What you missed in 2014 and 2013

Irresistible songs, rhythms and dance from the streets of Brazil! Great food, drinks and friends, too. A perfect end for 2014. We couldn’t leave an amazing roller-coaster 2014 without a decent send off.. and you know us; we like to do things in style! We bring you the tightest, grooviest, Afro-Brazilian beats from the streets of Brazil, with Southampton’s own, Bat2k! INFO HERE

Rhian is a multi-award winning poet, who’s work bristles with sensual wit, chronicling relationships young and old, personal portraits and the minutiae of life as we live. Her first collection of poems Clueless Dogs (Seren) won Wales Book of the Year 2013, the Roland Mathias Prize for Poetry 2013 and Wales Book of the Year People’s Choice 2013. It was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2012. Her pamphlet of poems Parade the Fib, (Tall-Lighthouse), was awarded the Poetry Book Society Choice for autumn 2008. MORE INFO

We are delighted to welcome Will McNicol, UK Acoustic Guitarist of the Year 2011, back to The Art House, following three previous sell-out shows here, and this time he’s not alone! Luke Selby is a professional drummer respected as one of the best, new talents on the scene. They are supported tonight by Matt BlakeMORE INFO

INDIGORADO – A Norwegian-Swedish duo that plays beautiful world/folk music with nerve, with vocal, harmonica, shaman drum and guitar. This tour will be their first in UK. (https://www.facebook.com/indigoradomusic) JACK WILLIAMS – A 21 year old acoustic / folk singer / songwriter from Southampton who has achieved great success over the last year since being featured on the Passenger YouTube channel, featured in his song “I’ll Be Your Man” which has reached over 1 million views. He has supported both Passenger and Gabrielle Aplin on tour. (https://www.facebook.com/Jackwmusic) JOSH SAVAGE – Josh has supported acts as diverse as Razorlight, Rizzle Kicks, Reverend and the Makers, Roll Deep and even some acts with names that don’t begin with ‘R’ such as Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Catfish & The Bottlemen. And he couldn’t resist performing in front of Royalty in Dubai. MORE INFO

Join us on Saturday, December 6 for what MovieMaker Magazine calls one of the “top 5 coolest short film festival in the world.” Couch Fest Films is a cozy shorts film fest that bring world-class short movies out of the cinema and into non-traditional venues like living rooms, boats, community centres, and more. Meet your neighbours and see the best short films of the year. INFO HERE

Waitress for the Bees is Dr Emma Hooper’s solo project, using viola, accordion, saw, glockenspiel, toy piano, electronics and vocals to play quirky and affecting songs about dinosaurs and insects, that will make your heart hurt. INFO HERE

Grant Sharkey’s 20 Year Mission: To Release an album every 6 months for the next 20 years. This is number 4 of 40! Grant explains: “It started in a traffic jam in London. Traffic jams always make me a little more philosophical than usual, I was dehydrated, I was being sold something everywhere I looked by companies that didn’t give a shit about the fact I needed a drink of water, my fellow drivers could barely find the courage to look at me and recognise our reality. INFO HERE

Rachel is the hybrid result of immigrant roots, English folk festivals and urban jungle. She writes, tells and sings stories that weave between these three strands. Not really surprising then that she loves creating connections; collaborations and commissions for everyone from Billy Bragg to the Royal Shakespeare Company. “Polished and compelling…a consummate performer… definitely one to watch” – ★ ★ ★ ★ THE INDEPENDENT “Immense skill and breathless conviction…there’s no faulting Reid’s command of her craft” – ★ ★ ★ ★ THE TIMES “It’s impossible to take your eyes off her…storytelling with a unique and modern twist” – ★ ★ ★ ★ THREE WEEKS   INFO HERE

Martin Figura…. a poet, teacher, retired army major, qualified accountant (winner of the 1976 RAPC Apprentice College Accounting Prize), Randy Newman fan and photographer; but mostly a poet. Helen Ivory is editor for The Poetry Archive & of the webzine Ink Sweat & Tears, Course Director for Creative Writing for Continuing Education at UEA and lives in Norwich with her husband, Martin Figura, where they run Café Writers – a live literature organization.  INFO HERE

Slack Bird’s music is a mix of old American folk music and melancholic melodies and stories of present day Finland sung in both Finnish and English with power and rawness of punk music which Slack Bird members grew up to and still play today.  INFO HERE

The theatre company, ‘Don’t Go into the Cellar’ have built up an enviable reputation for producing well thought out, intelligent adaptations of well known characters and stories. Alongside Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, Montgomery Rhodes James developed the Ghost Story to a height of chilling exactness. Ghost stories brought to life! INFO HERE

One month on from their exultant afrobeat night at The Cellar, The Sea Slugs once again invite you to stomp your feet, shake your hips and sing in solidarity, as we see the night through with their groove-laden politically motivated music.  INFO HERE

Man Up, Jonny Fluffypunk! // Coffee-house layabout, armchair revolutionary and poet Jonny Fluffypunk has become a father. Who is he to shape a young life? A funny, poignant lo-fi stand-up spoken word theatre show about finding the hero within, however unpromising the exterior. (Warning: contains references to anarcho-syndicalism.) INFO HERE

Unpretentious, absorbing and far from the madding crowd, India Electric Company’s carefully blended sound vortexes around a supple joining of voice and instruments. Concocted in the Devonshire countryside and Parisian cafes, Cole and Joseph produce intricately woven textures which belies the fact that there are only two of them  INFO HERE

Enjoy more energetic and engaging re-tellings of heroic and magical myths, folktales and legends from the snows of Northern Europe to the sands of the Middle East by one of the finest storytellers we know, The Travelling Talesman.

When the music press describes someone as an ‘Incredible acoustic talent’ and ‘Peerless – no other word for it…’ and when people like Jean-Christophe Novelli and Madonna are booking them for their private parties, then you know that something pretty special is going on. Welcome to the world of UK acoustic guitar phenomenon Clive Carroll…

SOLD OUT  Join Professor Elemental, the award-winning steampunk entertainer and emcee, as he takes you on a journey through his astounding attic with Spacedog (Sarah Angliss, Stephen Hiscock.) Bear witness to strange tales, puppetry, songs and surprises as the Professor delves into the world of the weird and the wonderful.

John Watts’ 34 year career has included 20 albums & 3000 concerts & festivals worldwide. He developed his musical career in punk clubs while studying clinical psychology and working in mental hospitals, with first album Word Salad released in 1979.  He and his band Fischer-Z were signed by UA Records alongside The Buzzcocks and The Stranglers.

Alana Amram renders riffs and ballads both distinctive and robust, refashioning the archetype of the female troubadour.

Andrew O’Neill (Buzzcocks, Museum Of Curiosity, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle) returns with his most inventive, surreal stand-up show yet!

Most people will know Cate from her collaboration with Dizraeli & The Small Gods where her performances have gained her glowing reviews.  Using a guitar, keyboard, loop station & drum, she is captivating audiences with brilliant songs, sung with an incredible voice.  Folk and dark soul lie at the heart of her sound, and the acoustic instrumentation is tinged by hard hitting lyrics and intricate harmonies.   “She steals the show with the kind of vocal acrobatics that make your hair stand on its very end” – Bristol247.com

Forget Me Not is primarily a whodunit, using many of the tropes and plot devices familiar to the genre. It’s also a one person comedy poetry theatre show that has a lot to say about how we treat and perceive people with dementia. “Smart, witty and razor sharp… funny and heartbreaking as hell.” – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

‘..Intimate lo-fi folk with gorgeous understated melodies and harmonies… A must see live act.’ – The Guardian. The road less travelled is a familiar place for Rue Royale – and they don’t mind giving others a lift along the way. For their third album the soulful Anglo-American duo have thrown the doors wide open to help create their boldest, most romantic work to date.

Jon Hart is an absolutely INCREDIBLE vocalist and guitarist known for his finger style picking, alternate timings and loop station and is becoming one of the capital’s hottest acoustic talents; an astute musician who merges virtuoso guitar with catchy vocal harmony and beat-boxing. Writing, arranging and performing his own songs is central to Jon’s philosophy as an artist. He is also the front-man for experimental electronic rock band Opinaut.

Led by Greyum May (briefly a bassist for Ozric Tentacles and now going by the name Keepers Brew) he will set up a soundscape for you to join in with. You can add to the mix with some of the latest gadgets, make weird and wonderful noises or have a go at VJ’ing or playing with lighting controllers.

An extraordinary evening of new music (which loosely falls under the enormous umbrella of ‘folk’) from some of the finest young musical craftspeople in the region.  We were immersed in an ocean of glorious sound that uplifted all and left us on a high for days to come.

SCOTT FREEMAN – ‘Heart racing acoustica!’ Passionate acoustic rock from Winchester, Hampshire, and DANIEL SAGE, a space-o-naut, raised in the tobacco town of Winston-Salem, NC.

Multi award-winning musicians Nick Pynn & Kate Daisy Grant are taking their back-to-back original music shows around the UK. Both Nick and Kate garnered 5* reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe and won ‘Best Music Act’ at the Brighton Latest Fringe and Festival Awards 2013.

A celebration of breath-taking traditional Flamenco guitar, voice and dance in the intimate environment of our gallery space, with candles on the tables, the lights down and gorgeous food – we will cater for most of your senses this evening!

An Electric All-Lady Stomp-Folk Grand Band from Sonoma City, California (on a steamship!)

We will be pausing throughout the evening for some wonderful music, as we are very excited to welcome back soulful vocalist and innovative keyboardist, US singer/songwriter and producer Rachael Sage to play for you. She has become one of the busiest touring artists in independent music, performing 150+ dates a year with her band The Sequins throughout the USA, UK, Europe and Asia.

Mariachi Punk Soft Core Prog Pop/Folk that rocks, all the way from all the way from South West Coast, Victoria, Australia | Click for more info and booking.

Three selected talented singer / songwriters, one stage, one song at a time. Great sound, great atmosphere | We have Johnny Boxcars, Close to the Coast and Alex Bowron.

An evening of fun and uplifting political stand-up comedy, from two rising stars on the circuit, the activist comedians Chris Coltrane and Joe Wells.

The Singular Exploits of Sherlock Holmes features the great detective recounting highlights of his crime-busting career, presented by Don’t Go Into The Cellar on board the steamship, SS Shieldhall!

Rummage through ideas about waste. “Wasted Opportunity?” at the Art House will explore innovative ways to reduce and reuse our rubbish.

For fans of Shpongle, Steve Hillage, Amon Tobin, Lamb, Gong, Ozric Tentacles, Brian Eno, The Orb, Keepers Brew is the brain child of musican/producer/former bass player for Ozric Tentacles, Greyum May.

Pyrates! be a sea faring band of Musical Marauders, sailing from th’ shores of the Olde Lowlands of Holland to rowdy ports across the world! A notorious band of buccaneers, who’ve imposed their own brand of pirate themed folk music to fellow pirates an’ unfortunate landlubbers.

“Smart, funny and frequently very moving… a first rate show.” – Calgary Herald ★★★★★    UK-based stand up poet & reformed psychiatric nurse, Rob Gee presents a user-friendly guide to losing the plot.

I say. Put the kettle on, Professor Elemental is coming to tea with his chums, The Sweetchunks Band! Again! He’ll brew you a nice hip hop number, stir in some comedy, then serve it with scones.

Join us for live music from Cardiff band ‘We’re no Heroes’ and some gorgeous veggie chilli hot dogs.

A night of vegan cooking and jokes, served up with liberal amounts of sauce.
Jake Yapp is on a mission. A mission to make so-bad-it’s-good food available to struggling vegans everywhere.

From woodland glades to rocky hills, Fairies come in many sizes & types. The Spriggans, Pixies, Piskies, Sidhe (pronounced “shee”), Good Folk & Fae suffer a welter of differing reports. Some say they are not to be trusted! The Traveling Talesman will be your guide.

Grant Sharkey presents: Mike Vaughan, Dave Hubble plus a few more amazing people who have strong and passionate minds. Bring your brain and broadcast it’s brilliance! Free nuggets!

Will McNicol’s playing has won him numerous awards, including Guitarist Magazine’s coveted UK Acoustic Guitarist of the Year 2011, held at London’s Southbank Centre. He has been tutored by world-class classical and acoustic guitarists including Gerald Garcia, Stuart Ryan and Thomas Leeb.

The Art House presents two highly acclaimed female singer-songwriters in one fantastic double bill performing on our house piano (with the lid off and all mic’d up), Kate Daisy Grant and Daisy Chapman.

PHILLIP HENRY & HANNAH MARTIN (BBC FOLK AWARD 2014 – BEST DUO!)
A truly unique young duo, at the forefront of the new global folk movement. They will amaze you with their astonishing instrumental virtuosity, their genre-bending material and their warm personalities.

A hilariously kick-arse tour through heavy metal by the UK’s foremost metalhead stand-up Comedian, Andrew O’Neill. Want to learn how to headbang? Always wondered what happens in a moshpit? Keen to learn the difference between Blackened thrash and Grindcore?

Shimmering drones, drums and rootsy world & folk music with a tribal heartbeat. The SHimmering Bees are a Southampton-based band with more weird instruments than you can shake a Stoessel-laute at.

Lionface is the pseudonym for Bristol’s alt-pop rising star some may recognise as the charismatic bass-player and backing vocalist for London punks The King Blues. A storming 2013 saw her release two EPs, five music videos and take her energetic live show across the country.

BBC Poetry Slam Champion, Dizraeli and World Female Beatbox Champion Bellatrix together with Poet Laureate of Peterborough 2008, Chief Bard of the Fens 2009, Edinburgh Fringe Slam Champion 2010, most overly hyped battle rapper 2012, Mark Grist!

Award-winning Canadian cellist/singer-songwriter, Anne Janelle, is touring the UK in March in support of her new album ‘So Long at the Fair’, a collection of original songs and genre-bending arrangements of traditional folk songs. She will be touring as a duo with her partner, James Hill (www.jameshillmusic.com), who is a ukulele virtuoso and award-winning singer-songwriter in his own right.

An evening of song, poetry, music and other performance to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Enjoy a glorious evening celebrating local women, local talent and grassroots performance, art and crafts – all on board a vintage steam ship!

Attila The Stockbroker is a sharp-tongued, high energy, social surrealist rebel poet and songwriter. His themes are topical, his words hard-hitting, his politics unashamedly radical, but Attila will make you roar with laughter as well as seethe with anger…

Join Arch-Surrealist Boothby Graffoe for a typically skewed looked at the weird little world of the UK lottery scratch card. Who buys them? How many do they buy? What, really, are the odds they might win? Have you got one? Do you want one? What would you do with all that money?

Three Monkeys is a unique chance to enjoy music by three local musicians, singers & songwriters in the intimate setting of our gallery.

Cited in the Guardian as a comedian to look out for, Mark Thomas said “For sheer energy, commitment and funny you would need to look hard to find a man as joyous as Tiernan Douieb.”

Ryan O’Reilly, House of Trees (Sweden) & Maud the Moth

Above the Bar Comedy’ is a not-for-profit stand-up comedy night run by volunteers who want one thing; to share their love of comedy. Brian Gittins (AKA David Earl) has been described as ‘One of the best comedy characters of the decade’ by none other than Ricky Gervais.

A night of funky Afrobeat from the ridiculously amazing Southampton-based band The Sea Slugs.  Think Fela Kuti, Salif Keita, Antibalas, Orchestra Baobab, Amadou & Mariam, Vieux Farka Toure.

Winner of the 2013 Dave Award for Best Joke at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Rob Auton brings his Sky Show to the Art House. This show is about the sky and the things in it; you know, clouds, birds, balloons, weather, colours, thrown balls, etc. &  is suitable for people who have seen the sky and enjoy looking up.

Tech savant and connoisseur of the uncanny Sarah Angliss channels the echoes of a Victorian playroom via the birth of electricity into the stark atmosphere of the space race, to create an eerie and dreamlike performance.

Initially arming himself with just one microphone, a guitar and a combination of internal conflicts, Oliver Wildes sound is stacked up with whispering guitar riffs, fragile vocal layers, slurring lap-steels, 8-bit tape loops, sanguine strings and DIY drum samples.

A Ninja Slob Drew Me is a Southampton based eight string bassist and music producer. This night marks the fourth album release. [Before/After, Tilt] is the first full length album since ‘One Week in Sand’ and is 11 tracks of solo eight string bass instrumentals and experimental concepts.

Southampton Oxjam Takeover, Featuring Maud the Moth, A Ninja Slob Drew Me, The Horse, Accrington Stanley, Sombrero Fallout. Oxfam’s ‘Oxjam’ Takeover event will be taking place on the weekend of the 18th, 19th and 20th of October in multiple venues in the city, including The Art House.

Join us for a film screening, talk and food tasting evening with The Black Fish, an international marine conservation movement on a mission to end the industrial overfishing of our oceans.

Varley’s live performances have become more and more anarchic over the years. Audience interaction, surreal improvised comedy between songs and chaotic stunts like playing two songs at the same time are now more often than not included in his shows, though he will just as quickly deliver a melancholic and heartbreaking ballad or a fiery protest song as he will a shaggy dog story or an amusing talking blues.

“…Mesmerising stage presence…Clayton Blizzard is a troubadour, an alchemist, a wizard…as well as possessing a mercurial mind, Blizzard is a consummate guitarist and extraordinary vocalist. His poetic artistry takes the form of peculiarly entrancing ballads that effortlessly transform into rap…”

Southampton Oxjam 2013, featuring Blue Screen of Death (Acoustic) | Maud The Moth | Alex Bowron | Sweetchunks Band | Jack Williams | The Lowis Lanes

This show is very funny. Rob Auton is a very funny man, who does poetry and comedy and silliness, often all at the same time. That’s why we’re hosting his Yellow Show in Southampton at The Art House.

SantaMaría is a locally based group brought together by Flamenco guitarist Jero Férec and Oud Player Hakan Dogan. The band presents a blend of Flamenco, Middle-Eastern, Folk and Medieval flavours: this variety of influences makes for a high energy sound which reflects Spain’s rich musical heritage.

Raymond Antrobus – Winner of the Farrago International Slam 2008, author of Shapes and Disfigurements of Raymond Antrobus, and founder member of the Chill Pill Collective, tonight’s headliner will be supported by Audience Choice poets David Dunn and James Barnes from January’s showcase.

“Boothby Graffoe is a multi-talented, darkly hilarious, grade A British eccentric, who can twist your funny bone one minute, and break your heart the next. A musical comedy act who is more musical than most musicians, and funnier than most comedians.” ~ Stewart Lee