Our Summer season kicks off with a live-streamed visit from HOLLY CLARKE, a singer who draws from the old ballads and stories, and conjures a performance that immediately captivates any listener.
As a performer, Holly transports the listener into the heart of ballads, immersing them in the narratives that have shaped humanities experience through time. From songs of the supernatural and folklore, to the tales of love and loss, Holly Clarke sings with an infectious energy and passion for traditional song.
Alongside Holly’s affinity for traditional ballads, she is a strong composer in her own right, with her tune compositions performed by Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle legend Annbjørg Lien and Shetland’s very own Catriona Macdonald. Outside of performing, between 2019 to 2020 Holly was Sage Gateshead’s Artist in Residence specialising in Traditional Folk Song and Ballads. As of 2022 Holly began organising her concert series ‘Folk is Queer’; an event which platforms Queer folk musicians in the North East, and supporting them to make connections with existing and new audiences and other Queer artists from outside the region.
Holly will be joined on-stage by Amy Thatcher (accordion & synths), Anna Hughes (fiddle & viola) and John Pope (double-bass).
Getting the evening underway will be Holly Anne Coles and Mitch Cartwright, seasoned performers in their own right, who have united under their shared passion for folk music to create LÖRE & LAMENT.
Celebrating the rich tapestry of folkloric tradition, they breathe new life into timeless ballads and shanties while crafting original songs inspired by the captivating myths and legends of England and the Celtic nations. Their music offers a heartfelt tribute to storytelling through song, blending history and imagination into an enchanting, immersive experience.
Tickets for the concert, which takes place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND on Friday 16 May 2025, are available online HERE and from MELANIE’S KITCHEN (cash only). They are priced at £14 each in advance or £16 on the door. Doors open at 7.00pm and the music starts around 7.45pm. This event is also included in our SPRING SEASON TICKET.
There will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and real ale from Bristol’s HOP UNION BREWERY. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware; there is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of Radstock-based THE GREAT CAKE COMPANY, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert.
For those that can’t make it to Downend, or miss out on tickets, this concert will also be live-streamed in partnership with LIVE TO YOUR LIVING ROOM, so you can watch from the comfort of your own sofa! Head to livetoyourlivingroom.com for more information on live-stream tickets.
For further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or find us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, BLUESKY, YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.
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It doesn't seem like five minutes ago that HANNAH SCOTT played at Downend, supporting the wonderful Bella Hardy. That night she was captivating, singing a handful of songs that spoke directly to the hearts of everyone in the room. Her role as a Future Headliner was secured; just imagine what a whole set would be like, we all thought.
It turns out, of course, that a whole set by Hannah Scott is an hour and a half of spilled emotions, of love and life, of grief and joy. It is everything that makes life worth contemplating.
Much of her set is made up of her latest album, Absence of Doubt, an intensely personal record that says much about her relationship with her closest family. At times it is as though she has beckoned you into the most secret room in her house so that she can show you her treasured photographs.
Bigger Than My Body is about an overwhelming love and feels, suitably, anthemic. With Scott at a keyboard and Matt Helm on guitar, there's an undeniable feeling that you are in the presence of a serious songwriter. The emotions are so huge, handled with such skill, yet beautifully undercut by a high voice that shows vulnerability. This is the sort of song that you'd imagine Radio 2 loving, it would sit perfectly next to the likes of, say, Laura Marling and Ed Sheeran.
It is, however, when Scott sings of her family that all of that love is made most obvious. Clearly, her dad played a huge part in her life and two of her most arresting songs are about him. Carry You Out is precision tooled for audience tears. Dealing with the carrying of her father's coffin, it is full of quiet strength and total heartbreak. Never rising beyond a measured stride, it is a beautiful hymn to someone loved and much missed. My Dad & I is more upbeat, remembering happy times, and stays exactly the right side of sentimental.
Scott's mum gets a look in on In Your Light and it is, again, full of enormous emotions that push against her fragile voice. These songs are so personal it almost seems rude to listen to them, as though you’re eavesdropping on private moments. On the other hand, of course, they deal in the universal, they are those conversations that we, somehow, never get to have.
Helm’s shimmer-y, echo-y guitar twinkles gorgeously behind Shape - a song driven by anger and hurt - and Threads, adding further layers to Scott's intense feelings. Threads ploughs a similar furrow to the latest Katherine Priddy album, being about a childhood home, but has a lovely sing-along that brings the whole room together. Scott has, once again, plugged into something that everyone understands.
The support for the evening comes from CORUJA JONES, the indie-folk project of songwriter Dan Jones. Deliciously hazy and dreamy, all pulses are slowed as he unfurls cascading soundscapes. He plays everything from his latest EP, Undo, the five tracks simply beautiful and lyrical. Honesty Honestly carries hints of John Martyn while there's a tiny hint of Richard Hawley about The Shore. These songs are all about setting the mood, they're Folk by way of Shoegaze, they are the gentle breeze on a morning walk. So in touch with the surroundings was Jones that, on the lovely Little Space, even the birds joined in.
Both Scott and Jones have an uncanny way of helping us to embrace everything that is around us. From the natural world to our own, raw, emotions, the two of them remind us of all that is important.
Words: Gavin McNamara
Photos: Barry Savell
Photos: Barry Savell
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“Your music moved me to tears.”
This is the refrain contemporary folk artist HANNAH SCOTT regularly hears as she leaves the stage. The best stories elicit profound personal reactions and in the 15 years she has been writing and performing, Hannah has become a consummate storyteller. Her music is shaped by human stories, with family, in all its chaos and glory, sitting at the heart of her work. Her lyrics are powerful and poignant, and her voice feels strangely familiar, though you can’t quite put your finger on why. Her writing may be deeply personal but her music has a universal appeal that extends beyond the melodies you catch yourself humming days after listening to her songs.
The connection she forges with her audiences often finds its most profound expression in the stories shared by audience members after her performances: the woman whose elderly mother lost a sibling in childhood and is moved to tears by Boy In The Frame; the young father who, upon hearing My Dad & I, realises he wants to spend more time with his small children; the adoptive parents who, like Hannah as a step-parent, may not have been the first person to hold their child, but Love You Like I Did. A deep-rooted desire for this connection has always been the driving force behind her songwriting and live performances.
Hannah headlines this month's concert, when she will be joined on-stage by guitarist Matt Helm.
Getting the evening underway will be Coruja Jones, a songwriting project from Manchester-based musician and songwriter Dan Jones, originally hailing from Dudley in The West Midlands.
His latest record Undo delves into the healing process in different forms, examining the calm and the chaos that can come from attempted self-betterment, and witnessing and wanting to heal other's hardship, all through the lens of love. Expect dreamy, melancholic, indie-folk; beautiful songs with soaring high notes, combined with intricate, delicate guitar work into cavernous reverbs, which take aim at your heart.
Tickets for the concert, which takes place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND on Friday 25 April 2025, are available online HERE and from MELANIE’S KITCHEN (cash only). They are priced at £14 each in advance or £16 on the door. Doors open at 7.00pm and the music starts around 7.45pm. This event is also included in our Spring Season Ticket.
There will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and real ale from Bristol’s HOP UNION BREWERY. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware; there is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of Radstock-based THE GREAT CAKE COMPANY, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert.
For further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or find us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, BLUESKY, YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.
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