Date/Time Sun 12 May 2024 8:00 PM
Price Online - £10 + £1 fee; On The Door - £12
Website: https://joetoppingmusic.com/
Joe Topping is a folk singer and multi instrumentalist from Liverpool, described by Sir Tom Jones as “a Weaver of Dreams”. His singing and guitar playing have entertained audiences all over the world, including live sessions on BBC Radio 2, ITV television, The National Film Awards, SXSW in Texas and of course a memorable night at TwickFolk in 2016.
Joe has played on stage and in the studio with many legends of the British folk scene including members of Fairport Convention, Andy Irvine and toured as stand in lead vocalist in the BBC2 award winning “Best live Act” Home Service.
Joe was a member of the legendary Ashley Hutching’s Rainbow Chasers, Charlie Landsborough’s touring band and is a member of festival favourites Elbow Jane.
During the Covid pandemic, Joe was asked to enter ITV’s The Voice and, seeing it as fun challenge to do while the rest of the music industry was shut down, decided to give it a go. He reached the semi-finals and his audition alone has reached nearly 1 million views on YouTube!
He grew up listening to the Irish and American folk songs that his father sang at the folk club that he ran for several decades. So Joe was constantly surrounded by traveling musicians passing through and who often stayed at the house. These troubadours, along with the literature of Steinbeck, Kerouac and W. H. Davies gave Joe a wanderlust for the open road and a passion for folk music.
Joe’s adventurous spirit has also seen him living in a pickup truck for the best part of a year in North America and also walking 1400 miles from Chicago to New Orleans with a guitar on his back to raise money for a musicians charity after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast.
Today, Joe channels these very qualities into his own music. He aspires to create songs that resonate with listeners on a profound level, aiming to forge a shared connection and foster a sense of community among his audience. Guided by values of kindness, love, and social activism, Joe’s music endeavours to contribute to a better world in every way possible.
Steve Warner discovered folk music later in life by stumbling into a folk session at his local pub in Kimpton. Despite a musical heritage of playing bass guitar in 90’s rock bands, he felt immediately at home with this community. The storytelling song writing and the energy and passion of fellow musicians playing together was something that lit a spark within him that has never gone out.
Doing the hard yards of folk sessions, floor spots, open mics, support slots, busking, pub gigs, coffee shops, wine bars and playing on London underground, Steve slowly developed his song writing skills and learned ‘his craft’ of how to play in front of a crowd. Eventually the gigs got bigger and crowd less rowdy with support slots at Cambridge folk club, Hitchin folk club, Redbourn folk club, Watford folk club, Royston folk club and appearances at Ely folk festival, Balsock, Kimpton Folk Festival and the Great British folk festival.