BEN MCELROY//EDWIN WILLIAMSON BAND//RIK WARWICK

“I am a composer/musician based in Nottingham, UK but originally from the seaside town of West Kirby on The Wirral. I have been writing and recording music in various forms since my teens – teaching myself the basics of guitar and cassette based recording.

Sadly my shoe box of cassettes from this time dissappeared- I’m sure they’d contain all the cliches of teenage songwriting, alongside some pretty ‘naive’ guitar playing, but it would be nice to have a document of these early days! I think part of my drive to make music nowadays is a kind of yearning to recreate these lost gems- even including the odd wonky mix and interesting timings. 

Having explored many musical styles I gravitated towards the earthy tones of folk music and learnt how to make sounds out of fiddles, whistles and accordions. This, coupled with doing a music tech course at Clarendon College in Nottingham, led to my current musical mish mash of folky sounds fed and processed through my trusty old mac (the cassette recorder chewed up its last tape sometime in the early noughties).

I have released a number of albums/eps to date, some on small labels, some self released. My latest album ‘How I learnt to Disengage From The Pack’ was released in January 22 on The Slow Music movement and received a 4 star review (as well as folk album of the month) in The Guardian. My next album is a collaboration with U.S composer/pianist A Spot On the Hill, called Everything Was Different Yesterday is out 8th March 2023.”

EDWIN WILLIAMSON BAND Comparisons to Scott Walker and Nick Cave, fail to nail down Edwin’s spectral allure. Indeed, Edwin’s presence behind the cheap set of Manchester’s modern musical scene, forms part of the story of the city. He builds upon previous performances, with a full band line up and the presence of the multi talented Astrid Williamson (Electronic, Dead Can Dance) to further spice the pot. Unmissable.

RIK WARWICK is a polyphonic guitar maestro. His classical guitar sets are always a joy to behold, ripe with bewildering and delight inducing complexity.