Moon is a riotously comic and thrillingly dramatic ride through a Sci-Fi classic from the pen of HG Wells.

Last Summer, Bristol-based indie folk-rock group Goldfinches collaborated with local musicians Tony Plato and Paul Bateman to record their debut album Shanti Time at Trowbridge House near Crediton. Goldfinches are fronted by ex-Blue Aeroplanes guitarist Shaun McCrindle and feature a skilful ensemble of musicians on guitars, bouzouki, double bass, and violin. The songs on the album embrace diverse influences, from soulful Americana through to vaudeville, Afrobeat, and New Wave music. The Crediton album launch should be an eclectic and exciting evening!

A curse causes Nathan to skip a year and a day into the future whenever he falls asleep. Leaving behind a botched heist, the love of his life and a jaded criminal gang, Nathan must learn how to help the ones he cares about in this new existence. A Year and a Day is a poignant and darkly funny exploration of the time traveller. Performed in many voices by award winning actor Christopher Sainton-Clark, this solo show is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout this twisting, turning journey. A charmingly virtuosic performance - The Scotsman

Jazz on the Green is delighted to welcome back local jazz vocal sensation Annika Skoogh. Annika appeared at the club several times in what was Jazz on the greens first year 2023 , it time to invite her back again and this time with her Latin band Orphinho, playing mostly Brazilian standards , Annika will be joined by club regular Martin Jenkins -Organ , guitarist -Steve Dow and percussionist Colin Seddon. On a cold March night this band wont fail to take us to sunny Rio with their Brazilian beat and summer heat

Rob Barratt is a Dudley-born and Cornwall-based comic poet, humourist and singer. His brain-tickling, word-mangling performance combines clever word play, verse and song with satire, parody and audience participation. Rob deals with such important topics as squid, data-driven education, Neanderthal politics, the weather in Scotland, distressed furniture, pissoirs and his relationship with potatoes but beneath the humour lurk serious issues. In recent years Rob has appeared at folk, literature and arts festivals all over the British Isles and Australia. This is not only clever but I think it's very funny (Mike Harding) His head is well and truly located in Planet Barratt, clearly a place of wonderfully bizarre inspiration (Coventry Telegraph) Rob revels in wily wordplay & rogue rhyming but his conceits & surrealist forays into the imagination take the ruddy biscuit. Hilarious! Adrian Mealing (UK Touring and Spooky Men's Chorale) Comic Poet it says on the card. That's not the half of it. The man is a velvet tongued assassin, using charm and humour as a subtle lever to highlight life's absurdities. It's all very light and sing-along jocular but this man is dangerously subversive and his show should be witnessed at all costs at your earliest opportunity. Bloody Funny." (Barrie Dimond of Festivals for All at Beardy Folk Festival, Shropshire, June 2022) What a night we had on Friday with the amazing wordsmith Rob Barratt. Funny, witty, poignant, thought-provoking poems and songs, we were laughing until our ribs hurt one moment and then thinking about the curved balls that life often throws at us the next. A great performer, Rob immediately engages with his audience and takes them on the journey into his world and it is a wonderful experience (Watford Folk Club) https://www.youtube.com/@robbarratt1 https://robbarratt.wixsite.com/robbarratt

Arran R Hawkins, Director of Black Is The Color Of My Voice and creator of Lost In The Woods brings his new theatre show to Bigbury Memorial Hall for an exclusive preview performance ahead of its Edinburgh Festival Fringe run this summer.'We live, and, if we are lucky, we love. And one day, its taken from us, with no explanation. And we have to get on with it. We have to live. What else is there?'A new series of monologues based around the universal themes of love and loss, this work takes an honest look at what so many of us find difficult to deal with. The loss of love. Told with humour, openness and honesty, three generations tell their stories.A young woman comes to terms with the loss of her baby, the memories of her bullying days fresh in her mind. Is this what she deserves? Is this her comeuppance?A middle-aged man who lost his life-partner to the Blood Scandal finally feels he is getting some kind of closure, the stigma of losing the love of his life to the AIDS epidemic a burden he has carried for 28 years.An elderly woman returns from her husband's funeral service to a quiet and empty house, and a very different existence. 47 years with the same person. So what now?Through the lens of these human experiences, the audience is gently guided into reflections of their own journeys of love and loss. A moving and thought-provoking show that helps us appreciate the preciousness of our own experiences, and reminds us that, although we may face loss, the imprint of the love we have experienced remains in our hearts always.