Music
Every Friday night we showcase quality LIVE music from established and up-and-coming acts. Doors open at 8pm.
“..the Grain Barge is hot on [Thekla’s] heels for nailing some of those local musicians on the cusp of stardom.” Bristol 24-7
MAY
 THE PEOPLE'S STRING FOUNDATION
Friday 18th May ~ 8pm
£5 Door Entry
The South West is the appropriate home for the beautifully evocative, languid and lush music of The People’s String Foundation. Theirs is unfamiliar territory, scaling the heights of jazz, hip-hop beat-work, Middle Eastern melodies- performed with an eye toward experimentation and nods toward the avant-garde. Essentially the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist and jazz singer Ben Sutcliffe and world/blues guitarist Zaid Al-Rikabi- the duo combine to wonderful songwriting effect but it’s in their live performances that the group combine, enlisting the assistance of a troupe of inspired musicians.
+ BEN CALVERT (SOLO)
"Introspective and often melancholic vocals offer the perfect picture window to an era of sound from the likes of Nick Drake. Folk music served up with a splash of dark psychedelia.” **** Folk Radio UK
+ UBERPHONIC TRIO
Stripped down version of live jazzy hip hop merchants Uberphonic Experiment!
 PHIL KING PRESENTS
Friday 25th May ~ 8pm
£4 Door Entry
'I am not interested in making music that impresses people, just music that touches people.'
Phil King has 2 albums under his belt (not literally) "They Come and They Go" from 2009 and "Leaves" from 2006. Both received some fantastic press, regional and national. (see reviews page). He has performed all over the UK, at festivals and fayres, in pubs, clubs and bars, on bandstands and boats, and once in a beautiful treehouse. He performs regularly in Paris and has also played in Zurich, Barcelona, New York and Weston-Super-Mare. Phil has had his music played on many local radio stations and also by Bob Harris, Steve Lamacq and Alex Lester on BBC Radio 2.
"Absolutely Brilliant!" - Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2, June 2009
"smouldering folk from Venue’s Roots Artist of the Year 2010, Phil King" - Venue Magazine
CARRIE TREE
"Carrie's
natural beauty and vibrant singing voice have a way of immediately
drawing attention towards her. Her delicate and soulful melodies, poetic
lyrics, and her precise and imaginative finger-picking style embellish
the room with waves of emotion that soar, swoop and linger and keep that
attention." The Guardian
JUNE
 FLASH HARRY
Friday 1st June ~ 8pm
£5 Door Entry
Flash Harry have secret powers that lift your spirits and move your feet. The rhythms weave their magic as the instruments take you on a rootsy mystery tour. Strange tales unfold of mice and men, of hamsters and humans, of love and lust and joy and debauchery. Flash Harry are masters of their craft. Their music puts a smile on your face, sweat on your brow and stomp in your feet. Flash Harry are: Pete Watson: Fiddle, mandolin, vocals Roger Slade: Guitar, ukulele, vocals Chris Mitchell: Bass, vocals John Furlong: Drums Vicky Burke: Saxophone, whistle, vocals Simon Edwards: Melodeon.
+ IAN PERRY
A stunning musician...easily stroking tumbling contrapuntal lines from his guitar, and with a refined and nimble tenor
 TBC
Friday 8th June ~ 8pm
£5 Door Entry
 TEN POUND SUIT BAND
Friday 15th June ~ 8pm
£5 Door Entry
Super stompin', courageous and rawkus hillbilly swing and gypsy troupe delivering the kind of fun only available in a Deliverance style boat ride.
+ POOR OLD DOGS
Five piece rabble of miscreants playing high-energy folk to stamp your feet and shout wildly!
 POPPY PEREZZ
Friday 22nd June ~ 8pm
£5 Door Entry
The four piece, hailing from Mexico, Trinidad and England but now resident in the suitably cosmopolitan city of Bristol, make feel-good, sunshine-happy music for cool and groovy summer nights. Described variously as pinball electro, chirp-hop or even electro-funk-folk pop, one thing’s for certain: you’re unlikely to have heard anything quite like it before. Imagine an exotic trip through Highlife-style guitar licks, Mariachi-band trumpets, percolating basslines, disco handclaps, soaring flute solos, crazy arpeggio synth lines and video game bleeps and bloops – and you’ll get the general idea.
 CLAYTON BLIZZARD ALBUM LAUNCH
Friday 29th June ~ 8pm
£5 Door Entry
Clayton Blizzard and Dr Spin rocked Grain Barge so well earlier this year that we asked them back to celebrate the release of Clayton's new album.
This is west country social commentary of the highest order with clever and funny rhymes, lines and rhythms over acoustic guitar. Some call this Folk-Hop.
There is something largely unique about Clayton's live performances, combining local politics and domestic observations in his rapping with big electro energy from Dr Spin.
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