Rebecca Parfitt returns to the club to read more of her excellent poetry. 

Rebecca has worked in publishing for nine years. She began her career in London, working predominantly in magazines. She moved to Cardiff to study an MA in the Teaching and Practice of Creative Writing in 2009 and now works for Seren Books.

Rebecca is also a writer who has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines. She has been shortlisted for the Cinnamon Press debut poetry collection award, the Bridport International Poetry Prize and the John Tripp Award for Spoken Word. She loves the strange, the uneasy and the macabre.

Her poetry has been described as "shimmering with clarity, making the everyday world of relationships brim with unsettling surprise". 

In her free time she can be found at the circus, usually hanging upside down…

Taking a leap of faith just a few years ago, Aberdare born John Adams resigned as a mathematics teacher and bought a busking "amp" the same day to pursue his love of music. 

His performances on the street, and his amazing journey on The X-Factor in 2011, soon won him many fans and as his confidence grew he remembers it putting "a spring in my step that money couldn’t buy". 

His breathtakingly pure vocals and easy stage presence have seen him perform before such household names as Take That, Olly Murs and Katherine Jenkins. 

He is currently working on his second album whilst his debut album, "The Pavement is my Stage", reached No. 7 in the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts, receiving a five star rating. 

He will be joined on stage by pianist and percussionist Andy Morgan.

Dave Morris is a singer songwriter from Cardiff. His music spans many genres from dirty blues and country to folk and rock.

He taught himself to play guitar as a teenager using just three chords and developed his vocal talents at open mic nights where he tested out some of his own tunes. He became better known as one of the front men of the well-loved Whistling Biscuits.

Now living in Penarth, Dave divides his time between solo sets and working with session musicians in his band Dave Morris and the Knock with whom he recently came second in Cardiff's Big Gig competition. They have recently released an EP, Done and Dusted, and their first video Little Lucifer through Penarth's Fieldgate Studios.

Dave is also a member of the multi singer-songwriter project, Steelforks Band, who regularly play Welsh festivals.

Jemma Krysa is an acoustic singer songwriter from Tairgwaith near the south western edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. 

She discovered her musical talents at an early age, writing her first song at the age of thirteen. Since then, her velvety vocals coupled with emotive lyrics and beautiful rhythmic melodies have captivated her many fans. 

Song writing success has quickly followed with her title track, Free Ride, written for a German television cartoon programme, holding the Number 1 spot in the German music charts for three weeks. 

She recorded her first album of original material at the age of 17 and the following year moved to Los Angeles where success saw her support Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries. Now back in Wales she continues to build a loyal following, regularly receiving radio airplay, and is planning to release a new album by the end of the year.

Visiting us from Nova Scotia, Erika Kulnys is a prolific and inspiring songwriter working across genres, who writes heart-opening songs that will move you to tears and make you question the way you see yourself and the world. Her powerful voice has a striking range of timbres and emotions, and her humour and honesty onstage make her music accessible to audiences young and old, and across cultures. 

Erika’s album, Angel on the Road, a record of songs of love, healing and peace, won Music Nova Scotia’s 2015 Inspirational Recording of the Year award, was in the top ten on local charts, was a finalist in CBC’s Searchlight Competition for Canada’s best new artist and received international airplay. Erika was a finalist for Best Female Artist in the 2014 International Acoustic Music Awards for her song, Had to Come Home. Her latest album, Rise Up, is about to be released; a social justice-themed album, recorded at Signature Sounds Studio by Mark Thayer (artists such as Josh Ritter, Richard Schindell). Rise Up features musicians Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention, Paul McCartney), Richard Gates (Patty Larkin), and Jim Henry (Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Paula Cole). Rise Up tells stories of love, social justice and freedom.

David Foster-Morgan lives and works in Cardiff. He started writing poetry in late youth - or early middle age - and continued despite the onset of late-late youth – or real middle age. 

He has survived such setbacks as having his Square Fact rejected to have his poems published in a range of magazines, including: Poetry Wales, Envoi, Smiths Knoll, and The Interpreter’s House – not to mention the first edition of the eponymous Square. He was recently shortlisted in the Times Literary Supplement Poetry Competition and his first collection, Masculine Happiness, was published by Seren Books last October.

His work aims to combine the everyday with the metaphysical – and normally misfires combining yesterday with a glass of Metaxa; or teaching PE to kids from Cardiff Bay. He was a regular at the Square Writers’ in Adamsdown for two years; and is inclined to bemoan the absence of such groups, but equally inclined to forget to go when someone starts one. He is an extremely mild tempered and tolerant man; it is as if nothing could upset him. He is a kind-hearted, intellectual type, yet he also has a dry sense of humour, all of which, to some extent, is reflected in his poetry. 

Re-united at the club in January last year for the first time in 20 years, Tony Thompson and John Lewis, two maestros of foot stomping blues/rockabilly riffs and licks, return by popular demand with another shuddering set to lift the spirits and the roof.

John recently celebrated 30 years in the business and to mark this milestone released his 15th studio album, His Other Side, an album which focuses more on his acoustic playing than his previous releases. This year has seen John tour and play in eight different countries outside the UK, often headlining festivals such as the Greeze Festival in Australia. Described as “one of Wales’ best kept secrets”, he continues to work extensively in this country and will be releasing a solo album early next year whilst also planning an eighteen day Land’s End to John O’Groats solo tour.

Together with the mind blowing virtuosity of blues harpist Tony Thompson, the duo create a sound sure to thrill.

Returning by popular demand are Omega Two. Featuring Jane Williams (vocals) and Pete Mathison (guitar), they play an eclectic mix of Americana, jazz and blues. 

With a voice and style often compared to Eva Cassidy, Jane has performed at the Brecon Jazz Festival, made regular radio and television appearances, and last August did a live recording session with Van Morrison.

Originally from Cumbria, Pete Mathison, a former London session musician, is a renowned guitarist whose career has seen him play with Red Beans and Rice, Freddie and the Dreamers and with Ray Davies, the lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks. With the latter, he has toured the world and performed on the Glastonbury main stage.

Katherine Stansfield is a novelist and poet originally from Cornwall but now based in Cardiff.

Her debut novel, The Visitor, was published by Parthian in 2013. Described by the Daily Mail as “An evocative record of a lost age… unmistakably heartfelt”, the novel went on to win the 2014 Holyer an Gof Prize for Fiction.

Her first book of poetry, Playing House, was published by Seren in 2014, and Literature Wales awarded her a Writer’s Bursary to complete her second collection. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from Aberystwyth University, where she taught as a Lecturer for several years. 

Falling Creatures, a crime novel, will be published by Allison & Busby in 2017, with a sequel to follow in 2018.

Aberdare’s Ragsy, singer/songwriter, presenter and rock’n roll chef, will be bringing his unique show to the club for the first time. 

A lifelong poet and musician, he became a household name a couple of years ago when he impressed the judges and audience with his performance on BBC’s The Voice, choosing fellow Welshman and legend Sir Tom Jones to become his mentor. 

A great raconteur and entertainer, his show is one definitely not to be missed.

Departing from the usual "acoustic cabaret" format, there will be no support acts for this event, no poet, no raffle, just an evening with one of the best performers on the acoustic music scene, and one of Wales’ best loved musicians.

Born in Penarth, Martyn’s recording career spans over 30 years, 32 albums, over a half a million record sales and thousands of live performances throughout the world. The versatility of his music touches genres of folk, rock, soul, folk funk and Americana, yet somehow all these labels cannot define the spirit of his music. Compared to Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Matthews, he has created his own style and reputation as a mesmerising live performer and stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives. 

A unique talent driven by passion, social awareness and love for his trade, his music manages to empower and speak for the many. He’s a jaw dropping guitar player who has developed a unique percussive style, teamed up with a powerful show stopping voice, and has been called “The Welsh Springsteen”.

Martyn follows a punishing touring schedule. Playing over 100 tour dates this year alone in the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA, after playing in St David’s Hall in Cardiff last week this show will be a rare homecoming to Penarth, and an even rarer chance to experience a musician of his calibre in such intimate surroundings.

Martyn was awarded Best Male Artist at the 2004 BBC Welsh Music Awards and in 2012 his song “There’s Always Maybe” won the best folk song category in the World Independent Music Awards. In addition to his 5 top 50 UK hits, the importance of his work has been recognised by programmes such as BBC 2’s prime time series on Singer/Songwriters. Social justice has an essential presence throughout his music, which has been recognised with various humanitarian awards and plaudits.

He has previously toured with the likes of Art Garfunkel, Jools Holland, Ani DiFranco, Suzanne Vega, Mike and The Mechanics, Joan Armatrading, Celine Dion and Shirley Bassey. He is hailed as a raconteur weaving tales on topical concerns, as well as stories on the fragility of love, with a magical ability to reach out to his listeners through his passion and humour. Stunning reviews single him out as an unmissable solo performer whose music stays with you long after the show has ended.

Please note, tickets for this event are £12.

Wayne Brennan first played at the club in April 2016, and was immediately pencilled in for a return visit!

He is a singer/songwriter and recording artist from Offaly, Ireland. He released his debut album, In my Hands, in 2009 and has toured extensively supporting such acts as the Gypsy Kings and the Alabama 3. He is a seasoned performer on national radio and TV in Ireland and had a top twenty hit in his home country with his song And I Love, which currently has over 600,000 hits on YouTube. 

In the past two years Wayne has won three national song contests in Ireland with songs from his new album Live, Love, Sing and Dance and his live performances, characterised by his silky vocals and impressive guitar skills, have made him much sought after on the live music circuit.

Those of you who saw him last April will not have forgotten him, and those of you who missed him have a treat in store!

Stephen Payne works at the University of Bath. He therefore shares his time between Bath and Penarth, and writes poems between Cardiff Central and Filton Abbey Wood. 

His first full collection of poems, Pattern Beyond Chance was published by HappenStance in 2015, and was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. 

This will be his third reading at the club, a measure of his great popularity.

Those of you who remember Penarth Folk/Blues Club back in the late 80's/ early 90's will no doubt remember Martin Blake from his many visits with either Blake's III, Joe Le Taxi, or American Express. A fantastic guitar and banjo player, Martin has been playing and singing since the big Folk-Blues scare of the mid 60s, and is currently to be found playing with the 6-piece Whiskey River, Blakes III, The Blake Plowman Hot Band and The Grass Snakes.

In the Whiskey River Boys (a stripped-down version of Whiskey River), he is partnered by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Aidan Sheehan, also of Whiskey River, and often seen about Cardiff toting his harmonica and Cajun squeeze-box.

Expect a wide range of Americana – Retro Rock 'n' Roll, Southern-style Swamp Zydeco Blues, Rocking Cajun Country with whiskey-tinged smoky vocals - a real musical taste of the American Deep South!

“Virtuosic, fascinating, dramatic, original, inspired, gloriously adventurous, dazzling, brilliant, stunning, impassioned, electrifying, bewitching, moving, achingly beautiful, influential, revered, unique...” - The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Irish Times, The Scotsman, fRoots

“An eclecticism and spirit of adventure that is quite thrilling” - The Times 
“Dazzling virtuosity” - The Daily Telegraph 
“Chris is amazing... one of our greatest musicians” - BBC Radio 2
“In a class of their own” - The Guardian 
”Brilliant, innovative harping and guitar-playing of astonishing virtuosity and versatility” - Songlines

There will also be spoken-word support from the frighteningly talented Dick Johns, last seen in Cardiff performing his sell-out one-man show Dick Johns What Midlife Crisis? at Chapter Arts Centre. He has appeared with Ricky Gervais in The Office and Ardal O’ Hanlon in My Hero, and has performed in over 30 plays for Radios 3 and 4. A co-founder of the Custard Factory Theatre Company and an ex-MC on the London Comedy circuit, his appearance will be yet another facet to the gem that is Penarth Acoustic Club!

Please note, tickets are £10, and we are very grateful to receive support from the Welsh Arts Council for this event, via their Night Out scheme. Please visit our Tickets Page for full details on how to obtain tickets.

Returning to the club this month after a brilliant debut in November 2015, are Bella Collins and Gareth Evans.

This duo features the richly mature and easy flowing vocals of Bella supported by the slick improvised guitar work of Gareth. With influences from the great jazz era artists such as Joe Pass, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, the duo have also taken inspiration from more contemporary artists such as Amy Winehouse and Prince.

They are a much talked about and sought after acoustic duo, not just locally in Cardiff, but racking up gigs all across south and west Wales. Some of their stand out gigs to date include playing to packed out audiences at events such as the Brecon Jazz Festival and the Tenby Blues Festival. Following Gareth's endorsement with 'Newtone strings' in the summer of last year, they are now both playing as endorsees. Their live sets incorporate a mix of popular contemporary songs, timeless classics and original works in a variety of genres including jazz, blues, funk, rock n roll, reggae and ska.

Their debut EP Golden Days was released in August 2016.

This will be Emily's third appearance at the club, and coincides with the release of her debut collection of poetry, This Is Not a Rescue, from Seren Books in April 2017.

Emily was born in Carmarthen in 1986, and grew up in a small town on the Carmarthenshire coast. She read English Language and Literature at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and has an MA in Film and Literature from the University of York. In 2010 she returned to Wales to begin a PhD in English Literature at Cardiff University, where she specialised in poetic representations of pregnancy in nineteenth-century and contemporary women’s writing, graduating in 2016.

She has published poetry widely, her work appearing in The Rialto, Prole, The Interpreter’s House, Ambit Poetry Wales, Furies, Cheval, Nu2: Memorable Firsts, and in Brittle Star. The title poem from her debut collection, This Is Not a Rescue, was Highly Commended for best individual poem in the 2016 Forward Prizes, and is published in The Forward Book of Poetry 2017.

Ned Edwards and Hywel Maggs first played at the club nearly two years ago and received a fantastic response. They are highly accomplished and experienced performers who bring acoustic music to a magical new level

Well known around Penarth, Ned Edwards has a musical pedigree that is simply outstanding. Having played with Red Beans and Rice and Red Hot Pokers, Ned’s career then saw him work as Musical Director with Van Morrison, with whom he recorded numerous CD’s. He has performed all over Europe and the USA and played the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, the Albert Hall and Glastonbury to name but a few. His career has also seen him tour with Bo Diddley and Jerry Lee Lewis and he has supported the likes of Dion, Georgie Fame and Tom Jones.

Joining him will be Hywel Maggs, a highly rated session guitarist and composer for television. Playing a mixture of styles from Gypsy Jazz through Western Swing to Blues and Country, they bring a world class touch to the Penarth acoustic music scene, and a great sense of humour to boot!

We're welcoming two of Wales' most exciting acoustic guitarists to the club this month, David Roberts and Toby Hay.

Singer-songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist David Roberts is an old friend of the club, having last performed here to great acclaim a year ago.

His first album St Clears, released in late 2014, was recently included in the Welsh National Archive of Screen and Sound. Sending Out Fires, released on Cambrian Records at the time of his last performance at the club, has also received tremendous reviews.

He is a unique and breathtaking performer. For a taster, take a look at this video.

Toby Hay is another fascinating guitarist, who, according to a reviewer from Cardiff club Gwdihŵ, "...manages to marry craft and melody like few others in contemporary Welsh Folk. His appreciation of the melancholic and melodic voice of his guitar brings out an experimental, gorgeously elongated picking style that touches on American Primitivism and the likes of Bert Jansch or John Renbourne, but with an inviting, graceful air...".

His debut album The Gathering was released in March this year (check out this sample track , and this event will be a unique opportunity to catch two of the finest contemporary acoustic guitarists on the same bill.

Tracey Rhys is a Bridgend-based poet, whose first pamphlet, Teaching a Bird to Sing, is a collection of poetry written in response to her young son’s diagnosis of autism.

Tracey’s writing has featured in Planet: The Welsh Internationalist, in word and image exhibitions and on stage, both as libretto and monologue. Some of the poems from Teaching a Bird to Sing featured in the stage show by Winterlight Theatre, Touch Blue Touch Yellow. Tracey received a bursary from Literature Wales in order to complete this collection.

This will be Tracey's first visit to the club and we're really looking forward to it! Ex editor of Poetry Wales, Robert Minhinnick, said of her collection:

"By turns tender and outraged, these poems are written from the perspectives of both mother and her autistic child. Tracey Rhys is developing into a superb poet and her first collection contains several powerful pieces that celebrate one child’s life and his vivid imagination. Moving, funny, true and imbued with a gorgeous lyricism, Tracey Rhys’s poems are the real thing. Highly recommended.

Three sweet old gals, three dirty harmonies, three stomping strings and a hell of a good old-time good time!

Boudica Boogaloo is a brand new sound brought to you by some of Bristol’s favourite musical gals, Australian songstress extraordinaire Nuala Honan, Claire Northey on the violin and Laura Pocket of the Glowglobes on double bass – all stunning solo musicians in their own right. 

The combination of their unique wealth of musical experience results in an old time Folk/Americana sound with a freshness that is a surprise and a delight. Here's a sample.

This show is not to be missed!

Noted as ‘One to watch in 2016’ by NewSoundWales, Siobhan McCrudden’s voice has been described as “fragile, pure and hugely distinctive”.

Having played in both Britain and the US, Siobhan’s songwriting draws on those experiences, reflecting a vivid fascination with both folk roots and the vast melodic landscapes of Americana.  Her early performances found her on the coffee house circuit of New York where the influence of country and folk embedded itself in her song writing style. From these beginnings she went on to play larger gigs both in America and at home, performing at festivals and folk clubs alike. 

She has had radio play of her songs both locally on Cardiff Radio and on BBC Wales through BBC Introducing's Adam Walton.

Having released several songs to the Sound gallery label in 2007, Siobhan will be returning to work with producer Grice Peters of SoundGallery this summer to work on her EP which she hopes to release early next year.

She is exactly what Penarth Acoustic Club is all about, and we're really looking forward to welcoming her to the club for her first visit.

Gareth Writer-Davies is a poet from Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK.

He was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and the Erbacce Prize in 2014 and Commended in the Prole Laureate Competition, the Welsh Poetry Competition and the Sherborne Open Poetry competition in 2015.

Gareth has been widely published over the last few years, in magazines such as Poetry News, The Journal, Bare Fiction, Ink, Sweat and Tears, A New Ulster, Sarasvati, and The Delinquent.

His collection Bodies was published by Indigo Dreams in 2015 and his next collection Cry Baby will come out this year.

He is the Prole Laureate for 2017.

Top piano-led, close-harmony singer-songwriter acoustic trio Mumbo-Jumbo bring their ‘Acoustic Vaudeville’ Show to our Acoustic Cabaret!

Playing regularly across the country at festivals, blues and folk clubs and village hall shows, eclectic double British Blues Awards nominees Mumbo-Jumbo not only create excellent, interesting songs with three lead voices, but also utilise a whole flock of instruments including piano, accordion, bass, trumpet, ukulele, guitar, washboard, kazoo and percussion.

Mumbo-Jumbo sits somewhere between blues, folk and jazz with tinges of reggae and whatever else takes their fancy on the night. With songs about old soldiers, baldness and the joy of life the guys bring humour and fun to the performance. Tracks from the trio’s 2016 album ‘Sonic Gumbo’ have featured widely on the radio.

Described by Blues in Britain magazine “The musicianship is unsurpassable, and the songwriting is excellent,” and as “Combining excellent musicianship with lively banter and a connection with their audience that is second to none” by Folk Monthly magazine, the broad appeal of the band is considerable.

Mumbo-Jumbo will be playing 11 blues, folk and jazz festivals this summer, so grab your chance to see them here in Penarth!

A Bristol based singer songwriter with London roots, Emme Hastings has been playing to audiences for over ten years across the South.

Her emotive, raw vocals and finger picking style guitar captivates listeners. Best described as folk soul, her sound is natural and personal, resonating with artists like Laura Marling and Lisa Hannigan.  

Gigging regularly around Bristol and Bath, she has recently returned from performing at Glastonbury festival and is currently recording with her band Papa Juju. 

This will be her first visit to Penarth Acoustic Club, and we're very excited about it! In the meantime, click here for a sample to whet your appetite!

Kate North writes both fiction and poetry. 

She is the author of the novel, Eva Shell (Cinnamon Press, 2008) and a poetry collection, Bistro (Cinnamon Press, 2012). Her stories and poetry have been widely published in a range of anthologies and magazines, including The Lonely Crowd, The Lampeter Review, Two Thirds North, and Secondary Character. 

She also edits for various publications while teaching Creative Writing at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

The ability to write songs that are both modern and ancient is a rare thing. The product of an arcane art of weaving in traditional influences so thoroughly that they become the warp and weft of fresh creations.

The Black Feathers, made up of Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler, are two such talents. They first became aware of the magic between them while collaborating on several musical projects, becoming The Black Feathers and life partners in 2012.

Americana, Folk, and Acoustic Indie Rock sensibilities coexist comfortably in their musical world, with Hughes’ guitar work buoying the kind of harmonies often only heard in family bands. 

2016 was an incredible year for The Black Feathers. Their debut album was met with critical acclaim and broke into the Top 10 in the iTunes Country chart and the Official UK Americana Chart. A live album recorded at The Convent in Stroud was released in late 2016. Tours in the UK and the USA, as well as an Irish tour supporting Eddi Reader kept Sian and Ray busy in 2016. They could easily rest on their laurels, but have instead been spending their downtime working on new material to be released shortly.

Their visit to Penarth Acoustic Club is part of a large UK tour - catch them now before they go beyond our reach!

And while you're waiting, click here for some samples

Dave Morris is a singer songwriter from Cardiff. His music spans many genres from dirty blues and country to folk and rock.

He taught himself to play guitar as a teenager using just three chords and developed his vocal talents at open mic nights where he tested out some of his own tunes. He became better known as one of the front men of the well-loved Whistling Biscuits

Now living in Penarth, Dave divides his time between solo sets and working with session musicians in his band Dave Morris and the Knock with whom he recently came second in Cardiff's Big Gig competition. They have recently released an EP, Done and Dusted, and their first video Little Lucifer through Penarth's Fieldgate Studios

Dave is also a member of the multi singer-songwriter project, Steelforks Band, who regularly play Welsh festivals.

Rebecca Parfitt returns to the club to read more of her excellent poetry. 

Rebecca has worked in publishing for nine years. She began her career in London, working predominantly in magazines. She moved to Cardiff to study an MA in the Teaching and Practice of Creative Writing in 2009 and now works for Seren Books.

Rebecca is also a writer who has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines. She has been shortlisted for the Cinnamon Press debut poetry collection award, the Bridport International Poetry Prize and the John Tripp Award for Spoken Word. She loves the strange, the uneasy and the macabre.

Her poetry has been described as "shimmering with clarity, making the everyday world of relationships brim with unsettling surprise". 

In her free time she can be found at the circus, usually hanging upside down…

The Rumblestrutters bring you feel-good blues, jazz and ragtime of the Prohibition era. The band’s vivid evocations of the music of the 1920s and ‘30s has earned them a reputation as one of the most authentic and popular roots bands around, with highlights including stellar performances at Birmingham International Jazz Festival and Gloucester Blues Festival.

Started when Jon Toft (vocals, mandolin, banjo) found an ink jug at the back of an old cupboard, the Swansea-based acoustic three-piece features the virtuoso guitar-playing and voice of Jonathan Nicholas, and Liam Ward on vocals, harmonica and jug. 

Songs of bootleg liquor, all-night parties and bacchanalia abound, tapped from a rich musical source. The Rumblestrutters bring you the authentic sounds of 1920s and '30s America!

Chris O is a singer-songwriter from Australia, who covers the songs of a bygone era and writes her own contemporary roots originals. 

She plays vintage music, the way it used to be, mixed in with blues and folk that echo global grassroots traditions, travelling around carrying her "Band", just like a pack pony: lap-slide , banjo, ukulele, as well as a few plain old guitars, stirring up jellyroll and jinx.

Chris tours Europe annually, and in 2016 was New South Wales Solo Blues Artist of the Year representing Sydney Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge, and the National Women in Blues Showcase in Memphis, Tennessee. Her recent blues albums feature in the Australian and UK Blues and Roots Charts , and AMRAP Charts.

In 2017 “Wailin’ & Raggin’ the Blues” was a Blues Foundation (USA) finalist for Best Self Produced CD.

Susie Wild is author of the short story collection The Art of Contraception (Parthian 2010) listed for the Edge Hill Prize, and the novella Arrivals (Parthian 2011). 

Her writing appears in publications like Poetry Digest, The Lonely Crowd, Wales Arts Review, Ink Sweat & Tears, The Lampeter Review, and Rising. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Swansea University and an MA in Journalism from Goldsmiths.

She has performed her poems at events like the Glastonbury Festival, Hay Festival, the Green Man Festival, and the Dylan Weekend. Her recent multimedia commission, ‘Sex Change Disco,’ in collaboration with artist Beth Greenhalgh, was performed at Made in Roath and Cardiff Contemporary 2016. Born in London, she has moved from Cornwall and Devon to Swansea and Bristol. These days she lives in a house with a garden and a shed in Cardiff.

Sarah-Jane Scouten is, according to Folk Radio UK, "A sterling example of the top grade Americana coming out of Canada."

With flavours of Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffiths and Iris Dement, and a wealth of early country music, the two-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee and recent Western Canadian Music Award nominee's songs are faithful to a long-standing folk music tradition.

Often spilling over into modern themes that are outspoken and edgy, her songwriting tackles issues from poverty and midwifery to tongue-in-cheek heartache songs and unabashed Canadiana. A traditionalist at heart, Sarah Jane Scouten shows her signature flair for the roots of roots music. With respect for these roots, she writes from her own perspective, playing with style to create her own distinct voice. This songwriter is known for hitting hard and close to home, then laughing it off.

Sarah is playing with her 4-piece band for this gig, so please come and support the biggest show we've ever put on!

Owen Shiers is a native of Ceredigion in West Wales and grew up surrounded by the sonorous tones drifting from his father’s harp workshop as well as age old traditions such as the Eisteddfod and Hen Galan. He is an accomplished guitarist and composer and has been working for the Astar music label since 2009, absorbing and integrating the sounds and flavours of various indigenous musics into his own work.

He has toured in the USA, Europe, Africa and the Middle-East and has played at festivals such as WOMAD, Glastonbury and Shambala. His compositions have been used by the BBC and in the US on Emmy winning show 'Portlandia', as well as a host of other forms of broadcast media worldwide, including National Geographic and TV3. He has also worked alongside artists such as Peter Gabriel, Toumani Diabate, Seckou Keita, Sam Lee and Spiro.

In 2015 he began a collaboration with musician and storyteller Gwilym Morus-Baird resulting in the creation of the 'Gadael Tir' show which tells the story of land rights and protest in Wales in song, poetry and story. In 2016 He received a Finzi Trust scholarship to research and collect songs from Ceredigion, West Wales. The material from this culminated in the 'Cynefin' project which has toured festivals across the UK and sees a single release this autumn on the Astar Label.

"Exceptional all round musical talent, skilled guitarist, and great ear for sound production. Also, an extremely interesting, thoughtful and centered person" - Nigel Beaham-Powell, PRS Director and Composer

Amy Wack was born in Florida, grew up in California and has lived in Cardiff since 1988. 

She works for Seren Press/Poetry Wales where she edits their prize-winning poetry list. She has written, published and edited widely, notably once winning lunch with Paul McCartney for her poem celebrating Buddy Holly as part of his Buddy Holly Week competition.

She has most recently published a 12-part piece inspired by feral cats in Spain in Long Poem magazine.

Young Waters' twisted neo-folk is a tapestry of emotionally powerful vocals, stirring harmonies and finely mastered acoustic guitar. Their exhilarating rhythms and intricate melodies, coupled with a repertoire that combines startling original material with unique arrangements of traditional folk songs, makes for a captivating stage presence

In October they showcased at English Folk Expo / Manchester Folk Festival (supporting Kathryn Tickell) and their debut album, recorded at RealWorld studios, is due to be released in Spring 2018.

"Energetic, original … excellent stage presence and varied, enchanting material … extremely deserving winners of the Bath Folk Festival New Shoots Competition 2016." - Bath Folk Festival

Jemma Krysa is an acoustic singer songwriter from Tairgwaith near the south western edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. 

She discovered her musical talents at an early age, writing her first song at the age of thirteen. Since then, her velvety vocals coupled with emotive lyrics and beautiful rhythmic melodies have captivated her many fans. 

Song writing success has quickly followed with her title track, Free Ride, written for a German television cartoon programme, holding the Number 1 spot in the German music charts for three weeks. 

She recorded her first album of original material at the age of 17 and the following year moved to Los Angeles where success saw her support Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries. Now back in Wales she continues to build a loyal following, regularly receiving radio airplay, and is planning to release a new album by the end of the year.

Stephen Payne is a long-time supporter of the club and first read for us back in April 2015.

Since 2005, Stephen’s poetry has been published in magazines and webzines including The Dark Horse, Magma, The North, The Poetry Review and The Rialto. He has reviewed pamphlets for HappenStance Press’s Sphinx webzine and for Sabotage Reviews; he has reviewed full collections for Magma Blogs and The Compass. 

In 2010 he was selected by Joanna Cutts and Michael Laskey for the Smiths Knoll mentorship. The pamphlet, The Probabilities of Balance, was published by Smiths Knoll in November 2010. 

Stephen’s first full collection, Pattern Beyond Chance, was published by HappenStance Press late in 2015.

Re-united at the club in January 2015 for the first time in 20 years, Tony Thompson and John Lewis, two maestros of foot stomping blues/rockabilly riffs and licks, return by popular demand with another shuddering set to lift the spirits and the roof.

John recently celebrated 30 years in the business and to mark this milestone released his 15th studio album, His Other Side, an album which focuses more on his acoustic playing than his previous releases. This year has seen John tour and play in eight different countries outside the UK, often headlining festivals such as the Greeze Festival in Australia. Described as “one of Wales’ best kept secrets”, he continues to work extensively in this country and will be releasing a solo album early next year whilst also planning an eighteen day Land’s End to John O’Groats solo tour.

Together with the mind blowing virtuosity of blues harpist Tony Thompson, the duo create an unforgettable sound - the perfect way to round off 2017!

Boudica Boogaloo were our scheduled guests for May last year, but sadly had to cancel at the last minute due to illness. You may remember their fiddle-player Claire Northey’s impressive solo set standing in for the band, when front woman Nuala came down with a nasty migraine just minutes before they were due to set off from Bristol. 

So prepare to be enthralled by this all girl string trio for the first time in Penarth! To compensate for last year’s absence, the trio will present  two sets of music for your listening pleasure… Expect expertly executed three part harmonies, with whoppingly wonderful lead vocals from Nuala Honan, quality quirky bass playing from Laura Pocket and of course fabulous fiddling from Claire Northey. 

The combination of their unique wealth of musical experience results in an old time Folk/Americana sound with a freshness that is a surprise and a delight. Here's a sample.

It will be an intimate and fun filled evening, definitely not to be missed - 3 sweet old gals, 3 dirty harmonies, 3 stomping strings and a hell of a good old-time good time!

Zaru Jonson is a writer and performer, raised in North Wales and based in Cardiff, who has been developing his yowling blend of cascading poetry and rap since seeing a beetle repeatedly attempt to drown itself in an Italian swimming pool in the Summer of 2007.

Since winning second prize and the audience vote at the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry, 2009, he has performed up and down Britain at festivals, exhibitions and poetry nights, and once as far afield as the PEN International Literature Festival, New York City, as part of Literature Wales' 'DT100' celebrations of the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth. 

As himself and under the alias Zhubat, he has supported the likes of Saul Williams, Buddy Wakefield, Dr Syntax, and High Focus Records, and been published in Rhyming Thunder: The Alternative Book of Young Poets (Burning Eye, 2012) and Wales Bird / Aderyn Rhiannon: Dylan Thomas in the American Century (Martin Daws, 2017). 

"Machine-gun lyrics and verbal pyrotechnics [which] left us stunned, appreciative, and wondering how he could remember it all." - Kathryn Gray, New Welsh Review

"The avant-garde knife-edge of the future of hip-hop poetry...the verbal astronaut...the next level." - Martin Daws, Farrago Slam Champ '94

Making his third appearance at the club in March is the multi-talented Maxwell James.

A graduate of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Max has worked in theatre, TV and film throughout the UK, as well as Europe, the Middle East and Far East. As a singer-songwriter, Max was a founder member of Cheviot Hill, an accomplished six piece soul/folk/country band and winner of Varsity Battle of the Bands.

Today he performs with the 50’s/60’s style four part vocal group 57 Chevy and also performs on board an Atlantic cruise ship with the jazz/swing harmony act,The Fly Boys. Max also undertakes solo appearances whenever he can to showcase his song writing talents and is currently promoting his recently released EP It Flies.

Kate North writes both fiction and poetry. 

She is the author of the novel, Eva Shell (Cinnamon Press, 2008) and a poetry collection, Bistro (Cinnamon Press, 2012). Her stories and poetry have been widely published in a range of anthologies and magazines, including The Lonely Crowd, The Lampeter Review, Two Thirds North, and Secondary Character. 

She also edits for various publications while teaching Creative Writing at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Paul and Jean Godden played the club as a duo back in December 2015, but this year they're back with the full Ponchartrain band! 

Paul provides the lead vocals and rhythm guitar, doubling on steel guitar and dobro. He is joined by Jean on fiddle and accordion (Kelvin Henderson Band, Jo-Anne Kelly, Flaco Jiminez, Rimshots). The band also features Stig Manley on lead guitar (Hookem Boys, Adrian Utley Guitar Orchestra), Joe Allan on double-bass (Strangelove, Saturation Point, Alison Moyet) and Tim Robinson on drums (Daily Planet and beyond..).

"It's a honky-tonk, rockabilly, Cajun, bluesy kind of thing..."

Now living in Vancouver, Canada, contemporary folk singer-songwriter Chris Ronald emigrated from his native England in 2002. 

Influenced by countless British and North American artists of the 60's onward, Ronald’s music has been described as “Canadian folk with British roots” and The Province likened it to “the country and folk that came out of Laurel Canyon and the British Isles in the mid-seventies”. Nominated for “Songwriter of the Year” at the Canadian Folk Music Awards for his Timeline album, in live performance, Chris draws on his abilities as a highly skilled singer, storyteller and musician to deliver a unique and captivating show.

Chris is joined on this tour by his bandmates John Ellis (dobro, banjo, mandolin, guitar) and Mike Sanyshyn (fiddle, percussion).

Mark Blayney FRSA is a writer and performer based in Cardiff. He won the Somerset Maugham Prize for his novella Two Kinds of Silence and his second book, Conversations With Magic Stones, was described by John Bayley as "Remarkable... as good as some of the best of Elizabeth Bowen's, and praise does not go higher than that."

His work spans comedy, fiction and poetry. He is about to tour his new solo show, Be Your Own Life Coach ... with ABBA, and has also toured with the Lecture in Boney M Studies, a comedy extravaganza, at festivals including Wychwood and the Dinefwr Literature Festival.

He performs regularly with the Wordplay Cabaret, a smorgasbord (not as rude as it sounds) of noise, letters, numbers, static caravans and Lionel Richie songs. 

"A perceptive storyteller of real promise..." Beryl Bainbridge

A classically-trained multi-instrumentalist with five albums and two books to her name, Emily Maguire is truly “a talent to be reckoned with” (R2 Magazine), her strong, thought-provoking lyrics, supremely expressive vocals and stunning live performances winning her fans across the globe.

After living in a shack in the Australian bush where she made her first two albums, Emily returned to the UK to tour with American legend Don McLean and make her third album Believer, a ‘masterpiece’ according to Maverick Magazine, with two singles playlisted on Radio 2. Her latest album A Bit Of Blue was released in February 2017.

She will be accompanied by Christian Dunham on double-bass for this gig.

clare e. potter is a writer, performer and educator from Cefn Fforest. She spent ten years in the Deep South where she did an MA in Afro-Caribbean literature. She teaches creative writing at Cardiff University and won the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry.

Her first poetry collection is Spilling Histories. Last year, she received a bursary from Literature Wales and has written a subsequent collection, A Certain Darkness. She has written for the Welsh National Opera in community theatre and singing projects, and has received various commissions to write poetry in collaboration with artists: a poem for the new Keir Hardie Health Park, and street poetry in the pavements of Pontypridd, for example.

She has read at the Hay Festival and at the Smithsonian Folk-Life Festival and has acted in two films (Like/Unlike, and Black Mountain Poets) She is currently writing a film script, working on a jazz/poetry collaboration and about to begin a collection of poetry in Welsh.

Those of you were lucky enough to be in the audience in July 2016 will not have forgotten the wonderful performance by Fly Yeti Fly, the acoustic duo Lorna Somerville and Darren Fisher.

Blending sensitive vocal harmonies with intricate guitar arrangements, mandolin and harmonica, the duo weave songs and stories from their travels together, with a sound that is highly reminiscent of the late-’60s folk scene.

Since their last visit they released their debut album Shine a Light in the Dark in March 2017, which has since received great critical acclaim.

If you missed them last time, don't miss them again!

Woody Mann first visited Penarth back in 1990/91 in the days of Penarth Folk/Blues Club, and has visited sporadically ever since, the last time being in 2011, so many of you will be familiar with his outstanding talent. There's not enough space here to do justice to him, so here are some reviews to give you an idea, and a comment from another of the USA's guitar legends, John Fahey...

"This is one of those names that should be uttered only in hushed tones. Not only was he taught by the peerless guitar picker the Rev Gary Davis, but Mann has played with Son House, Bukka White and John Fahey and has studied jazz under the great Lennie Tristano. In between giving lessons to Paul Simon and accompanying Dori Previn, he has also managed to cut some dazzling music ... Don’t miss a chance to see him; you are unlikely to hear anything- or anyone – better in the fields that Mann has chosen to master.” — The Times (London)

With impeccable tone, gutsy phrasing, beautiful harmonies, and cool dynamics, Mann is in a class by himself. Phenomenal." “Stairwell Serenade” CD Voted top ten "Guitar recordings of Destiny" — Guitar Player Magazine

"You can hear classical, jazz, and blues approaches somehow converging into a single sparkling sound - a sound completely his own. Woody Takes a fresh approach to his blues re-creations and his own compositions defy category. If there was a category simply called "Great Music," Woody's C.D. would belong there.— John Fahey , from the liner notes to the C.D "Stories"

Born in Cardiff, Robert Walton was educated in the city and studied English Literature at Exeter University. His first collection of poems, Workings, won the Welsh Arts Council New Poet Award in 1978 but, for reasons which are still a mystery to him, he stopped writing for almost twenty years.

Robert resumed writing in the late 90s, initially working with artists in other media – music, dance, storytelling, film and installation. With the Medea Madhavi Dance Company he performed Doves at Womad Gran Canaria; and he recorded the CD Nomad ’64 with the cult band Mopti.

In 2008 he wrote the poetry voice-over for the television drama-documentary Fighting to the End (BBC2 Wales). Show of Strength Theatre Company has performed six of his dramatic monologues. He is a member of the poetry workshop and performance group, The Spoke, which regularly presents its work in Bristol Poetry Festival, and is an experienced reader of his work.

Robert is now working on a novel and dissertation in the final year of a part-time PhD at Cardiff University where he also teaches Creative Writing to undergraduates. 

His new poetry collection, Sax Burglar Blues, was published by Seren in October 2017.

Angie Kirby is a singer, songwriter and musician from Cardiff. 

She trained in Barcelona with opera coach Arianne Rees, focusing on classical soprano, along with the vocal styles synonymous with Arabic and Sephardic music. She has a rich, distinctive voice, which alternates between strong, deep and resonant and a delicate soprano with a “truly world-class vibrato”. Her narrative style of songwriting highlights her skills as a storyteller, and whilst some songs take a more autobiographical approach, with stark observations on love, behaviour and desire, others are macabre folk tales full of dark imagery and menacing Dickensian characters.

She is the creator and lead singer / songwriter of Miss Maud’s Folly, a troupe who describe their style as folk gypsy jazz cabaret, and Sunström, a collaboration with producer Sion Trefor that combines their unique fortes of lyric writing and vocal melody with electronic production and arrangement. 

But for this visit to Penarth Acoustic Club, Angie brings her brand new trio, Les Mignonettes, with cellist and acclaimed composer Eloise Gynn and virtuoso violinist Bethan Frieze. In addition to performing original compositions, they arrange delicate renditions of traditional folk ballads, as well as haunting, mesmerising interpretations of medieval Sephardic music. 

This is a unique and beautiful trio - captivating, mesmerising, and good fun!

Returning to the club after a two-year absence, is poet Mike Greenhough

A retired lecturer in the School of Physics & Astronomy at Cardiff University, much of Mike's writing centres on the quirkiness and ambiguity of language itself. He has had many prize-winning comic short stories and poems published in anthologies and elsewhere, and has completed a comic novel with the help of mentoring from Literature Wales. Not yet published, this is a philosophical campus farce, in which a 'sixties student misfit battles pop culture in search of peace, love, and the definition of a sandwich.

He won the first All Wales Comic Verse competition in the Caerleon Festival in 2012, the Percy French Prize for Comic Verse at last year's Strokestown poetry Festival, and has been on the judging panel for the annual sci-art awards – funding for collaborations between established writers, musicians and visual artists, and scientists. 

His interests still centre around the Arts-Sciences boundary.

Ned Edwards and Hywel Maggs first played at the club nearly three years ago and received a fantastic response, as they did for their return visit just over a year ago. They are highly accomplished and experienced performers who bring acoustic music to a magical new level

Ned Edwards has a musical pedigree that is simply outstanding. Having played with Red Beans and Rice and Red Hot Pokers, Ned’s career then saw him work as Musical Director with Van Morrison, with whom he recorded numerous CD’s. He has performed all over Europe and the USA and played the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, the Albert Hall and Glastonbury to name but a few. His career has also seen him tour with Bo Diddley and Jerry Lee Lewis and he has supported the likes of Dion, Georgie Fame and Tom Jones.

Joining him will be Hywel Maggs, a highly rated session guitarist and composer for television. Playing a mixture of styles from Gypsy Jazz through Western Swing to Blues and Country, they bring a world class touch to the Penarth acoustic music scene, and a great sense of humour to boot!

The Rumblestrutters return to the club this month, bringing feel-good blues, jazz and ragtime of the Prohibition era. The band’s vivid evocations of the music of the 1920s and ‘30s has earned them a reputation as one of the most authentic and popular roots bands around, with highlights including stellar performances at Birmingham International Jazz Festival and Gloucester Blues Festival.

Started when Jon Toft (vocals, mandolin, banjo) found an ink jug at the back of an old cupboard, the Swansea-based acoustic three-piece features the virtuoso guitar-playing and voice of Jonathan Nicholas, and Liam Ward on vocals, harmonica and jug.

Songs of bootleg liquor, all-night parties and bacchanalia abound, tapped from a rich musical source. The Rumblestrutters bring you the authentic sounds of 1920s and '30s America!

Gareth Writer-Davies is a poet from Brecon, who returns for his second visit to the club.

He was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2014 and 2017 and the Erbacce Prize in 2014, Commended in the Prole Laureate Competition in 2015, the Welsh Poetry Competition in 2015 and Highly commended in the Welsh Poetry Competition in 2017. He was Prole Laureate in 2017.

His pamphlet Bodies was published by Indigo Dreams in 2015 and his next pamphlet, Cry Baby, in 2017.

His first collection The Lover's Pinch was published by Arenig Press in June 2018.

Departing from the usual "acoustic cabaret" format, there will be no support acts for this event, just an evening with one of the best performers on the acoustic music scene.

Willy Porter continues on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 11 albums, and multiple continents. His journey has been defined by an inquisitive love for humanity and the language that describes what we all hold to be true. Porter’s songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven grit, soul, silence and muscle – at times electrifying, dynamic, and unique in the way that Porter’s voice blends and fuses with his fret work.

A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late ‘80’s while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.

In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $100,000 for this organization to date. He is also an Ambassador for Guitars for Vets, a Milwaukee-based International organization that works to improve the lives of veterans by providing them with guitars and music lessons.

Returning to the club this month for their third visit, are Bella Collins and Gareth Evans.

This duo features the richly mature and easy flowing vocals of Bella supported by the slick improvised guitar work of Gareth. With influences from the great jazz era artists such as Joe Pass, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, the duo have also taken inspiration from more contemporary artists such as Amy Winehouse and Prince.

They are a much talked about and sought after acoustic duo, not just locally in Cardiff, but racking up gigs all across south and west Wales. Some of their stand out gigs to date include playing to packed out audiences at events such as the Brecon Jazz Festival and the Tenby Blues Festival. Following Gareth's endorsement with 'Newtone strings' in the summer of last year, they are now both playing as endorsees. Their live sets incorporate a mix of popular contemporary songs, timeless classics and original works in a variety of genres including jazz, blues, funk, rock n roll, reggae and ska.

Their debut EP Golden Days was released in August 2016.

John Freeman will be providing spoken word support at the club for the first time. 

He recently received the Roland Mathias Prize for Poetry at the Wales Book of the Year Awards for his tenth collection, What Possessed Me (Worple Press). Lauded by critics as ‘a remarkable volume of honest and engaging writing’ (Tears in the Fence) and ‘a collection lit with humour and openness’ (London Grip), the poems in the book provide powerful, witty and moving reflections on his relationships with people, place and time.

John was born in Essex, grew up in South London and studied English at Cambridge. He lived in Yorkshire before moving to Wales where he taught English Literature and Creative Writing at Cardiff University for many years. He now lives in Cowbridge.

Other collections include The Light Is Of Love, I Think: New and Selected Poems (Stride), and Landscape With Portraits (Redbeck). Stride also published a book of his essays, The Less Received: Neglected Modern Poets. 

In 2013 John Freeman won third prize in the National Poetry Competition, and just two weeks ago won first prize at the 2018 Bridport Poetry competition.

Making their debut at the club this month, are the electrifying Goat Roper Rodeo Band

From Rhuddlan in Flintshire, their recipe of riveting performance and aching harmony vocals has become a real phenomenon - as described by a reviewer of one of their gigs last year, they produce "compelling country grounded music played acoustically with more electricity naturally in it than many bands could drain plugged into the mains". 

With just an upright bass, two old guitars and a bucketful of harmony, the Goat Ropers preach ‘Country Blues’ like you never heard…

It’s up, it’s down, it’s soft and loud,
it’s dark and lonesome too,
there’s hurt and shame and some mean old pain
but there’s love in what they do!

There’s a hint of Gram, a sniff of Dylan and a twist of Waylon’s blues … simply put, it’s exactly what it says on the tin.

On stage The Goat Roper Rodeo Band bring to country blues the life-force and vitality that The Pogues in their prime brought to Irish traditional music. You'll seldom see a band as completely absorbed in what they are doing.

The Boogaloo String Band are the re-vamped, re-jigged and re-vitalised trio who grew out of Boudica Boogaloo, who played the club to rapturous response in February of last year.

They are a Bristol based Americana deep south dream. The trio specialise in gorgeous three part harmony, dripping thick like treacle, served with a side of grits.

Led by Bristol legend Nuala Honan, songstress extraordinaire and lover of old-time folk, joined by French violinist Claire Northey and old-time circuit favourite Bill Frampton, who replaces Boudica Boogaloo's  Laura Pocket on bass, their trio goes straight to the heart of Americana roots, promising a sound of the South worthy of a singalong. Make sure to join the fiddle on the dance floor and get your roots into the soil!

Emily Blewitt was born in Carmarthen in 1986, and grew up in a small town on the Carmarthenshire coast. She read English Language and Literature at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and has an MA in Film and Literature from the University of York. In 2010 she returned to Wales to begin a PhD in English Literature at Cardiff University, where she specialised in poetic representations of pregnancy in nineteenth-century and contemporary women’s writing, graduating in 2016.

She has published poetry widely, her work appearing in The Rialto, Prole, The Interpreter’s House, Ambit Poetry Wales, Furies, Cheval, Nu2: Memorable Firsts, and in Brittle Star. The title poem from her debut collection, This Is Not a Rescue, was Highly Commended for best individual poem in the 2016 Forward Prizes, and is published in The Forward Book of Poetry 2017.

Cardiff-based singer songwriter Siobhan McCrudden first played the club as a solo artist some eighteen months ago. With a voice described as ‘fragile, pure and hugely distinctive’, she crafts songs of intensity and sweetness, recounting personal stories whilst reflecting a vivid fascination with dark folk tales and superstitions. 

Raised in London to parents with Scottish and Irish roots, her vocal leanings reflect early memories of folk musicians at family gatherings and a strong desire to connect with these emotive beginnings. 

She will be appearing as a duo this month, where copies of her debut album Icarus Girl will be available.

Thomas Tyrrell was born in Hampshire but has been based in Cardiff for most of the past ten years.

Keen to be seen as a verse storyteller as well as a poet, he is an enthusiastic acolyte of the bardic and metrical traditions, reciting his verse from memory and making frequent use of rhyme, metre and ballad forms.

 A two-time winner of the poetry prize at the Terry Hetherington Award, his work is published in Allegro Poetry, The Lake, Picaroon, Three Drops from a Cauldron and Spectral Realms, among many others. He is also a critic for Wales Arts Review.

An old soul filled with storytelling imagination, Canadian musician Darren Eedens bends truths and creates upbeat rhythmic tracks with hauntingly morbid lyrics. With his many influences ranging from the honky tonkin’ folk and bluegrass pickers of the past, he uses his unique and powerful voice to captivate anyone within earshot. 

With an unmatched live energy, playing hard and fast with his banjo, guitar and mandolin as his weapons of choice, he will be joined for this gig at the club by his band, the Slim Pickin’s, who are David Grubb on fiddle, Rhys Morgan on bass, and Edd Clemas on drums.

Hold on to your hats!

The Shackleton Trio are Georgia Shackleton (fiddle, vocals), Aaren Bennett (guitar) and Nic Zuppardi (mandolin). Natural talents of the folk tradition, their self-penned material blends seamlessly with their imaginative yet authentic re-workings of traditional folk standards, influenced by British, American and Scandinavian folk traditions, with a regional twist from the group's native East Anglia.

The unique, distinctive songwriting style of Georgia Shackleton, combined with the vibrant instrumental brilliance of Aaren Bennett, Nic Zuppardi and Georgia’s pure and original voice have developed and matured through two critically acclaimed albums: The Dog Who Would Not Be Washed and new release Fen, Farm and Deadly Water.

Frequently referred to as one of the hardest working bands on the scene, The Shackleton Trio is gaining significant UK and International exposure, becoming an in-demand name on the folk circuit. 2018 saw plays on Mark Radcliffe's Radio 2 Folk Show, ★★★★★ reviews, an appearance on Cambridge Folk Festival's main stage alongside a host of UK and European festivals and international tours.

They are a highly original and energetic musical force just as likely to move you to tears as to move you to your feet.

Josephine Corcoran lives in Wiltshire, where she is involved in schools and community literature projects. This will be her first visit to the club.

Her radio play The Songs that Houses Sing and short story Algebra (both originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4) were repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra last year, and she has had a stage play produced in London. 

Her poetry pamphlet The Misplaced House was published in the UK by tall-lighthouse (November 2014) and a full collection What Are You After? was published by Nine Arches Press in June 2018. She is founder and editor of And Other Poems (www.andotherpoems.com), which is now an extensive online poetry anthology featuring many poets.

In 2018 she was awarded a Local Artist Bursary from Ginkgo Projects and Bloor Homes to write new poems that engage with the landscape and heritage of the area in and around Amesbury, Wiltshire.

A Bristol based singer songwriter with London roots, Emme Hastings has been playing to audiences for over ten years across the South, and first delighted our audience back in 2017 as a solo artist.

Her emotive, raw vocals and finger picking style guitar captivates listeners. Best described as folk soul, her sound is natural and personal, resonating with artists like Laura Marling and Lisa Hannigan.

Gigging regularly around Bristol and Bath, with the odd appearance at Glastonbury, she is joined for this gig by Joe Louvaine on guitar and vocals, and together they make up two thirds of the trio Kitwhistle, who are generating a strong following particularly around the South West.

Emme was very popular on her last visit - don't miss the chance to see her again with added Kitwhistle vocal and guitar smoothness!

Mark Blayney FRSA is a writer and performer based in Cardiff. He won the Somerset Maugham Prize for his novella Two Kinds of Silence and his second book, Conversations With Magic Stones, was described by John Bayley as "Remarkable... as good as some of the best of Elizabeth Bowen's, and praise does not go higher than that."

His work spans comedy, fiction and poetry. He is about to tour his new solo show, Be Your Own Life Coach ... with ABBA, and has also toured with the Lecture in Boney M Studies, a comedy extravaganza, at festivals including Wychwood and the Dinefwr Literature Festival.

He performs regularly with the Wordplay Cabaret, a smorgasbord (not as rude as it sounds) of noise, letters, numbers, static caravans and Lionel Richie songs. 

"A perceptive storyteller of real promise..." Beryl Bainbridge

From Selboy Central:

"There’s so much New Orleans slink in Dexter’s barfly blues music it’s hard to believe it comes from Bristol. That’s partly down to the impeccably shonky threesome of musicians behind him and partly due to Dexter’s own commitment to gravelling around where the bottles roll.

Formed back in 2012, Dexter Selboy and the Shonky Trio are a quartet of talented yet lazy musicians who may finally have got their act together. Hard to pigeon-hole, their genre-fluid style incorporates elements of reggae, gypsy jazz and hip-hop.

Instrumentals and dub vocals belong to:

Mojo, plucking the bass with his comedy sized fingers, and blowing sweet, sweet carbon dioxide through his replica trombone.

Jose 'the Boogieman', half timing, full timing and two timing his way across the fretboards, like a gypsy who was pulled from his mothers womb with a pair of forceps made of mahogany, the best wood money can buy.

Gruff 'Two Hands', the singing, fingerpicking, tacheflicking, snare whipping king of the drums."

Hold on to your hats - again!

Hailing from Blackwood in the Welsh valleys, the duo Keith & Julie Richards features earthy vocals and harmonica playing from Julie, driven by Keith’s solid blues picking and slide guitar.

Having spent a number of years gigging extensively on the South Wales circuit as members of the JC Arnold Band, Keith and Julie have more recently been focusing their attention musically on the acoustic scene.

Together, they deliver their own take on a range of Blues and Americana classics, along with a few self-penned numbers thrown in for good measure.  They've been making steady progress on the Acoustic and Blues circuits both locally and nationally - don't miss this chance to catch them in Penarth!

Stephen Payne is Penarth Acoustic Club's poet in residence, who has been lurking in the shadows for a couple of years while arranging most of our visiting poets for us, but he's stepping back into the limelight this month!

He works at the University of Bath. He therefore shares his time between Bath and Penarth, and writes poems between Cardiff Central and Filton Abbey Wood. His first full collection of poems, Pattern Beyond Chance was published by HappenStance in 2015, and was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. 

This will be his fourth reading at the club, a measure of his great popularity.

In America they called it “soul”, In Wales we call it “hwyl”, singing with heartfelt emotion, commitment and passion. Penarth’s very own Retro-esque Indie musician / singer/songwriter John Lewis has it in spades.

John's former band The Rimshots made a huge splash across Europe. John has recorded for labels in Holland, Japan, Australia, London (the oh so cool Vinyl Japan), and Germany – a made in Wales Hank Williams Tribute that won a prestigious British Music Award as album of the year. He has also just released the double-album retrospective "33 Years Stage by Stage", which is receiving fantastic reviews.

As well as backing and recording with many of his heroes, rock and cult legends on weekend festivals all over the globe, John has also headlined many gigs where stars came to watch the messianic eyed charismatic lead singer and chief songwriter in action.

Under his alter ego name of Johnny Bach, he has four CDs available, recorded along with Gretsch Twangmeister Darrel Higham, last seen touring with the Amazing Imelda May, whom John has supported many a time solo.  

Haven’t seen him yet? Catch this local treasure here before St Fagan’s grabs him!

David Ian Roberts is a singer songwriter and folk guitarist from Herefordshire, now living in Cardiff.

His music takes inspiration from great guitarists such as Bert Jansch, Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, and brings in elements of jazz and classical music. He recently released his second album Travelling Bright on Cambrian Records. The album was recorded in Penarth at Fieldgate Studio.

David has played the club twice before as a solo artist to great acclaim, but for this show he will be joined by cellist Kirsten Miller and guitarist Jason Ball to play songs from the new album, in a rare trio performance.

Check out some of his music here

Hilary Watson grew up in and around Cardiff. She's a double graduate of the University of Warwick Writers’ Programme and was a Jerwood/Arvon Mentee 2015/16 with mentor Caroline Bird.

She has been shortlisted for the Troubadour International Poetry Prize and the Live Canon Prize, and recently been published in The Butcher's Dog, Interpreter's House, Impossible Archetype as well as other UK magazines.

She works in the Welsh third sector and is currently writing her first collection. We look forward to welcoming her for her first visit to the club this month.

Wildwood Jack are Jayne Freeman and Adam Piggott, an excellent acoustic guitar and ukulele duo from Kent. Their melodic songs blend the acoustic guitar and ukulele with outstanding fingerstyle playing, drawing influences from folk, country and world music.

Having sold their home in 2013 this musical duo hit the road and their stories and journeys are intimately bound together in their life and their music. From touring village halls and churches in Denmark to folk and acoustic clubs across the UK, busking in Croatia and Italy to a circus tent in Austria, their music always speaks of adventure.

Their latest album Liberty Ship released in March 2018 has been widely played across the BBC folk radio shows with excellent reviews.

This will be their first visit to the club. Find out more about them and their music here

We're really excited to welcome Willy Porter back to the club after his unforgettable debut almost exactly a year ago!

Willy has been turning first-time listeners into die-hard fans for more than twenty years. He blurs the line  between indie-folk and rock with his searing signature finger-picking guitar sound, absorbing lyrics, and playful, high-energy live performance style.

He has shared world stages with the likes of Jeff Beck, Tori Amos and Paul Simon, carving out a successful solo career as an artist who makes music that resonates long after the last guitar chord fades.

His live shows are guitar-driven events – equal parts grit, soul and muscle – that are electrifying, dynamic, and wholly original in the way that Willy’s voice blends and fuses with his fret work.

Whether in the studio or on stage, Willy Porter gifts listeners with an unforgettable ride, embodying the very best of what live music has to offer. Don’t miss this chance to catch him in Penarth!

Tay Bridge Disaster was originally just a disaster, then it became a band, then a half-remembered mystery.

Comprising club co-founder Adrian Lewis, and his long-time musical partner Fiddlin’ Doc Thomas, they recreate the tenderness, anarchy and ribaldry of the slightly strange world of American bluegrass and country-noir.

Someone once observed that “Tradition is peer pressure from dead people”. Tay Bridge Disaster take that maxim and run away from it, screaming.

It’s been nearly 10 years since their last reunion when they supported Woody Mann on one of his sporadic visits to Penarth – you don’t want to miss a good Disaster.

Ailbhe Darcy was born and grew up in Dublin and has lived in the US and Germany, before finding a home in Cardiff.

Her most recent book, Insistence, her second full-length poetry collection, was published by Bloodaxe and won both Literature Wales’ the Roland Mathias Prize for Poetry, and the overall Wales Book of the Year 2019 awards, as well as the Pigott Poetry Prize 2019 – Ireland’s largest poetry prize.

She teaches creative writing at Cardiff University and we’re looking forward to welcoming her on this, her first visit to the club

Whiskey River was born after founder members Martin Blake and Aidan Sheehan went to Louisiana in 2003 and visited a dance hall called 'Whiskey River Landing', built on the edge of the Atchafalaya swamp. They had a fantastic Sunday afternoon there and got to thinking that Whiskey River might be a good name for a band.

About a week later, someone in a bar in Houston Texas gave them a plectrum with 'Whiskey River' written on it. This was taken as 'a definite sign' and the band they were working with back in the UK was renamed on their return.

They play Americana - Cajun, Zydeco, Good Country and Low Down Dirty Blues with a dangerous edge. With many years experience of performing, these guys deliver the goods.

Martin and Aidan played the club as a duo, The Whiskey River Boys, a couple of years ago, and people still ask when they are returning. Well it’s next week, and they return enhanced by the addition of double-bass and fiddle, and two extra voices.

Singer-songwriter, storyteller and Hammond organ donor, Joshua Burnell, grew up in various locations between France and Scotland. He now resides in York, but everyone assumes he's from Rivendell. At some point, English folk, prog, contemporary classical, and vintage pop-rock all got mixed up and everyone had a great time so he decided to make a career of it.

Frances Sladen was no stranger to trad folk sessions whilst growing up in rural Essex and has been singing with Josh ever since the pair met at university in York. A true performer, Frances adds her crystalline voice to the songs as well as her emotive interpretations of melodies.

Joshua sparked the interest of the folk world with his ambitious Seasons Project which saw him release one of his folk-rock arrangements of a traditional song or tune every week for a year. Fourteen favourites formed Joshua’s release, Songs From The Seasons, released on the 4th May 2018. RnR Magazine gave the album a solid 5/5 rating.

“We think this is great" Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 2. And so do we!

Heidi Beck grew up in a small town in New Hampshire. She emigrated to the UK from the USA in 1998 and currently lives in the countryside near Bath.

She holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Chicago and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. She has worked a variety of jobs, including tour guide, data analyst, and assistant zookeeper.

Her poems have been widely published, most recently in The North, Butcher’s Dog, Under the Radar, Strix, The Live Canon 2019 Anthology, Poetry Ireland Review, and Brittle Star.

This will be Heidi's first visit to the club, and we're looking forward to it!

Sarah-Jane Scouten is, according to Folk Radio UK, "A sterling example of the top grade Americana coming out of Canada."

With flavours of Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffiths and Iris Dement, and a wealth of early country music, the two-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee and recent Western Canadian Music Award nominee's songs are faithful to a long-standing folk music tradition.

Often spilling over into modern themes that are outspoken and edgy, her songwriting tackles issues from poverty and midwifery to tongue-in-cheek heartache songs and unabashed Canadiana. A traditionalist at heart, Sarah Jane Scouten shows her signature flair for the roots of roots music. With respect for these roots, she writes from her own perspective, playing with style to create her own distinct voice. This songwriter is known for hitting hard and close to home, then laughing it off.

Sarah played the club 18 months or so ago with her 4-piece band and has consistently been mentioned as one of our most popular guests. This will be a stripped-down gig, but still the same, fabulous, Sarah Jane Scouten!