". . . within a single song she can veer from folk to jazz to blues to Beat to a New Orleans boisterous knockabout to rockabilly and back . . . Like Dylan on amphetamines." - Financial Times
“Montague can be both mesmerisingly tender and stingingly explosive, drawing from contemporary jazz guitar heroes such as Bill Frisell as much as he does
Wayne Krantz.” - Jazzwise
Sunday, 21st February
Sarah Gillespie &
Chris Montague
Long-term collaborators Sarah Gillespie and Chris Montague will perform songs from their brand-new duo album, Sheiling. Stripped-back, raw and story-rich, this new work moves between folk, jazz, Americana, beat poetry and roots-inflected blues.
Sarah’s incisive, poetic lyricism meets Chris’s inventive, genre-crossing guitar work on electric, acoustic and baritone guitars, creating performances that balance intimacy with risk and lyricism with improvisation.
A critically acclaimed Anglo-American singer-songwriter and guitarist renowned for mixing elements of jazz, blues and folk with her distinctive streetwise lyricism, and described by The Guardian as “an incandescent presence with superior lyrics”, Sarah cites among her influences Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and Lou Reed.
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Sarah’s a fiercely independent and radical singer-songwriter, eschewing the clichés of the 'chick with a guitar' genre to deliver something far more poetic, political and visceral. Her lyrically driven songs are conveyed with a powerfully sensuous voice and deft finger-picking.
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With her distinctive delivery, she's a passionate, formidable
storyteller – wrestling with the toils of life, love and yearning in a style that blends everyday banter with raw poetry. Bursting with character, Sarah's voice is strong and provocative, yet at the same time full of vulnerability - and it is this that makes her such a compelling performer. She's most definitely a veritable force of nature!
With five critically acclaimed four- and five-star albums to date, and a poetry collection, Sarah has performed at CBGB’s (NYC), Blue Note Milan, Ronnie Scott’s and the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, and appeared live on BBC Woman’s Hour and Loose Ends.
Chris Montague is one of the UK’s most distinctive guitar voices. A founding member of the genre-defying trio Troyka, he gained international recognition for his maverick approach to the guitar and has been widely acclaimed for his contributions to jazz, experimental and improvised music, having worked with Squarepusher, Dave Douglas, Trish Clowes, Charlie Watts, Django Bates, and the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra,
Known for his fearless improvisation and wide harmonic palette, Chris brings a raw, dynamic edge to the duo’s live sound.​