MARTYN JOSEPH
November 2025
Martyn Joseph's return to Mottram after a six year absence was a musical tour de force. A night of passion, power, politics, heart and soul delivered to an audience who were held in the palm of his hand from the very off. Mixing old songs, very old songs and brand new material, the evening passed in a series of highlights as the two hour set of 23 songs flew by.
It was a testament to the strength of material from his brand new (and 27th!) album, Troubled Horses, that it blended seamlessly with classics like Here Come the Young, Dic Penderyn, Cardiff Bay, I'm On My Way and I Searched for You. New songs like My Song and My Psalm, I'm Getting Older, Troubled Horses and the epic Last Night I Heard America already sound like stone cold classics and simply reinforce the fact that the passing years are not diminishing Martyn's power as a stunning songwriter and performer. Finishing with the awesome And the Light Will Shine On All of Us and a heartfelt Turn Me Tender brought a fantastic evening of music to a close and a well deserved standing ovation. Magnificent!
TOM KITCHING & MARIT FÄLT
June 2025
Tom Kitching and Marit Fält delivered a wonderful evening of music and spoken word to bring our spring season to a fitting close. Basing the show around his most recent book and accompanying CD of music, Where There's Brass is 'a love letter to the waterways of England' and some of the people who both live on those waterways and interact with it. The set list alternated between music followed by a reading, though the readings were often underscored by the delicate and sympathetic playing of Marit as she wrapped the beautiful tones of the Nordic Mandola around and behind Tom's words. I won't list everything played or read, it wouldn't do the evening justice, but I will pick out a few highlights.
Why do so many of you shit in the woods? this captures perfectly the ignorance and prejudice displayed towards the boating fraternity and Tom describes the situation with both humour and total bafflement at the ignorance shown. The Hanbury Jig/The Old Country was a brilliant duel between Tom on the fiddle and Marit on Mandola, and the first half finished with the subtle interplay of mandolin and Mandola on A Long Time Between Sunsets. Cobbler's Hornpipe got the second half off to a sparkling start and Belt Driven picked up the pace further before the hilarious reading Paddington/The Shower of Shit over *place name redacted* reduced the audience to tears of laughter. Nightspoil was a frantic and compelling duet between two outstanding musicians and the music continued with Marit's tune Sally Forth. The epic The Churn followed, and lastly Polska For a Lost Rubber Duck. They encored with another track of Marit's, Shoulders of Giants, again a stunning demonstration of musical virtuosity by two supremely talented musicians. Tom's ability as a chronicler and observer of people shone through in his readings and his passion for the Where There's Brass project. His fiddle and mandolin playing were delightful and Marit's Mandola playing only enhanced and augmented the evening further. A simply terrific evening. All readings taken from Where There's Brass by Tom Kitching with supporting music from the CD of the same name, and available from www.tomkitching.co.uk
ROBERTS & LAKEMAN
May 2025
Sean Lakeman and Kathryn Roberts made their debut at Mottram, and what a performance it was.
Twenty nine dates into a thirty date tour and you would have forgiven them for being road weary, but with the scent of home in their nostrils they were energised, enthusiastic and totally engaging.
Mixing traditional songs with their own self penned works the set was a beautiful balance of material, with Sean providing all the guitar work, whilst Kathryn played piano, flute and supplied beautiful vocals.
Opening with two trad classics, Ramble Away and Night Visiting, it was evident that here were two masters of their craft. Their own The Fall of the Lion Queen was followed by an immense Plains of Waterloo and equally impressive Bony's Defeat, both giving reign to outstanding vocals from Kathryn. The Robber Bridegroom, The Risalka, Eavesdroppers
(a personal highlight) and The Outside brought the fabulous first half to an end.
Like the first half, each song in an equally outstanding second half was preceded by a story or explanation as to why it was written, what it meant to them, how it reflected their lives and performing career, and the evening felt so much the richer for it.
The gruesome Boy and Man kicked off the second half, followed by Lovely Nancy, Street of the Cats that Dance, 52 Hertz, the Poison Club, Independence, Rope Dancer and Lovely Willy, before the esoteric and contemplative Pew Tor brought the evening to a close and Sean and Kathryn left the stage to rapturous applause.
A memorable night provided by two outstanding musicians, and another fabulous Mottram evening.
STEVE KNIGHTLEY
March 2025
They say good things come to those who wait and after many years of trying we managed to get Steve Knightley to Mottram, and it really was worth the long wait. Mixing tracks from his two latest albums, The Winter Yards and Positively Folk Street, with a classic selection of Show of Hands material, he delivered an outstanding set of music. Every song had a meaning, a resonance and a back story which combined to create a truly memorable and joyous evening which was delivered to a sold out and spellbound audience.
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He opened with You'll Get By, followed by Remember This Kiss, Honey He's Lying and Brunton Town before he played a completely new song, It's Okay if it's a Folk Song. The sooner it's available the better. It should be a staple for every folk club singer in the country, though I doubt it would get played before 9pm on any radio station! The first half closed with a tremendous version of Girl from the North Country and Transactions, from his latest album.
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Suitably refreshed the second half opened with Roots, Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed (sadly more pertinent now than when it was written almost 20 years ago), and the Dive. Senior (Tales of Yankee Power) followed and I'll Never Forgive You for Helping Me. A frantic Gallway Farmer was followed by the magnificent The Rides (Winter Yards) and the mass sing along of the anthemic Cousin Jack. The encore of Country Life had the crowd on their feet and Steve left to a standing ovation. Another wonderful night at Mottram. It really doesn't get much better than this, musicianship of the highest quality such as this really was worth the wait!