Tonight is the first in our new series of Songwriters Circle events, celebrating the art of songwriting with three superb artist/writers sharing the stage and talking about where the songs came from, what they're about, etc. in a collaborative and supportive atmosphere. There are a range of tickets available, from the Advance ticket at £4 to the Artist Donation ticket at £7 and the UberSupporter ticket at £10 for those people who wish to really help the artists out. FAC members and staff at Help Musicians UK can get a discount to thank them for all they do to support emerging music and musicians, and PledgeMusic Artist can too. 100% of ticket money goes to the acts. So... who's on tonight?

/// Charlie Wood ///

"Remember the first time you heard Dylan, or Springsteen, or Costello, or Waits? Charlie Wood delivers that same jolt...” The Jazz Times

“I fell in love with this man’s voice the moment I heard it. He is the essence of soul and blues. I am so lucky to have sung on the same stage as him.” – Paloma Faith

“Charlie Wood is that rarest of combinations, a singer who’s as soulful as his songwriting is smart. He’s also a wicked piano and B3 player. He does it all, except ironing.” – Harry Shearer

“(Wood’s) writing is exceptional, the often-ruminative songs featuring well-honed, literate lyrics… written with the technical precision and linguistic flair of a classic from the Great American Songbook.” – Trevor Hodgett, R2 Magazine

“…a lean, unblemished voice which has the high, lonesome timbre of a dedicated bluesman.” – New Statesman

“Grade-A natural beauty.” – Mojo Magazine

“Charlie Wood embodies hepcat worldliness and barroom empathy; he’s got style but also the wisdom that gives it heftiness.” – Jazz Review

“Every jazz fan likes to have a best-kept secret but if there’s any musical justice, we should see a lot more of Charlie Wood.” Mark Gilbert, Jazz Journal

“…the growl and moan of Eric Burdon, the otherworldly lilt of Donald Fagen, and the scorched majesty of Kurt Elling" - Jazzwise

If approval of you peers is important, then Charlie Wood's CV says it all. In his time on Beale Street, Memphis (for which he earned the Beale Street Brass Note, the freedom of the city, and a Charlie Wood Day) he tore it up with BB King, Albert King and Mose Allison to name but a few. A musicians' musician, he is one of those rare artists incapable of a lazy lyric or average playing. A long time friend of ours, and a songwriter and performer who has truly reached the top 1% of his genre. Can't wait to hear him how again how we like him best... just him and a piano.

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Pat Dam Smyth

'The Great Divide conquers beautifully" - The Independent

'He has returned to create something beautiful...' The Daily Mirror

'The Great Divide is amazing. It's musical storytelling at its finest...' BBC

'A rare kind of truthful songwriting' The Irish Times

‘Epic’ - Female First

‘Beautiful, with an acerbic bite’ - PRS Magazine

PAT DAM SMYTH’S debut album ‘The Great Divide’ was hailed as a modern masterpiece in his native Northern Ireland and received critical acclaim from The Independent , Q magazine, Hotpress Magazine, Irish Times, BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 music to name just a few. Born and raised on a farm in Northern Ireland from Irish and Greek roots he moved to London, via Dublin, Liverpool, Athens and Los Angeles. He was lead singer of London band Smokey Angle Shades, going solo in 2010. His music falls somewhere between Beck, Lou Reed and Bowie, and his ability to distill his raw authenticity into a mixture of world weary low vocals, and those soul-searingly high moments is winning him an army of fans both inside the industry and out.

He is currently in pre-production for his new record and the demos are already demonstrate an artist who has learned his trade, and honed his ability to create that space around the vocal.

In the meantime though,The Great Divide remains an album that will stand the test of time, drawing comparisons in some quarters to Bill Fay’s Time of The Last Persecution. Made in Belfast, produced by Portland’s Barrett Lahey it features heavy instrumentaion of brass, strings ,a choir and a speaking part from Terry Hooley ‘Godfather of Punk’ of Good Vibrations Records. The song “SET IN STONE” was handpicked by award winning French Director David Moreau for the soundtrack of his 2013 Feature Film “20 ANS D’ECART”. The album also provides the soundtrack for a (studio contracts allowing) forthcoming film which was written by and stars Tom Hardy.

For the new record Pat has formed a formidable partnership with Drummer/songwriter CHRIS McCOMISH forging a live show that is blowing away audiences across UK and Europe - including a sold out show at September’s Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg where Pat was selected by the official organisers as Best of Showcase, as well as being quoted as being Songlink’s highlight of the festival, who called him ‘mesmerising’.

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Ralegh Long

**** - MOJO
'really really beautiful' Lauren Laverne, BBC6 Music
'demented beauty' - The Guardian

Ralegh Long is an English Singer-Songwriter. His critically acclaimed debut album, "Hoverance", was released on Gare du Nord records in April 2015. It is a beautifully pastoral record, in the tradition of Bill Fay and Nick Drake. The Guardian praised it for its 'twilit ambience and demented beauty', and in a 4 star review MOJO celebrated its 'spooky pastoralism'.

To write the album, Long left London and returned to the surrounding countryside where he grew up. Sitting at a piano overlooking the fields he wrote a debut album suffused with natural imagery and mysticism. He then returned to London and gathered a group of friends to record the album. The cast of collaborators includes Tom Dougall of TOY on guitar, Jack Hayter (ex-Hefner) on pedal steel, string-arranger Louis-Phillipe (El records, The Clientele) and chamber group A Little Orchestra.

Long spent the summer of 2015 touring, culminating in a headline show for Parallel Lines at St. Pancras Old Church - where he was backed by A little Orchestra. Tracks from Hoverance received airplay on BBC6, from DJs including Lauren Laverne, Guy Garvey and Gideon Coe, BBC Scotland, BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio. The album's opening track, 'Gulls Hovering' was chosen as a 'Headphones Moment' by Laverne. Long is currently writing and recording an E.P due for release early 2016.