Blues Special – blues night

This April we will be hosting our first Blues night! Join us at Rother Street Arts House for a night of raw, soulful blues – live guitars, smoky vocals, and rhythms that tell stories you can feel. Whether you’re a lifelong blues lover or just looking for a great night of live music, come settle in, grab a drink and let the groove take over.

This April will see UK Blues Awards Finalists, The Swaps, as your headliner with Mark Harrison as support.

 The Swaps are Beth Brooks (vocals), James Knight (guitar and vocals), and Adam Phillips (guitar, keys and vocals). They have been honing their blend of blues, soul and folk for many years in different line-ups but have recently found the real magic (and national recognition) as an acoustic trio. Jaw-dropping vocals (“magic in that voice” Blues in Britain) and instinctive guitar interplay between James and Adam (“awe-inspiring … acoustic music at its very best” Blues Matters).

This year The Swaps have been nominated for two UK Blues Federation Awards, best acoustic act and best vocalist.Their recently released album “Fast Train” made it into the top 25 of the Official UK Folk Charts.

https://theswaps.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/theswaps/

Mark Harrison is an established, multi-award-nominated artist with an ever-growing reputation for being unlike any other artist out there. He performs all-original songs in his own very individual style. He has been regularly featured on BBC Radio, including the Radio 2 Pick Of the Week show, and a live session on Radio 2 Cerys Matthews Blues Show.  He has been described by the BBC as an artist who ‘makes you think afresh’ and by countless reviewers and audience members as ‘uplifting’ and ‘inspirational’.  

 Mark is well-known in the blues world – BBC Radio has said ’He’s kind of reinvented the blues in this country. What a glorious sound he makes’, he has been described as ’one of the most genuinely innovative, interesting bluesmen in Europe today’ by Blues Matters magazine, and he has been nominated multiple times in the UK Blues Awards (including 2026). 

https://www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com/index.php