JOHN SMITH (UK) + CAITLIN HARNETT


7.30PM: DOORS
8.00PM: CAITLIN HARNETT
9PM: JOHN SMITH (UK)

UK folk singer John Smith tours Australia for the first time in December/January, playing at Woodford and Cygnet Folk Festivals alongside headline shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. 

Widely regarded as one of the UK’s finest guitar players, Smith‘s latest album Great Lakes has also seen him recognised as one of the most exciting voices in the new British folk scene. Called “brilliant” by MOJO Magazine and “spellbinding” by Time Out, Great Lakes features beautifully crafted songs, lush production and effortlessly captivating delivery. 

The success of Great Lakes has taken Smith’s career to a new level internationally, touring North America, Europe and Australia in 2014, and this month performing his biggest headline show to date at the 2000 capacity Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. 

Smith has also performed at major festivals including Glastonbury, Green Man, Cambridge and Edmonton Folk Festivals, toured with the likes of Iron & Wine, Ben Howard, David Gray, Gil Scott-Heron, Chris Thile and John Martyn and was recently announced as part of the line up for the prestigious Transatlantic Sessions in January alongside Patty Griffin and Rodney Crowell. 

PRAISE FOR JOHN SMITH

“Utterly engrossing, earthy and compelling.” BBC Radio 2

“I believe in John Smith; his motivations are pure, his vision is straight, his music is honest and true. Were I to discover another man’s music flowing through my body and out my hands, and that music to be his, I would consider myself both lucky and blessed.” Kelly Joe Phelps

“John Smith again demonstrates why he is regarded as the guitarists’ guitarist.” The Sunday Times

“Brilliant” MOJO Magazine

“A guitar genius…He sounds as though he arrived 60 years ago but looks startlingly young, perched on a chair, quietly confident, charming and instantly engaging.” The Sun

Caitlin Harnett hails from Sydney, Australia but her songs evoke Laurel Canyon of the early 1970s. They share the personal and poetic nature of Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne’s early songs, combined with the fragility of Judee Sill, youthful in their outlook but with age-old concerns at their core. Combined with her guitar, banjo and harmonica, her songs have the lilt of folk, a touch of pop and the honesty of Americana.