ALL PROFIT RAISED FROM TICKET SALES GOES TO FIXERS

Returning once again to raise funds for a charity with a very worthwhile cause, Gig in a Gallery (GIAG) is pleased to present a concert in aid of UK based youth charity, Fixers which helps young people to use their past to fix the future. The young "fixers" are motivated by personal experience to make positive change for themselves and those around them.

Staging a performance, along with GIAG founder and organiser Melissa James will be rising acoustic folk/Americana duo The Black Feathers , jazz pianist & singer/songwriter, Arthur Lea and folk singer/songwriter Jack Harris.

With thanks to Gallery Different which has offered use of its space, and to the time and kind generosity of these artists who have agreed to participate, all profit from ticket sales will go to Fixers - the charity for which the concert is fundraising.

With thanks also to Billetto for its donation of all booking fees to Fixers.

The gallery will provide cabaret-style seating and table service with drinks and nibbles being made available. Standing room tickets are also available.

NB: Concessionary tickets are available to those aged 60 and over, students, and to those with a disability. Proof of concessionary type will be requested upon arrival, at the ticketing desk within the gallery.

Please also note that the bathroom facilities at the gallery are on ground floor level but there are no disabled facilities.

THE LINE-UP

MELISSA JAMES

“Best current British blues singer I know.” - Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music

“Melissa’s vocals are sensitive, soulful and emotional...” - Maverick

Stripped Back is the beautifully intimate forthcoming release from London based singer-songwriter Melissa James.

A return to the recording studio last summer has resulted in a mini album of acoustic songs from the soulful-folk singer to allow the stories behind the lyrics to unfold. The depth of Melissa’s voice is highlighted as is the beautiful instrumental accompaniment of Tom Gamble’s guitar playing and Arthur Lea’s performance on piano. These songs – co-written with her collaborator, Ross Lorraine - were recorded live and illustrate Melissa’s vulnerability, leaving her with nowhere to hide which truly allows each song to shine.

Melissa’s stories chart growth and hurt and bring to the fore the tales that are built into her own life as well as those lives and influences that have surrounded her. A follow-up to her 2012 debut, Day Dawns, Stripped Back - to be released in late 2016 - is a collection of candidly moving songs and the overall result is heartfelt and raw.

THE BLACK FEATHERS

"Absolutely Wonderful" - Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2

"...stunning harmonies that were so good it reminded me of seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings" -

No Depression

The Black Feathers are an award-winning duo from Gloucestershire in England. The perfectly paired voices of Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler intertwine effortlessly to create a sound combining elements of folk, roots, alt-country and americana.

They married in 2012, which also marked the beginning of their musical adventure as The Black Feathers. They designed the band logo on honeymoon and the music soon followed. This close collaboration became the backbone of The Black Feathers’ sound. Whether playing to a 1,500 strong audience at the Colston Hall in Bristol, or to 80 crammed in to the Green Note in London, The Black Feathers give an intimate performance that draws the listener in to a special, strong and unique bond between two people.

The band have wasted no time in getting their music heard in venues around the UK, playing a multitude of shows and festivals up and down the country. Within their first year they were awarded the ‘5 Valleys Folk award’ and the following year also picked up the ‘Folkstock Arts Foundation’ award for best live performance. They have toured in Germany, Holland and in the USA including a sell out show at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee.

2014 saw the release of Strangers We Meet, the duo's debut 5 track EP. It gained national airplay on BBC Radio2, as well as warm reviews from national music press, including an interview in The Sunday Times. The Telegraph also listed it as one of the best albums of 2014.

The Black Feathers have spent the last three years honing their skills as songwriters and performers, and have spent the last year working on and recording their impressive debut album ‘Soaked to the Bone’. They are a highly regarded and respected duo on the scene, and this long awaited debut album is going to catapult them to new heights.

ARTHUR LEA

"Like the blues legends he admires, Arthur Lea is not only a great singer and songwriter – he’s also a fantastic showman" - Rick Pearson, Evening Standard music critic

"Hard-riffing...excellent pianist...like a 21st-century Thelonious Monk" - John Fordham, The Guardian

Reborn in 1980s London, Arthur Lea grew up singing the Beatles, dancing to Michael Jackson, and transcribing jazz records. Life on the road started at an early age - school band gigs ranging from the glam of local shopping centres to the even dizzier heights of New York's Twin Towers. Such rock n roll travels culminated with a scholarship to study Jazz Piano at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating 1st Class in 2005. His original ‘Hiptet' gained enthusiastic responses: ‘Confident...sharp solos’ - The Guardian, ‘Players to watch out for’ – Time Out.

Arthur has worked on numerous film projects, from independent music videos to documentary soundtracks. In 2011 he scored and produced for ‘Buy Back The Bombs', a film raising funds to clear land mines in Laos. In 2012 his original music was used in the award winning short, ‘Tired Of Playing Basketball'.

Summer of 2012 saw Arthur playing with Heart N Soul's Lizzie Emeh to over 80,000 at the opening ceremony of the London Paralympic Games.

JACK HARRIS

“A unique lyrical mind” – Q Magazine

“A natural and captivating song writing talent, 5/5” – The Telegraph

Jack Harris was a South by South-West showcasing artist at 17. He was also the youngest, as well as the only non-American person ever to win the New Folk song writing award at the Kerrville Folk Festival, Texas.

Previous winners included Gillian Welch, Steve Earle and Devon Sproule.

Those days are gone, along with most of Jack’s youth and vigour, but he’s still pleased to find himself in such company. And he still writes literate, compassionate songs, about subjects as disparate as Caribbean drinking festivals, the colour of a potato flower and the lives of great poets like Elizabeth Bishop.

Jack has received considerable acclaim for his live mix of song and story-telling, as well as his recorded output. His new album, 'The Wide Afternoon', is due out in October 2017.

THE GALLERY DIFFERENT EXHIBITION

'A Summer of Music and Fashion'

An exciting boundary crossing exhibition featuring artworks that celebrate music and fashion as well as live music and fashion events.

Mirroring ICONIC currently showing at The Broadgate Tower, the Gallery's summer exhibition again features Gil Carvalho, Keith Haynes and Guy Portelli, alongside many other gallery and guest artists. As London plays host to a number of high profile music related exhibitions this summer - Exhibitionism at Saatchi Gallery and Punk 1976 - 78 at the British Library, we are delighted to reflect the close association between the visual and performing arts with a series of live events, including an exhibition of millinery.

THE GIAG BACKSTORY

Gig in a Gallery was conceived by singer and songwriter, Melissa James who, in December 2012, learned of the charity Small Steps Project. Drawn to the stories of very young children scavenging Cambodian rubbish dumps to make a living for their families, she was prompted to try to do something to help.

Initially, three gallery concerts were organised: one in Dalston, one in Wimbledon and another in Camberwell. By the end of 2013, six gallery gigs had taken place, and an auction of a hat from Boy George, raising just under £1700 for Small Steps.

In September 2014, a concert was staged in Wimbledon to raise money to fund the next gallery gig in the series. Money raised from this multi-artist event has meant that organising is now underway for this long-awaited concert of 2016 which will see money raised going to Fixers.

You can learn more about the work of Fixers by watching this short film.