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About The Event
Kathryn Williams is an English singer-songwriter born in Liverpool, who to date has released 14 studio albums, including a Mercury prize nomination, written, and arranged for a multitude of recording artists around the world.
In 2019 her record label One Little Indian put out an anthology 20-disc 2 book boxset spanning her solo career that has now sold out. She is the only female included in the Top Ten list of best Liverpool songwriters of all time.
New album Night Drives, released in 2022 on One Little Independent Records, explores a more filmic sound, with a larger ensemble of instrumentation, particular emphasis on the strings and production from Ed Harcourt.
Journeying from leftfield contemporary pop to soft acoustics, Kathryn Williams uses her latest LP to explore a variety of fresh ideas driven, in part, by a host of collaborators. Kirsty Logan, Oystein Greni, Romeo Stodart, Matt Deighton, Simon Edwards, Yvette Williams, Neill Maccoll, Andy Bruce, Ida Wenoe, Joel Sarakula, Emily Barker and John Alder all have credits on various tracks across Night Drives.
Kathryn explains: “I’ve been releasing music for 24 years now. That fact blows me away, and things have changed so much over those years. The biggest change has been my love of co-writing and writing for other artists. This began when I first went on a writing retreat with Chris Difford forming close friendships and working relationships that are represented here”.
Her first official album since Hypoxia in 2015, Night Drives opens with some of Kathryn’s most immediately electronic tracks to date, the nihilistic Human, big ballad Answer In The Dark with all it’s bold, layered production, and the dynamic, infectious Radioactive. Elsewhere on the likes of Moon Karaoke, Magnets and The Brightest, a more cinematic sound is explored; slowly unravelling stories backed by delicate acoustics and elated, emotive string pieces. Put The Needle On The Record and joint closers Starry Heavens and I Am Rich In All That I’ve Lost are relaxed and fall into the more traditional world of folk inspired melancholia. Kathryn’s inimitable charm colours the whole album with emotion and affection – occasionally brooding, always likeable.
Kathryn is a tutor at Arvon and Moniack Mhor on song writing and has her debut novel, The Ormering Tide was published by Wrecking Ball Press to critical acclaim in March 2021.
Robert Vincent
Robert Vincent is one of the most acclaimed new voices on the Americana music scene.
Born in Crosby Liverpool, his upbringing inculcated him with a very Merseyside culture of storytelling and language.
A key influence would be the American country records that his father would play around the house such as Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris.
He received an early education in Pink Floyd thanks to his older brothers that he shared a bedroom with. This eclectic mix of musical influence remains palpable in the music of Vincent to this day.
In 2013 Robert Vincent released his debut album Life in Easy Steps. Critically well-received, the title track was play-listed by Radio 2. After meeting Whispering Bob Harris at an event called ‘Bluebird at the Bluecoat’ that brought the concept of the bluebird cafe in Nashville to The Bluecoat Chambers in Liverpool, the legendary radio presenter invited Robert to perform a live session on his Radio 2 show and in 2016 awarded him with his ‘Emerging Artist’ of the year
award at the inaugural UK Americana Awards show in Hackney London. Harris described Vincent as “absolutely magnetic” and “the real deal”
In 2018 his Sophomore album ‘I’ll Make the Most of my Sins’ was named UK Americana Album of the Year. Meeting and performing with musical director Ethan Johns at the award ceremony would shape his future career. In February of 2018 Robert was invited to perform on the BBC ‘Old Grey Whistle Test, For One Night Only’ closing the show. It was this performance that would propel him to number 1 and 2 in the iTunes Album and Singles Charts.
A Versatile performer, Vincent has toured extensively with full band and solo. Notable performances include Showcase performances at Americana Fest in Nashville, Tennessee, supporting Roger Waters at Hyde Park, Tours with Paul Carrack and Duane Eddy who gifted him with one of his signature ‘Gretsch’ guitars after his 80th birthday celebration at The London Palladium.
Robert Vincent’s most relevant and ambitious work to date comes in the form of his 2020 release, ‘In this Town You’re Owned’. Vincent observes life in both his hometown and the wider world. Recorded in Legendary Rockfield Studios by Brit Award winning producer Ethan Johns who has won acclaim for his work (Paul McCartney, Ray Lamontagne, Laura Marling) The talented 6-piece band recorded live straight to 16 track tape with Johns contributing musically too. Such was the hypnotic spirit between the musicians and the strength of Vincent’s material the whole of In this Town You’re Owned was recorded and mixed in two weeks flat.
Since the February release the record has charted at number 2 in the UK Americana Charts been critically praised both in the UK and Europe and USA. At the midway point of the year American Songwriter Magazine named ‘In this Town You’re Owned’ in its top 20 albums (every genre) of 2020 to date.