On this page we will bring you details of the artists we have booked and links to buy tickets.
Doors open at 8pm and the music starts at 8.30.
Please note that for gigs at The Great Northern Railway Tavern, this is an upstairs pub room and not wheelchair accessible.
___________________________________________________________________________
2025
The Cosimo Matassa Project
Friday 10th January, 2025
With support from The Blinkin’ Buzzards
£20
Book Tickets
Image: Laurie Lewis
Cosimo Matassa! Now there’s a name to conjure with.
This man made musical magic in his New Orleans recording studio 75 years ago and became one of the most important figures in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, guiding to stardom Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Dr John, Allen Toussaint, Lloyd Price, Big Joe Turner and many more.
He created the New Orleans sound – heavy on piano, bass and horns, copied by many and still hugely influential in popular music today.
Now, in a brilliant revival of the glorious music of that time, we present The Cosimo Matassa Project, the brainchild of Dai Price (leader of those long-time Kalamazoo favourites, Dai and the Ramblers) and piano maestro Alan Dunn. Bass man Dai leads on vocals and has assembled a crack team of session players : Al “Dente” Dunn (he’s worked with Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III and Bob Geldof), tenor sax man Damian Hind (Van Morrison, Jerry Dammers, Allen Toussaint), trumpeter Dave Priseman (Imelda May, Jeff Beck, Jools Holland orchestra) and drummer Jonathan Lee (James Hunter band).
Adam Beattie
February 14
With support from The Blinkin’ Buzzards
£20
Book tickets
Adam Beattie makes his debut at the Kalamazoo – and, it must be said, not before time!
This brilliant London-based Scot has been captivating audiences everywhere for 20 years with his gentle, haunting songs of love and loss.
Superlatives come thick and fast for an artist steeped in the folk tradition of his homeland and who is a proud member of 12-piece supergroup Band of Burns, an international ensemble casting a new light on the work of Scotland’s national poet.
“Incredibly beautiful,” said BBC Radio6 Music’s Mary Anne Hobbs. “Fantastic,” said Bob Harris and the verdict from Loud and Quiet magazine on the latest of his five acclaimed solo albums was “mesmeric.”
Just describing him as a singer-songwriter doesn’t come close. As Americana UK puts it: “Beattie’s arrangements, finger-picking acoustic guitar and distinctive vocals make short work of any such labelling as he throws jazz and blues into the folk mix and produces songs of great originality drawn from experience and observation of the human condition.”
The Errol Linton Band
March 14
With support from The Blinkin’ Buzzards
£20
Book tickets
Three times winner of the British Best Harmonica Player of the Year Blues Awards, Errol Linton is a harmonica wizard from Brixton (of Jamaican descent), a singer, a songwriter, a painter and the hero of the London Underground, where he played his unique and highly original blend of blues with hints of reggae for 20 years! Following the release of his critically acclaimed 3rd album, Mama Said in 2011, his songs can now be heard on national and regional BBC radio and Jazz FM. Brixton born and bred, Errol funded the production costs for his latest album from busking for over 15 years and blends Chicago style blues with his Jamaican and London roots. But he’s playing much bigger gigs now and has supported Dr John and Screaming Jay Hawkins.
Michael Messer and Chaz Jankel Trio, featuring Andy Crowdy on bass
May 9
with support from The Blinkin’ Buzzards
£20
Book tickets
Slide guitar supremo Michael Messer with Blockheads legend and multi-instrumentalist Chaz Jankel. It doesn’t get better than this!
The pair have known each for 40 years but it wasn’t until a phone chat four years ago and the suggestion of a jam that it all came together. And how! The result was the acclaimed “Mostly We Drive” – “an exhilarating album of original songs with mesmerising grooves,” said Rough Trade.
” A gem of an album,” said At The Barrier. “Copious servings of blues and a healthy chunk of Blockheads-like funk.” The careers of these master musicians had gone down different paths after they met in the days when the Blocks and Ian Dury were storming the land. But the pair are beside themselves with excitement about the new project.
“There is a cross-over point where our different musical orientations chime and here it is,” says Chaz. “The songs are SO good to play.”
“A wonderful experience,” says Michael. “We were pulling each other in different directions and hopefully producing good music along the way.”
Michael and Chaz are joined by Andy Crowdy on bass.
Clive Carroll
October 10 2025
With support from The Blinkin’ Buzzards
£20
Book tickets
