Dani Larkin is a songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Belfast. Her debut album, Notes For A Maiden Warrior (2021), received widespread critical acclaim and catapulted Larkin to the international stage with performances at SXSW and WOMEX as well as tours with Snow Patrol, Lisa O'Neill, Glen Hansard, and Rufus Wainright. Larkin has since collaborated with the Ulster Orchestra and RT Concert Orchestra and released Walking With Natives (2023) which saw her tour Australia, Korea, Finland, Canada, Ireland, the UK and a run of sold out shows at the Irish Arts Centre NYC. With television appearances on BBC 1, Virgin Media Ireland's Fanning At Whelans, Canada's CTV, alongside radio performances on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and RT Radio 1, Larkin has accompanied her songwriting prowess with insights into story and song taking the listener on a pathway to the beyond. With a profound performance at the RT Folk Awards coupled with her tours in Europe, Australia, Asia and North America, Larkin has been heralded as a must-see live performer on the national and international stage. Described as a beguiling and powerful, songwriter and virtuoso guitarist (Songlines Magazine) Larkins live performances enrapture audiences within a seamlessly woven narrative within carefully considered sonic landscape.

Enigmatic Swedish post-psych quintet DEN DER HALE make their Newcastle debut! Presented by Wandering Oak. This is an 18+ event

It's been a quick rise for Swedish indie pop quartet Hater. The Malmö-based group signed to Fire Records and have since released double LP Siesta (2018), 7-inch Four Tries Down/It's A Mess (2019) and EP Red Blinders (2017). Effortless and assured, Hater drift eloquently into well-structured and stunning melodies. Sprawling guitars chime whilst slow burning grooves and classic rock rhythms amplify Caroline Landahl's tender-hearted vocals over intelligible pop. Touring extensively around Europe over the last few years, theyve performed at arenas and concert halls with Ben Howard. Festival performances have included End Of The Road, Eurosonic, Ment, Roskilde and Sea Change. In 2018 they performed at SxSW, which saw them capture NPR's attention on their Austin 100 list: Their songs epitomise jangling grace as singer Caroline Landahl coos with maximum approachability. Following a hugely successful run of SxSW showcases, they returned again in 2019 for their first tour of America. Hailed as Stereogum's Best New Bands Of 2017, their latest album saw support from Bandcamp who loved their winning indie pop, along with BBC 6 Music, Radio 1 and huge backing across US college radio. Currently working on their new album due to be released in 2022, you can listen to their latest single Bad Luck now. Hater are Caroline Landahl, Måns Leonartsson, Frederick Rundquist and Rasmus Andersson.

Chris Brain emerged out of Leeds’ vibrant folk scene in 2022 with his debut, critically acclaimed and widely distributed album, Bound to Rise, reaching Number 22 in the UK Folk Charts. His much-anticipated second album, Steady Away, moves inward and takes on a more self-reflective quality, whilst retaining glimmers of soaring figures and pastoral imagery. Brain’s distinctive warm vocal and finger-picked guitar style are sustained alongside expansive strings and delicate piano arrangements, taking shape through evolving and introspective impressions on tenderness, loss, pain and awe in nature. Glancing off The Nave’s eaved ceilings with natural reverb, Steady Away’s 11 tracks, recorded by Tom Orrell, capture the intimacy of Chris’ songwriting. Steady Away further embeds Chris Brain within the contemporary folk scene, whilst gesturing towards the folk tradition. His commitment to folk is only deepened by the two folk clubs and folk festival in Leeds that Chris founded and runs, attracting a wide range of audiences and musicians alike.

When Dan Walsh first picked up the banjo, he did so with the passion and enthusiasm of a youngster who simply thought it sounded cool. His career since has been characterised by this infectious excitement: he explores the full breadth of what folk music can do and be - and encourages his audiences to have fun while doing it. Whether as a solo artist, key member of the acclaimed Urban Folk Quartet, or in-demand session musician for the likes of Darius Rucker and Ward Thomas, Dan wows audiences with a performance style equal parts blisteringly kinetic and accessibly conversational. This ever-burgeoning reputation has seen him tour the world, from Canada and the USA to Australia, New Zealand and across Europe, everywhere winning new fans for this rare mix of virtuosic musicianship, moving and amusing songwriting, and winning charm. With his new album, At The Station, Dan has returned to one of his first loves, American country music - and made his most joyous, surprising and above all entertaining music yet.

Ben Moss' music has its roots firmly embedded in the English folk idiom, drawing inspiration from the rich tradition of storytelling and social commentary found therein. A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Ben's live shows see him flitting between guitar and banjo, violin and melodeon, searching for the perfect underpinning to his delicately crafted lyrics, touching on themes of masculinity, our disconnection with nature, and the challenge of maintaining political optimism. April 2026 will see the release of Ben's new EP, 'Here We Will Dance', a collection fo songs forming a call to action and optimism in an age of apathy and despair. The joint crises of climate and masculinity continue to be a deep wellspring of inspiration for his songwriting, and this record promises more of his characteristic blend of profoundly personal yet relatable reflections on modern life. This is true folk music, speaking to the present moment, with the voice of the people.

Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter is the result of an enduring musical alchemy between singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes and guitarist Phil Wandscher, which began in Seattle, Washington in 2001. Blending folk, blues, orchestral pop and various psychedelic stylings, their sound culminates in what the New York Times has described as 'spellbound music, rapt in fatalism and sorrow. Known for her dusky, otherworldly vocals and lyrics that touch on the metaphysical, she was once described by MAGNET as being less like a performer and more like a sage and whether the sonic setting is one of doomy distortion or fragile finger picking, Sykes remains a truly unique vocalist whose dusky voice is capable of imparting a transcendent, almost spiritual quality to almost any tune it touches. The band has released five critically acclaimed albums; Reckless Burning (2002), Oh, My Girl (2005) and Like, Love, Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul (2007), while their fourth album Marble Son (2011) was released through Thirty Tigers in Nashville, on their own US imprint (Station Grey). Most Recently they have released, Forever, Ive Been Being Born, UNCUT magazine has featured it as Americana Record Of The Month calling it rapturous psyche-folk melancholia. Prior to his work with Jesse Sykes, Phil Wandscher help co-found the influential alt- country band Whiskeytown with Ryan Adams, in which he appears on the groups first three records, co-writing some of the bands most beloved songs, most notably songs on Stranger's Almanac, which many say was also arguably the band's most beloved album. Jesse Sykes also plays in a band with guitarist and Grammy winning songwriter Dave Alvin (a project called the The Third Mind, on Yep Roc Records,) alongside members of Camper Van Beethoven, Counting Crows and Richard Thompson's band.

Slime City - Existentialist nerd rock from Glasgow! with: Zilch Patrol Baker Island

Jon Doran & The Northern Assembly are a ground breaking new collaboration who seek to capture the excitement that lies within traditional song. The trio aims to breathe new life into old stories from across the British Isles, injecting the energy they feel these narratives deserve. With striking vocals from Jon Doran (BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Finalist 2019), combined with the virtuosic playing of Jordan Aikin (trailblazer - Calum MacCrimmon, Breabach), and Heather Ferrier (accordion virtuoso Tom Robinson), the trio perform songs that create a cohesive musical framework with intricately layered arrangements, each song from the traditional folk canon unfolding a vivid drama (Folk London). Their eponymous debut EP, released in 2024, gained an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and secured airplay on BBC Radio 2, BBC Introducing North East, and BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Filled to the brim with energy, excitement and a lust for life (TradFolk), the trio move away from a conventional folk song performance style and lean heavily upon their varied musical upbringings and experiences to conjure emotions and communicate a story far deeper than the words of the song. They blur the lines between two contrasting sides of the folk genre - the bright, vibrant energy of contemporary instrumental folk music, and the intensity of traditional storytelling songs. KLOF describe their songs as overflowing with ideas for the production of imaginative, entertaining music.

BOSSMAGS playing live in Newcastle for the very first time. Celebrating 10 years of stirring up dancefloors with their unique brand of curio-punk cabaretcore pirate-ska weirdness. Expect the unexpected. Supported by local shouty animal obsessives AKKAT ATTAK. Early start and a slightly early finish so yous can grab your Sunday bus home. Sliding scale of tickets prices. Pay-what-you-can but know that what you give helps the bands out so much and is super appreciated.

Strap in - your ideas are the spark for a night of fast, fearless improv from Newcastle’s legendary team of mischief-makers. No script. No safety net. Just your suggestions and their inimitable style. The Suggestibles invite audience suggestions - things like locations, jobs and relationships - then shape them into side-splitting scenes, songs and spontaneous theatrical mayhem that exist for one night only… but you’ll still be laughing in the morning.

Conscious Pilot was founded by Joe Laycock and Jack Sharp as a successor to theatrical punk group Cheap Teeth, the pair birthed the project from their joint love of immersive, beat-driven soundscapes and an exploration of subtle shifts.

An evening of neo-folk and story telling through song with witch-pop pioneer Shannon Pearl and her band mates John Timney (acoustic guitar) Jen Clewes (violin) and Adam Cornell (Bass). Shannon is known globally on the internet for her 'Kulning' songs and pagan inspiration. Her performances are intimate and enchanting, offering a chance to reconnect with themes of ancient belonging and folklore of the British Isles. Having been trained as a Sacred Sound Carrier on the Isle of Avalon, Shannon infuses a sense of ceremony with every gig and brings the old gods back to life through music. Celebrating the release of her latest single this show promises a visual spectacle and a performance that will leave you bewitched. Support TBA.

Lily Seabird’s life has been in perpetual motion, spending nearly half of that time on the road performing her own music and as a touring bassist. While she thrives in transit, back home she is anchored by ‘Trash Mountain’, a pink house surrounded by other artists situated on a decommissioned landfill site at the back of Burlington’s Old North End.

Were back with three more local bands at The Cumby. What more could you want?