Meeting Points

Where I'm playing in the UK this Autumn-Winter 25/26

As most of you know by now, performing live is at the heart of what I do.

It’s not just because it is nice. It represents so much of what I believe in and care about in relation to music, what it is for and why it is so meaningful for so many of us.

In an age of fleeting, transitory moments, where anything can be scrolled away at the first inkling of being not-quite-captivating-enough™️, my approach to live music performance represents a determined intention to being present / being here now (IKYNY), open, genuine, and accessible; in the belief - in certain moments - that music is enough, and that our collective experience of it matters.

This is why I invest so much time in making these things happen.

Because it matters.

It is also why this Autumn, I’ll be playing in:

• Lowestoft, the UK’s easternmost town

• very rural parts of Scotland

• three places in the wider Yorkshire region which don’t get the same focus as larger cities such as Leeds, Sheffield and York

and why in early 2026 I’ll be:

• heading back to the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides

• spending a weekend focusing on the North York Moors and over to the coast and the East Riding of Yorkshire

• heading all the way down to Penzance at the very southwestern tip of England

Because it matters.

I am going to write about this topic in more detail soon, but I think we are sleepwalking (and in some instances being deliberately pushed) into a concerningly touristic approach to live music experience and appreciation.

In this next season of live shows, you’ll see I am playing in many of the UK’s biggest and most vibrant cities including London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh. However, even though these are all places with great music scenes and large audiences, there are also plenty of people who live in smaller urban areas through to remote, rural parts of the country, many of whom are live music fans too.

These folks deserve access to live music as much as anyone else, but, crucially, it isn’t truly accessible access if these people are always obliged to travel to larger metropolitan areas (and all the financial implications this entails) to see, hear and experience it.

It needs to happen in their community too.

yes, there is a great deal more to explore about the challenges this presents, and the structural inequalities and financial impediments to making this happen, but that will have to be for another post

I’ve come to appreciate just how important community is for the long-term sustainability of the music industry. The human condition is such that we are all searching for ways in which to belong, and to feel part of something bigger than ourselves, and musical communities offer such a rich and wonderful way to do this.

I’ve written a little more about the deep-seated motivations behind my approach to this and why it is of such importance to me on a number of previous occasions (see the following links):

Audiential Togetherness

What Is Music For?

Performance Practice

Fundamentally, it comes down to a much greater understanding and appreciation of self and how and why I want to perform my music; combined with a deep-seated belief in the imperative around the two-way nature of the performer-audience interaction and relationship I have come to value so much.

It is absolutely not a riposte or repudiation of a more top-down performance methodology; of course, there must always be space for a multiplicity of approaches, and there are certain works, musical styles and ensemble configurations which would be less successful or indeed not allow for this more intimate two-way performance aesthetic to thrive.

Which is exactly how it should be.

But as you can see in the articles linked previously, my belief and dedication to what I’m doing is founded on a range of experiences, both good and bad, with the simple aim of bringing people together around the shared enjoyment of music.

Because it is good.

Because it is fun.

Because it matters.

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So, as we approach the colder months this encroaching Autumn and Winter, I’d once again love to extend the invitation to you and all of those in your community; family, friends, colleagues etc.

Maybe it’s just people you know through music. Faces and names you have come to recognise and know simply by virtue of being at the same gigs a lot of the time. The power of this to instil that special sense of belonging, and of knowing “this is a safe place for me” is the most wonderful thing.

Here is where I am going be during these next six months. There are others still to be finalised, mostly nearby to some of the confirmed dates you can see, so please do keep an eye out.

As always, you are extremely welcome to join me.

I look forward to seeing you soon!