Film Review: Man On The Run – What Do You Do After You’ve Been A Beatle? You've conquered the world, made piles of money, and the band you started with your Liverpudlian mates has blazed a trail that makes them cultural heroes and the most lauded rock outfit ever. You're only 27 when the band…

Live Review: Nostalgia in Those Blue Remembered Hills at York Theatre Royal Inspired by the famous poem written by AE Housman, Blue Remembered Hills explores memories of childhood and the effect of the environment on personal development.

Photoset: Tony McManus and Julia Toaspern Light Up The Black Swan Thursday on Peasholme Green, Tony McManus and Julia Toaspern provided the entertainment for York folk fans.

With Vocalised Ambience, It’s Time to Get Cozy with Dren McDonald In July 2025, we featured the first volume of Dren McDonald’s Stay: Forever Home soundtrack, Chaos. Now, volume two, Cozy, has been unleashed onto the world.

Discovery: Pioneering In Every Sense of The Word, FREZYA, LPSV, and Lokido Lab Paint The Future in Sound FURTIVA, a new heavy beat and energetic track is set to be released on 20 February 2026.

Dryadic Balance Politics and Vulnerability on Bold New Album Permission To Speak It’s difficult to be bold in the face of those who wish we would silently slip away, but that’s exactly what Zora McDonald and her band Dryadic have done with their new album, Permission To Speak.

Amy Berg Returns With a Haunting Look at Jeff Buckley’s Life and Legacy Amy Berg's previous film, focusing on Janis Joplin, was an excellent portrayal, and she returns to the notion of lost talent in the new documentary, It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley.

Discovery: Michelle Lynne Unites Two Musical Worlds on Her Genre‑Crossing Debut One Step At a Time How exactly does one bridge the gap between classical and modern pop? It’s a question that Michelle Lynne attempts to answer on her new album, One Step At A Time.

Women on Top: Pop Was Due A Gender Rebalance In 1972, the NME issued a "Wall of Fame", a poster listing the best musicians in rock. It was almost exclusively the preserve of men.

Sarah McGuinness Revives Soho Spirit with Re‑Release of Don’t Let Our Love Go As an Emmy-nominated writer and a BAFTA-nominated director, it’s easy to overlook that Sarah McGuinness is also a singer, musician, and spent her early career as a club owner.

Live Review: Kaiser Chiefs Clock Back In as Employment Hits 20 in Bradford They say that nostalgia is not like it used to be, but on Friday evening Kaiser Chiefs flew in the face of this idiom.

Discovery: Torrio’s Dark, Dynamic and Rhythm‑Driven New Single Snakes Bites Hard Torrio’s new single Snakes is a mesmerising, magnetic take on hip-hop. It’s coiling tension and dark, smoky soundscape is gripping, eerie, and dynamic.

Leyla Romanova Paints Paris in Sound on Lush New Track Lettres sous la pluie Lettres sous la pluie is a gorgeous, richly optical piece of music that showcases Leyla Romanova’s remarkable ability to inhabit new genres as though she has lived inside of them for years.

Live Review: York talent deliver superb, explosive, knock-out performances in Jesus Christ Superstar Inspired by Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar was an exciting demonstration of quality local theatre.

Tyler Ramsey brings intimate folk brilliance to York this April Singer-songwriter and acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist Tyler Ramsey, best known for his decade with Band of Horses, returns to the UK this spring as part of a select run of headline dates, with a stop in York on Saturday 4 April.

Singing River Continue Their Americana Journey with Shoutin’ Good Time Busking in the bedroom, just houses apart, Mike James and Anthony Kuhn (Singing River) had separate musical journeys, both honing their styles and developing their affinity for deeper American storytelling.

Live Review: A Sumptuous Repast of Alternative Talent at the All Should Eat Charity Gig The steady procession of regulars at the Crescent are outnumbered tonight. Outnumbered by a university crowd which handily fill the legendary venue, one of York’s last. I’d wager more than half of this lot are…

Discovery: The Cross Sea Drop a Mesmerising Debut Built on Instinct and Creative Chemistry The Cross Sea's new self‑titled album is a striking debut from a project built on instinct, collaboration, and emotional release.

Caleb L’Etoile Builds on American Death Success With Fiery New Unity Anthem Gun Caleb L’Etoile is best known to these pages for his 2025 album of the year, American Death. Our first taste of his music this year is unity anthem, Gun.

Before The Rules Lock In Every independent musician is told there are rules to this.

Outlaw Charm and Sharp Wit Fuel Ruby Wheeler’s Straight and Narrow York’s own Ruby Wheeler is proving to be a force to be reckoned within the local country scene.

Discovery: Memory Engine Craft a Striking First Impression on Their Self‑Titled Debut EP You only get one chance at making a first impression, so they say, which is perhaps why Memory Engine took the time to craft theirs.

Live Review: Hot Wax Turn Sidney & Matilda’s Into a Sweaty Grunge Furnace On a very wet Sheffield evening, Sidney & Matilda’s became a pressure cooker of sweat, distortion and barely contained chaos. Review and Photos - John Hayhurst Support came in the form of Jeanie and the White Boys, who…

ALLEY (The Band) Choose The Road Less Travelled In Second Single ALLEY (The Band) announced themselves to us late last year through their debut single, The Release (Now It’s Over). Now it’s time to hear their second.

Discovery: Knife Emoji Craft a Cinematic, Long‑Form Debut That Defies the TikTok Era In the modern world, there’s a focus on trends, and it’s easy to forget that they’re not the be all and end all.

Live Review: Di‑Cysgodion Bend Time and Genre in a Dazzling Basement Set It’s always a pleasure to see audience members traversing the cold and rain of a bleak Thursday night in February to support emerging avant‑garde talent at The Basement. In this case, their effort was well rewarded by the…

Photoset: York Residents Celebrate Winter Folk Day at The Black Swan Inn Chris Euesden, Eddie Affleck, Judith & Trish, Leather'O, Phil Cerny, and White Sail were among the performers in the venue's intimate upstairs room.

Néomí Starts 2026 Strong with Intimate New Single Didn’t I We’ve been covering the work of néomí for a few years now, and the Dutch-Surinamese artist even paid a visit to our fair city in 2025 in support of Seafret.

Discovery: Psych Rockers Crescent Rise from The Underrated Hartlepool Scene There’s something in the water up the coast in Hartlepool, as Shy Bairn Records unearth another northern gem, Crescent.

Discovery: We Connect with OGGY at the Start of a Soul-Searching New Era OGGY is an artist we’re discovering at the start of a new era, heralded by her single Help Me Find A Reason.

Discovery: Matt Smith Blends Vulnerability and Protest on …this is not ok…  As the number of those seeking to divide feels ever more present in the world, it’s important to remember that there are those fighting in the opposite direction.

Discovery: Rameez Khalid, Kainat Masood & Amaizy Team Up for East-Meets-West Pop Wonder, Shehnai What’s better than one creative powerhouse? Three! Shehnai combines the talents of Rameez Khalid, Kainat Masood, and Amaizy (Aizad Hashmi).

Live Review: “Britainicana” Hits Critical Mass – Westside Cowboy at the Brudenell Words and Photos - John Hayhurst The Brudenell is the kind of venue that thrives on nights like this: sticky floors, low ceilings, a crowd packed in so tight that the air itself seems to hum. On a wet Leeds winter…

Live Review: Maxïmo Park “Splits Kick” their way up the A19 to York’s Crescent Community Venue Words and Photos - John Hayhurst By the time the doors open at Crescent Community Venue, there’s a sense of something deliciously wrong. This is a room built for earnest locals and cult bands, not a…

Live Review: Sophie Lloyd shreds Holmfirth into submission Review and Photos by John Hayhurst Saturday night in Holmfirth is cold, damp but quietly buzzing. Inside Holmfirth Picturedrome, though, it’s already crackling before a single note is played. Support comes from BEX, a key figure in the…

Live Review: JINJER bring 2026’s most stacked line up to Manchester’s Ritz Words: Kian Simon-Law Photos: John Hayhurst January sees my return to the world of live performance, this time for a wholly unique set of musicians. JINJER. Headlining this tour, the band returned to the road for the debut…

Discovery: Oliver Rees and Leeds’s Tamara S Create Diary in Song on Debut Album Tamara S’s debut album Where Are The Butterflies?, a collaboration with Oliver Rees, is a diary sung. Sharing the fears, joys, and inner‑dialogues we experience moving through life. Using the rhythmic, soulful, move‑y…

Live Review: Ash’s light still shines as they bring their cosmic new era to The Crescent I can't think of the band Ash without remembering a story a school friend told me about their drummer.

Maxïmo Park to mark A Certain Trigger milestone with special Leeds date Maxïmo Park are set to return to Leeds next month as part of their A Certain Trigger 20th anniversary celebrations, performing at O2 Academy Leeds on 20 February 2026.

DownTown Mystic Revives E Street Magic on Retro‑Charged Hard Enough Remix There are many things out there purporting to be ‘old school’ or ‘retro’ nowadays, but few are the real deal. In the case of DownTown Mystic, aka Robert Allen, his authenticity speaks for itself.

Brock Davis’s Nothing Lasts Forever is A Powerful Reflection on Life’s Impermanence Brock Davis certainly isn’t new to the music world, or to us, and now he’s about to return with a new album.

Discovery: Sheffield’s EchoBravo Delves into Dark Dreamscapes on New Ambient EP Awakening Of Dreams EchoBravo’s (Jack Booth) new collection Awakening Of Dreams are not just ambient soundscapes; they capture the essence of dreaming.

Live Review: WREX Bring Arena‑Level Energy to The Fulford Arms for Independent Venue Week January: horrendous weather, short days, and the post-Christmas comedown. Well, it's nearly over, and WREX saw it off in style at The Fulford Arms.

Discovery: Synth and cello cosmically collide in Duolant’s mesmerising new track Jeff Mettlewsky (Duolant) and Chris Rorrer’s new single Unwavering is a futuristic, cinematic piece of music capable of teasing out ideas from the complex, unexplored folds of the brain.

Pop-Rock Risktaker LØLØ Returns to the UK with Leeds Show This May Toronto-born pop-rock firestarter LØLØ brings her fearless new era to Leeds this spring as part of her god forbid a girl goes on tour! headline run.

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Discovery: Concerta Brings Trance Back to Life on Immersive Debut EP CONSUMPTION Arriving to us from the Seoul, Korea club scene, Concerta is a DJ and producer with the shrewdness needed to resurrect trance music.

Discovery: Tom Woodward’s Thoughtful, Genre‑Blending Folk Album, Come Come Karma New to our blog, Tom Woodward is a genre-blending folk artist that is worthy of attention.

Lucy Dreams Push Dream Pop Into the Fifth Dimension on New Album VVVVV Lucy Dreams are the pulsating successors to electronic pioneers like Pet Shop Boys and Empire of the Sun.

Live Review: Kara Tointon Shines in Laura Wade’s Bold Reworking of The Constant Wife Somerset Maugham was a playwright in the mould of Noel Coward, a writer who concealed some bitter truths beneath sparkling dialogue.