The best all round roots music club in West Yorkshire
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Jul 8 2025
Breabach
Sunday 22nd June 2025
Photos, videos & review by Keith Belcher
Sunday 22nd June 2025. The long ago sold out debut appearance (in the flesh) of Breabach. The band did make a virtual appearance during you know what, but this was the long overdue live visit.
The band are all multi instrumentalists and comprise Megan Henderson (fiddle, vocals, step dance), James Lindsay (double bass, vocals), Calum MacCrimmon (bagpipes, whistle, bouzouki, vocals, step dance), Conal McDonagh (bagpipes, whistle, vocals), and Ewan Robertson (guitar, cajon, vocals).
I might be wrong but I think Sunday was the first time we’ve had double bagpipes and double dancers on the stage in the same show. To say they went down well would be a gross understatement. A truly great night . They received a well deserved standing ovation. Some shots of the night.
videos by keith belcher
Knees Up
Les Pieds Joyeux
Muriwai
Jul 8 2025
Demi Marriner Band
Sunday 8th June 2025
Photos, videos & review by Keith Belcher
Sunday 8th June 2025. The Live Room Saltaire. Demi Marriner & Band.
Opening for the Demi Marriner band were The Steady Habits fronted by Connecticut born Sean C Duggan. The Steady Habits can be a duo, trio or quartet, (occasionally a quintet). Tonight they were a duo of Sean C Duggan, main vocal, guitar and harmonica and Cathy Ife on vocals and guitar. Joe Coombs who was playing guitar tonight for Demi Marriner is also a member of Steady Habits along with Jamie Dawson. Both Joe and Jamie are very familiar to TLR regulars.
Sean has a truly excellent voice, very reminiscent of Jason Isbell when playing solo. Excellent harmonica. Great songs and music. On the performance tonight, I, for one, would like to see the entire band at TLR in the future. Ron and Hilary have plans afoot, watch this space.
Demi Marriner Band is Demi, main vocals and guitar, Joe Coombs, vocals and guitars, Garry Kroll , drums and percussion and Scott Warman vocals and bass.
Wow!! immediately sprang to mind. I have been to a lot of great TLR shows since the venue opened in 2012 but I was staggered by the sheer energy of this performance. Demi and the band were on fire and it really showed. All the stops were pulled out. They were really enjoying playing, the audience were enjoying hearing and seeing, and the energy cycled between the stage and the floor and it just kept feeding on itself.
There are a couple of shots I’ve used just because of what I thought at the time. It was very difficult to pick a selection of shots to use, there were so many great ones.
On one shot Scott (bass) is laughing and for some reason when I saw that I started hearing the tune to ‘Start Me Up’ by The Stones but was hearing ‘You make a bass player Smile’ instead of the usual lines about grown men crying .
I’ve photographed Joe quite a few times and have never caught outright laughter when he is playing , the shot is out of focus but to me it just captured the mood. Likewise the final shot of Demi is heavily cropped but seemed to capture Demi’s feelings at the end of the show.
What a great night, you needed to be there! I really hope to see this band again.
videos by keith belcher
Steady Habits:Deviate
Good Guy Act
Forgiveness
Think Of Me
Jul 8 2025
Kroke (POL)
Sunday 25th May 2025
Photos, video and review by Keith Belcher
Kroke is a Polish instrumental ensemble of world music. The band’s name refers to the Yiddish language name for Kraków. The band were formed in 1992. They have collaborated with the likes of Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Peter Gabriel and Nigel Kennedy (to name but a few).
Originally a klezmer band their range covers a mix of modern Polish, klezmer, contemporary jazz, and classical chamber music. The band members are Tomasz Lato (double bass), Tomasz Kukurba (viola and whistle) and Jerzy Bawof (accordion) .
An “interesting” show to photograph and film. You have men in shadows, all wearing hats and glasses with music stands with very brightly lit iPads reflecting in their glasses. The music was absolutely amazing though and the sound was as pristine as usual which is what matters. I really was stuck for choice on what to pick, everything they played was so good. A truly amazing show.
(For the videos) I settled on the 10 minutes plus opener Light In The Darkness, a solo 90 second opening on small whistle from Tomasz Kukurba before Jerzy Bawof starts playing an accordion that produces sounds ranging from full church organs to harmonicas, Tomasz switches to plucked viola and is soon ccompanied by Tomasz Lato on electric double bass. This is not the longest tune of the set. The set 1 closer Magic Day was over 18 minutes of astonishing music. Jerzy opened the delicate Love (Lullaby For Kamila). The third video is the well deserved standing ovation encore Ajde Jano (translates as Come Jane. A traditional Serbian wedding song urging the dancing to start). This really was a great night.
videos by keith belcher
Light in the Darkness
Love (Lullaby For Kamila)
Adje Jano
Jul 7 2025
Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira (CAN/USA)
Friday 16th May 2025
Photos, video by Keith Belcher, review by Keith Belcher & Mike Latham
Friday 16th May 2025, The Live Room, Caroline Street Social Club, Saltaire. The return visit of Jocelyn Pettit and Ellen Gira accompanied by Miguel Girão on guitar. A multi national band who all met in Glasgow. Jocelyn from the West Coast of Canada playing fiddle, step dancing and vocals. From the East coast of the USA, now based in Glasgow, Ellen on cello and vocal. From the Portuguese Midlands Miguel on guitar and vocals, also resident in Glasgow.
A warm welcome back from Hilary and quite simply, we all had a wonderful night. On the TLR WhatsApp group Michael Latham wrote the following and I’ll just quote him as he sums the show up very well indeed.
Michael Latham wrote… “And it happens again, another great evening show from the finest small folk and roots club. I thought that Jocelyn and Ellen had grown in confidence since their last visit. It was wonderful, not only to witness their commitment and understanding of traditional tunes but to be amazed by the way in which they use their contacts with other musicians from around the globe and develop their own fabulous creations. I have to say that , although I cannot remember the title of it*, the tune that Ellen created in memory of her grandmother was one of the most beautiful pieces of music that I have heard. The sound they created was magical and a special mention too, to Ron for his sound also. Once again , we are so lucky to have this venue so close. Many thanks Ron and Hilary.”
videos by keith belcher
Across The Western Ocean
St. Catherine's Waltz & Atholl Brose Set
Jul 7 2025
Catrin Finch & Aoife Ní Bhriain
Sundy 11thMay 2025
Photos and review by Nigel Plant
Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain treated The Live Room at Saltaire to a fantastic evening of entrancing musical mastery yesterday. Weaving classical and traditional themes from Ireland and Wales to create a magical soundscape.
Jul 7 2025
South For Winter
Friday 2nd May 2025
Photos & Video by Keith Belcher
We were treated to a wonderful show by New Zealand/USA duo who we first saw at the Folk Alliance Conference in New Orleans in 2020. Great harmonies, songs and musicianship, and great humour too.
videos by keith belcher
Black Crows
Always You
Wintersleep
Jul 7 2025
Justin Adams & Mauro Durante
Sunday 27th April 2025
Photos & review by Ron Pengelly
A mesmerising fusion of music from around the world from guitarist & producer Justin Adams and violinist & percussionist Mauro Durante on Sunday evening.
And once again, top tier musicians who loved playing to the hugely appreciative Live Room audience and the very warm welcome they received.
Another brilliant show, one to remember.
Jun 10 2025
Earl Thomas & The Gospel Ambassadors ft, Sister Leola
Friday 11th April 2025
Photos by Ron Pengelly
What an incredible night we had with Earl, the band and Sister Leola! We were transported to the US South and into a Sunday church service with Earl as the pastor! Supported by a fantastic four-piece band: Ed Cleveland, drums; Roger Inniss, bass; Daniel Moriyama and Noah Williams on keys, Earl and Sister Leola (Brittany Cooper – Contralto, Danielle Dredden -Alto, Symphonie Johnson – Soprano) almost took the roof off the club and had everyone in the audience on their feet. It was an incredible show and one we were so lucky to see here in Saltaire.
Earl really loves playing here at TLR and genuinely wants to bring the whole band back to play for us again. We bet there won’t be many who won’t be queuing up to see him again!
Mar 3 2025
Carter Sampson
Sunday 2nd March 2025
Photos & videos by Keith Belcher
What a show we had from the ‘Queen of Oklahoma’ on Sunday night. Carter and her band were absolutey superb. She’s a great songwriter with a soulful voice and a magnetic stage presence. Her album, Gold, is not far from our turntable here at TLR central, you should grab a copy!
Opening for Carter is TLR favourite, Joe Martin, who we’re looking forward to seeing with his band and a new album here in 2026.
videos by keith belcher
Another Sad Song by Joe Martin
There's Always Next Year
Lucky
Hello Darlin'
Feb 11 2025
Parker Millsap with Lewis Pugh support
Sunday 2nd February 2025
Review, photos and videos by Keith Belcher
Lewis ‘Burner’ Pugh gave us a very strong opening set this evening. His songs particularly struck a chord with me because my dad was conscripted into the coal mines during the war and he also told me that he had demonstrated against Oswald Mosely. Lewis has strong song writing and performance skills. A very strong and strong performer. Good voice and guitar work too. I wouldn’t mind seeing him given his own TLR show.
Yes, Lewis had a very impressive voice and another great guitarist. Loved his songs with the mix of his own and from other, older writers. His own writings reminded me of how people used to get the news of local events from the ‘broadsheets’ or ‘broadsides’, in that he related stories of disaster, murder and retribution or communities rising against those con artists who most definitely didn’t have their best interests at heart. All done with a very human aspect.
Ron and Hilary at The Live Room have wanted Parker at Saltaire for a long time. He didn’t disappoint. A solo show, one man, one guitar, a great bunch of songs and a fantastic voice. He was pleased to announce that his shows so far, had all been sell outs. He’d travelled down from Edinburgh , going the scenic route and seeing many multi coloured sheep en route which intrigued him. Far better than branding as they do in the States , he said. His songs are very observant and heartfelt. His diction while either talking or singing is crystal clear. Its a real asset for a songwriter. A lot of the crowd were attending TLR for the first time. He had drawn people in from far and wide and stating it again , he didn’t disappoint. I would say everyone left feeling very satisfied, nay , very happy.
There was a couple sitting next to my videoing perch who obviously knew his music far better than I did. From the oohs and aahs they were in raptures throughout the show and I guess this was a feeling shared by many in the audience. When he sang Palisade towards the end of the show they upped and did a slow dance, oblivious to the room.
Great guitar work and a truly passionate soulful voice which could go from zero on the scale to 11 (in true Spinal Tap fashion). He opened the show with Your Water, a song he has duetted with the great Sarah Jarosz . He has extremely good taste in his female collaborators . On his new album he also duets with the very wonderful Gillian Welch on the title track, Wilderness Within You. The songs were old and new, soft and powerful, ranging from his first album Palisade to the latest, Wilderness Within You, there was also a superb Van the Man cover as well. He finished with a new , as yet unreleased song , Before The Curtain Closes .
This was a truly great show by a magnificent singer, writer and performer. I’d love to spend far more time reviewing to do it justice but take my word for it , go and see him and you won’t be disappointed. There was a serious queue for merch and many, many requests for photos with Parker. It would be fair to say that the TLR crowd would really like him to return.
