Australian singer-songwriter Emily Barker stops off at Band on the Wall with her brand new solo album, Sweet Kind of Blue. The folk and country musician tries her hand as a soul chanteuse for the record, which tells a love story between Barker and Memphis.
From £14.50
Two-time Grammy Award winner Jeff Tweedy performs ‘re-imaginings’ of songs through throughout his career, with Wilco, Golden Smog and Loose Fur, to mark the beginning of his retrospective series, the Loft Acoustic Sessions.
From £28.50
Philadelphia’s psych rockers The War On Drugs play Manchester’s Apollo over two back-to-back nights during an epic two-month tour. The six-piece, who formed in 2005, are touring their acclaimed fourth long-player A Deeper Understanding, which recently debuted at #3 in the album charts.
From £25.00
Mercury Prize-nominated pianist and composer Zoe Rahman leads the third outing of Band on the Wall’s Jazz Directors Series. She will be joined by the Inner City Ensemble, a group of emerging UK musicians, who have taken part in a four-day residency programme, culminating in a short run of live performances.
From £12.00
American wanderer Julie Byrne returns to Manchester to evoke scenes drawn from travels across her native land. Her simple-yet-effective arrangement and intimate vocals draws the audience in to tales of roadside diners, vast deserts and the Californian coast.
From £11.00
Featuring two Cinematic Orchestra alumni, The Breath are a Manchester supergroup of sorts. Following the release of their much-praised debut record Carry Your Kin last year, catch the four-piece sway from folk to soul to rock to ambient music – plus everything in between – for this hometown show.
From £12.00
One of the country’s most outstanding folk groups celebrates a decade of success with their first retrospective album and a corresponding tour. It’s your chance to experience the dynamic trio’s fan-favourites at their most breath-taking.
From £18.50
Catch the Mercury Prize-nominated Tynesiders as they explore the symphonic possibilities of their folk songs, with the help of chamber orchestra Army of Generals, conducted by maverick Charles Hazlewood.
From £25.00
German pianist, composer and producer Nils Frahm returns to Albert Hall three years after his last visit. Since then, he has established an innovative annual Piano Day project, and produced film and game soundtracks that have raised his profile even further.
From £25.00
John Smith headlines the opening event of the inaugural Manchester Folk Festival – highlighting the gravelly vocals and distinct fingerstyle guitar work that have won over audiences around the world. From £19
Grammy-winning musician St. Vincent plays her largest Manchester show to date this October. She is touring new album Masseduction, which counts power, sex, imperilled relationships and death among its themes, and features contributions from the likes of Kamasi Washington and Jenny Lewis.
From £25.00
Lou Reed’s mid-70s avant-garde classic Metal Machine Music is the subject of this recital, which combines the considerable talent of zeitkratzer and Ensemble 2e2m on strings, horns and percussion. 17 (£14 concession/online)
