Fabulous recent gigs with Jake Blount and Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno

Jake Blount & his band

I wanted to share a quick update after our own return to hosting live music with two local gigs that I put on in Yorkshire during late May: Jake Blount and his band (George Jackson, Gus Tritsch & Nelson Williams) at Meltham and then a double bill special in Sheffield with Jake & co plus Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno. It was quite emotional putting on concerts for a live audience again, and both were absolutely sensational gigs. Numbers were down compared to pre-pandemic but actually I had already decided to limit capacity to about 75% of what we used to do, so both concerts were almost sold out in the end.

First up was an absolutely magical evening at our Jake Blount concert in Meltham, Huddersfield on 21st May. It was so special to bring world class live music to this local community venue again after a break of 27 months… and to top it off, the folks at Kirklees Local TV came along to interview me and Jake and film some of the concert. Check out their video piece here:

Our 31st May double bill at The Greystones was just as good, maybe even better as it included the superb Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno, who had just returned from performing at Omagh Bluegrass festival in Northern Ireland. After a wonderful set from each act (and a surprise cameo from the excellent Rachel Baiman who joined Viv and Riley in a song), we were privileged to witness a trademark old time mash-up with all six musicians belting out a couple of fine footstomping standards – a really amazing night!

Jake was also recently featured on BBC Radio Sheffield: the interview was recorded during the tour, although the programme didn’t air until 3rd June, by which time the band was ensconced at Fire in the Mountain festival in deepest Wales. You can Listen Again here to the New Traditions show on BBC Sounds, it’s a great interview with Greg Russell who also plays some of Jake’s album tracks.

Thanks to all who came out and supported the gigs – we really can’t do it without you, especially in these challenging times, so please keep supporting grassroots live music as much as you can! Our next “home gig” in Meltham on 25th June features fun and fabulous bluegrass and roots band Stillhouse Junkies from Colorado – tickets are out now and you can book here.