Club Programme

Moved from 25 October 2021. All tickets purchased for the original date(s) are still valid. A folk singer, songwriter and activist from Leicester, UK, she has been writing, recording and touring relentlessly for ten years. Her unique takes on life, love and politics, and the warmth and wit with which they are delivered, have won over audiences everywhere, across the alternative, folk, political and comedy scenes.

On the heels of their respective new solo albums, Scottish folk star Kris Drever (LAU), and Nashville-based Americana artist Rachel Baiman present a joint tour of the UK featuring solo sets from each as well as unique collaborations drawing on their respective original material. Acclaimed guitarist and songwriter Kris Drever has won multiple awards including 7 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, two shortlist nominations for Scottish Album of The Year (with his trio Lau) and much acclaim for his solo recordings and concerts including glowing reviews from The Herald, The Guardian, Mojo and Q Magazine. Kris has collaborated with Cream’s Jack Bruce, Tinariwen, Joan As Police Woman, Jerry Douglas, Danny Thompson, Rosanne Cash, Eddi Reader, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart, Seckou Keita, The Lost Words: Spell Songs collective and many more. With her 2017 debut Shame, Americana songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Baiman emerged as a fearless voice of the American female experience. “Shame” was featured on NPR’s “Songs We Love”, called a “Rootsy Wake-up Call” by Folk Alley, and described by Vice’s “Noisey” as “flipping off authority one song at a time.” On her new full-length album Cycles, Baiman has found a grittier musical medium for her signature unabashed and defiant songwriting, employing a majority-female team including co-producer Olivia Hally, known as the front woman of Indie-pop band Oh Pep! Drever and Baiman are both heavily seeped in folk traditions, yet happily influenced by modern sounds. Together they present a complimentary and transatlantic take on roots music, with stunning vocal harmonies and instrumental prowess.

The Unthanks return to live touring after two years off the road, with the rich and colourful sound of their eleven-piece ensemble, showcasing forthcoming new album, Sorrows Away, alongside favourites such as Magpie, The King Of Rome and Mount The Air.

'Folk Weekend Warm Up'- the last chance to perform at a Black Swan Folk Club Open Mic before our annual City of York 'Roland Walls' Folk Weekend.

More details to be announced soon.

More details to be announced soon.

Michelle Plum (Ex Chumbawamba) and Nick Hall (Ex Magna Carta) are PLUMHALL, an electrifying duo from Yorkshire whose award winning original songs are earning them well deserved plaudits internationally. The duo pack a punch with powerful acoustic (and occasional electric) guitars, a sprinkling of electronica and luscious harmony-driven textures of original contemporary folk rock and pop. Few who were there will forget their last visit to the Black Swan Folk Club in 2014 when a surprise visit from ex-Bob Dylan sidemen Larry Campbell and David Bromberg prompted Larry Campbell joining them on stage for a version of Dylan's 'Senor'.

Stick In The Wheel’s work is rooted in traditional music and song, informed by the modern electronic music that grew out of their hybrid East London heritage. Nicola Kearey and Ian Carter use centuries-old work-songs that speak to present-day issues of class – an inherently political act – as well as historical material from Saxon poetry to Medieval carols. Their third studio album, Hold Fast, is a deeply layered journey of hope and resistance, with a sonic palette that is wider yet more nuanced than ever, with synths, spoken word and psychedelic guitar fuzz. 2021 experimental mixtape Tonebeds for Poetry is #2 Contemporary Music Album of the Year in The Guardian. SITW continue to push forward the contemporary tradition of roots music, whilst maintaining and celebrating music from our collective histories – conjuring the past to point toward the future. ‘a remarkable psychogeographic voyage through a thousand years of London culture.’ 9/10, Uncut Magazine ‘tracking london’s sonic identity through the ages – incredible stuff.’ Noods Radio

“Tony’s music is beyond beautiful, it’s perfect” – Tommy Emmanuel. “Julia’s bell-like voice and her fiddle playing are thrilling. She moves effortlessly from fiddle to guitar, her solo is impressive.” – Salon Festival, France. Hailed by the late John Renbourn as ‘the best Celtic guitarist in the world’, Tony McManus has been listed as one of 50 transcendental guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine. Julia Toaspern, from Berlin, combines classical violin and voice training with an interest in jazz, baroque and traditional music. She has released two albums of original songs and performed both as a classical player and as a singer/songwriter on both sides of the Atlantic. Her skills as a guitarist are prodigious and make a very exciting fit with Tony’s work. The duo’s guitar treatments of traditional music is unique exploring the harmonic possibilities of these old, and sometimes not so old, tunes. Flat-picking or finger-picking at the highest level they are always at the service of the music rather than simply displaying technical prowess - although that is very evident as well. Julia's violin effortlessly morphs into a fiddle as she weaves from Italian madrigal to Scottish reel. Julia’s songs go to the heart of love and loss, hope and survival and are infused with a musical input from wide and eclectic experience of musical life.

First time in for this new singer-songwriter whom several regular audience members have urged us to include in our guest listings. With his eco-conscious debut album ‘Silent Spring’ (2019), Henry Parker laid down a new sound for modern folk music, drawing deep from the well of the sixties and seventies revival. His style is a clear joining of the past and the present, a unique voice in the folk world that echoes with sounds of the tradition, whilst venturing beyond, into the realms of folk-rock and psych. A devoted guitarist since childhood, Henry Parker’s musical roots go back to a self appointed upbringing in rock and heavy metal, yet, at the age of 20, paths were taken that led him adrift. Soon enthralled by the ethereal playing of Bert Jansch and Nick Drake; finger-picking and open tunings rapidly became the essence of his sound. Coupled with a love for his immediate moorland surroundings of West Yorkshire, we are presented with a strain of informed, progressive folk music found nowhere else. Having spent the past 5 years playing headline concerts and supporting many of his musical heroes, including Michael Chapman, Wizz Jones and Bridget St John, Henry Parker’s 2nd album, ‘Lammas Fair’, released at the end of 2021, brings him to the forefront of the progressive folk music world. Heralded across the music press as an essential album, it is this latest release that has seen Parker emerge as a respected artist in the worlds of folk-rock, psych and traditional music. “His relaxed vocals and songwriting are as warm and open as his tunings” 8/10 Uncut Magazine

A real survivor from the rapidly diminishing world of folk clubs, Alistair Russell has been on the road since the 1970s, touring internationally, writing and performing his own songs and receiving critical acclaim from many corners of the folk world. He was a member of the Battlefield Band and has also turned his hand to sound engineering and tour management. A recently published book ‘Can’t Do This on my Own chronicles his life on the road and tells how a wanderlust was instigated by a back-story of a Scots family in exile and a semi-absent father’s tales of working in far-away places. ‘Singing from the heart, because he believes in the words’ Alistair will be delivering a night filled with high class folk song and experienced musicianship.

A statement from DELLA MAE:- We're saddened to cancel our shows in York, London, Crawley & Bristol. Due to the skyrocketing costs of travel and accommodations, the toll exacted by COVID on promoters and venues, and the continued risk & challenges the virus still presents for travel and health, we've had to make some tough decisions on this tour. We hope that you'll understand and stay tuned until we can be back with you.' Ticket refunds available from the point of purchase.

This event takes almost a year since we hosted Liam O'Maonlai and White Sail at the Black Swan Folk Club. Our first gig inside the folk club room after 'lockdown'. It was a gorgeous sunny Sunday afternoon and an outstanding performance which we're still talking about. This time we welcome back both artists to a larger venue The Crescent Club. Liam attended Scoil Lorcáin and Coláiste Eoin, which is a Gaelscoil on Dublin's southside, although he credits his father as being the main influence for his love of the Irish language,[1] of which he is a fluent speaker. He won an under-18 all-Ireland award for his skills on the bodhrán and first formed a band called The Complex with childhood friend Kevin Shields and drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig. Later Liam left to form the Hothouse Flowers in 1984. Ó Maonlaí is also an active member of the Nuclear Free Future movement and contributed to the hosting of events in Carnsore and in Wexford Town in 2001. In 2004 he was a guest at the Barefoot College, located at Rajasthan, India. 2005 saw him release a solo album entitled Rian which is a collection of tunes and songs in Irish. He performed in the 2009 Dublin to Gaza benefit concert. The 2008 documentary Dambé: The Mali Project tells the story of his 3,000 mile cross-cultural musical adventure with Paddy Keenan and friends, and features performances from the Festival au Désert.

This event replaces the one we had to postpone from 25/11/21. All tickets already purchased for the postponed date remain valid. Allan Taylor is one of the last of the travelling troubadours who came through the London and New York Greenwich Village folk music scene of the sixties and seventies. He’s travelled the world performing at festivals, concert halls and clubs. Considered to be one of the foremost singer-songwriters and guitarists in his genre, with more than one hundred and fifty recorded versions of his songs by artists in ten different languages, he’s made more than twenty CDs/Albums and continues to write, record and tour throughout Europe.

One of our favourite bands at The Black Swan Folk Club. Why “Churchfitters”? Nobody knows! They’re not fitters and have absolutely nothing to do with churches. The name’s origin is lost in the mists of time but there is one aspect that suits them perfectly - its quirkiness. When your array of instruments includes a motorcycle petrol tank, a musical saw and a Mercedes Benzouki made from hubcaps there’s little point worrying if the name makes sense! Saucepan dulcimer, glass harp, Bing-Bong machine and magic boots all join some more conventional instruments (fiddle, banjo, sax and whistle to name a few) to back Rosie Short’s sublime voice. These three flamboyant characters present their uplifting and entertaining show with a unique dynamism and describe their music as “Folk Unlimited”. Mike Harding calls it “Brilliant and beautiful” while Dave Pegg says they are “The most musically inventive group I’ve seen in decades”.