'Cracking adlibbing... a joke-rich rallying call for a better Britain' The Guardian 'Coruscating live performer specialising in lacerating topical gags' The Independent 'It was 24th June 2016 and I found myself contemplating a supermarket meal deal. I only wanted a sandwich and I only needed a sandwich but given that I could get a snack and a drink for only 5p more it seemed financially irresponsible not to. I had spent so long pondering the EU Referendum result from the day before that I was now in a massive rush. The lad on the till scanned the first two items no problem but the third item he couldn't get to scan at all. I thought this is going to be a nightmare - there was a queue building up and he looked like he was going to call the supervisor. Then to his credit, he tried to scan it one more time, it wouldn't scan - so he went 'bip' himself and chucked it through. And it was at that moment I thought "oh we'll be alright as a country we will". "And we will be alright. Trust me. I'm not a politician." As seen on Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo, Q.I.

If you are going to a Beth Nielsen Chapman concert get ready to laugh and cry and, well, just fasten your seat belt. One thing you can count on is one great song after another and some fascinating stories woven between them. Twice Grammy-nominated Nashville based, Beth Nielsen Chapman has released thirteen solo albums and written seven #1 hits and songs recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Bette Midler, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Michael McDonald, Keb Mo’, Roberta Flack, Waylon Jennings, Indigo Girls, & Faith Hill’s mega-hit This Kiss, ASCAP'S 1999 Song Of The Year. The fall of 2021 will bring the release of Beth’s 15th solo album along with a world tour starting in the UK. Working with legendary producer Ray Kennedy (Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle) this one is going to be epic!

Pocklington Arts Centre celebrated it’s twentieth anniversary in 2020. What was its previous history? How did the building, originally Oak House, which since the 1700s had been at various times, a Doctor’s house, a cinema and a museum housing Europe's largest collection of amusement machines, become transformed into a thriving and successful regional centre for the arts? This illustrated, live, Zoom presentation will feature Jon and Pat Gresham, larger than life local characters, cinema proprietors and museum creators. Jon Gresham had been a magician, fire-eater, pantomime promoter and sideshow showman. His exploits and colourful adventures will be revealed. Pat Gresham was determined that when the Penny Arcadia Museum closed the building should not become another retail unit, it nearly did, but should continue to provide entertainment and be a service to the people of Pocklington and the region. The Zoom talk will be hosted by Jon Marshall, Director and performer with Magic Carpet Theatre and himself a Member of The Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star. Jon Marshall has known the Gresham family since the mid 1960s and participants will be able to see many previously unpublished photographs and images. It promises to be a fascinating and entertaining event.

Jeremy Vine is one of the UK's most successful broadcasters, who he has presented Newsnight, Panorama, Crimewatch, Eggheads and Points of View — as well as his daily Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and his daily Channel 5 show. Increasingly he finds himself asking "What the hell is going on?" as information and misinformation get mixed together and the sheer volume of news that gets thrown at us all is mind blowing. Get ready to laugh and cry as Jeremy tries to make sense of a world that increasingly makes no sense at all — where, as he puts it, "my listeners have better stories than I do." (Suitable for 12+)

A songwriting legend loved by generations of music fans for his uniquely joyful songs. He is one of music's eternal survivors, alarmingly prolific and always revered for the way humour and dignity shine through his work in a recording career which has produced 23 albums. Joined by family members Suzzy and Lucy, together they'll be performing their our own songs plus the work of songwriters they admire including Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks and Baker Knight.

Martyn Joseph is a completely unique and mind blowing artist. Take everything you think you know about singer songwriters….and rip it up. For one man and a guitar he creates a performance with a huge far-reaching sound that is energetic, compelling and passionate. Be it to two hundred people or twenty thousand, he blows the crowd away night after night. April 2019 saw him win a “Wales Folk Award” for “Here Come The Young”, the title track of his most recent album, of which Uncut magazine said “He’s never sounded more potent than he does here” In 2018 he was honoured with a ”Spirit of Folk” Award by Folk Alliance International in Kansas USA and he also received Fatea magazine’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” here in the UK. He is gifted with the rare ability to speak to the soul with his expressive and poignant lyrics and has a career spanning 30 years, 32 albums, over a half a million record sales and thousands of live performances. Compared to Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Matthews, he has created his own style and reputation as a mesmerizing live performer and stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives. A unique talent driven by passion, social awareness and love for his trade, he's a jaw dropping guitar player who has developed a unique percussive style, teamed up with a powerful show stopping voice, and has been called “The Welsh Springsteen” Concerned with making music that is relevant and vital to his audience, he engages with challenging narratives tackling the complexity of the human condition, underpinned with a promise of hope. In his own words “Really what I do is to try and write songs that might step up and make some sense of a moment in time. A good song makes you feel like you’re not alone in the world.” He is hailed as a raconteur weaving tales on topical concerns, as well as stories on the fragility of love, with a magical ability to reach out to his listeners through his passion and humour. Stunning reviews single him out as an unmissable solo performer whose music stays with you long after the show has ended.

Ireland’s most foremost jazz & blues female singer and performer makes a welcome return to PAC. “Dubbed as Ireland’s Billie Holiday, Mary is a jazz & blues singer whose life story gives weight to the truth that the best singers are the ones with the most painful lives” (The Guardian). Whether into folk, blues or jazz, no one can fail to be moved by the emotional depth, expression & power in her voice, forged from an extraordinary life. As the Observer newspaper rightly said, “Mary Coughlan’s talent is awesome.” Come & witness Mary for yourself - one woman, one amazing voice, and the truth.

We all could do with a bit of good news right now, and here it is. After years of speculation, English folk's best-loved duo are back together and working on new material. Described by The Guardian as ‘the finest instrumental duo on the traditional scene’, John Spiers and Jon Boden rocketed onto the scene in 2001. As Spiers & Boden they won a clutch of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards - the Horizon Award for best newcomer in 2003, and the Best Duo Award in 2004 and 2006. A sojourn in Eliza Carthy & the Ratcatchers included a performance at the Mercury Music Prize Awards. And after years of successful touring, in 2011 they headlined their own star-studded show at London's Shepherd’s Bush Empire to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Meanwhile they had used their early success as a duo to found the ground-breaking folk big band Bellowhead, fronted by the duo, which went on to Royal Albert Hall sell-outs, Proms In the Park successes, multiple awards, signing with Universal Records and over 250,000 album sales. Inevitably Bellowhead increasingly dominated their time and in 2014 Spiers & Boden made the difficult choice to rest the duo. It was a tough decision. Spiers & Boden had earned a place in the hearts of the folk audience that few could rival and the disbelief at the dissolution of the duo was only matched when in 2016 Bellowhead itself took a final bow. Since then Jon Boden has carved out a career as both a solo performer and with his own band, Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings, while continuing to work on his creative trilogy of albums exploring a post-apocalyptic world and his work writing music for theatre. John Spiers went on to form successful performance collaborations with Peter Knight (Steeleye Span, Feast Of Fiddles) and separately Jackie Oates, and is a member of the recently formed Gigspanner Big Band. Then discussions in late 2019 broached the idea of reforming Spiers & Boden, new recording, new touring. By Christmas it was agreed that the duo would be back in 2021 and preparations began... Spiers & Boden will be back on stages in 2021. Watch out for more details soon.

As one decade ticked over another, 1970 would prove to be a vintage year for music and the start of an era that would change the world. For Steeleye Span – formed the year before – it would mark a major milestone. The band released their debut album Hark The Village Wait, a record that would not only launch one of the most enduring stories in the folk world and beyond but also come to influence further generations of artists. Five decades on and the band, led as ever by the iconic vocals of Maddy Prior and with a seven piece lineup, featuring some of the most skilled musicians on the UK folk scene, their 50th anniversary tour will be a celebration of the key tracks from that famous album as well as favourites and gems from their long and famous career.

Teddy Thompson is an acclaimed singer-songwriter with a career that has consistently garnered critical praise. NPR proclaims that he’s “the musical equivalent of an arrow to the heart,” while The New York Times calls his work “beautifully finessed.” Teddy will be supported by Roseanne Reid.

The Delines, aclaimed for their unique retro country soul sound, are led by vocalist Amy Boone (The Damnations TX), alongside the keyboard work of Jenny Conlee (The Decemberists) as well as fellow Portlanders Sean Oldham and songwriter/novelist Willy Vlautin (Richmond Fontaine) and on pedal steel, Tucker Jackson (Minus 5). Vlautin is no stranger to critical acclaim in the UK, enjoying cult success and stellar reviews from the like of Uncut, The Observer, The Times and Q Magazine as the frontman of Portland alt-country outfit Richmond Fontaine. Thursday 6th August at 2.30pm

Signed to Decca Records (discovered a mere 30 mins after uploading their first track to Soundcloud), the London-based band had a whirlwind 2018. They won the coveted Bob Harris Emerging Artist Award at the UK Americana Awards before heading out on a sold-out album tour. The Deluxe edition of Wild Silence, featuring eight new recordings of new, live and reimagined tracks, is out now. After being personally invited to the US by music legend Marty Stuart, The Wandering Hearts became the first UK band to debut at two of the most prestigious venues in Nashville - The Ryman Auditorium and The Grand Ole Opry - in the same week. Receiving a rapturous welcome and standing ovations, the band were invited back to the Opry the following week, after a trip to Memphis to support Marty Stuart at Graceland - live recordings from this show feature on the Deluxe album. A busy summer of UK festivals followed, including Latitude, Black Deer and BST Hyde Park, before the band whipped back to Nashville for Americanafest, then returned home to finish the year with their second sold-out UK headline tour. Breaking all genre boundaries, The Wandering Hearts didn't set out with a sound in mind and nor do they have one now. They'll take the Americana tag because it encompasses their influences - pop, rock, blues, folk and country among them, filtered through their British roots - but they write songs for fun and that shines through. "We love a dark lyric," laughs AJ. "We have so many of them that we sometimes play what we call our death set - all songs with sad subject matter like break-ups and dying. Most of them are upbeat, so it's fun, but if you listen closely, you'll hear we're obsessed. Why? Because we enjoy writing about deep feelings but couching them in catchy tunes."

Thea Gilmore takes to the road in October 2021 for her first EVER tour performing completely solo. Following her 4th successive chart album, 2019’s “Small World Turning” (‘the most soulful, confrontational music of her career’ said The Mirror) and rapturously received performance at the recent BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards,Thea will head out on tour later this year to perform material from all stages of her career. Accompanying herself on guitar, keyboard and loop station, Thea will give audiences a chance to hear some of her most special songs exactly the way they entered the world - raw, unadorned, delivered intimately by that long revered, hauntingly beautiful voice. As anyone familiar with her acoustic catalogue will testify, the results are set to be spine tingling and the shows promise to be some of the most affecting and personal of Thea’s career. In that career of over two decades Thea Gilmore has long secured a place as one of the UKs most gifted and celebrated singer/songwriters. Since first stepping out aged 18 she has released 18 albums, 6 EPs, been lauded by titans (Bruce Springsteen, Neil Gaiman) and collaborated with roots royalty (Billy Bragg, Joan Baez, Waterboys).She recently performed on BBC Radio 2 with Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, contributed songs to the soundtrack of BAFTA winning film “Bait” and continues to explore new musical boundaries.

hunk-It Theatre, in partnership with Pocklington Arts Centre, will be presenting their acclaimed all-levels Drama Sessions for Years 2-6 (ages 6-11) taking place 10.00-11.00am every Sunday during term time (February 28th - March 28th) on Zoom. The sessions will include fun games, exercises, storytelling and much more! Participants will create a small piece of performance that all parents, guardians and carers will be able to see at the end of the term! These sessions will encourage: confidence building, life and social skills, creativity and positivity, a space to express openly and connections with other young people. You will receive a registration form, by email, when you purchase a ticket and this must be returned before the first session. This is to ensure that we are able to keep you, your child and our community safe. For further information please email [email protected]

Commissioned by the Bronte Parsonage Museum, LipService Theatre perform scenes from their award-winning comedy Withering Looks, filmed in the ACTUAL parsonage where the Bronte sisters wrote their ACTUAL books ACTUALLY! With additional material filmed in and around Haworth village and on the wild and windswept moors in sub-zero temperatures! The film explores a day in the life of the Bronte sisters, well two of them, Anne’s just popped out for a cup of sugar. And in true Attenborough style there is additional footage of the making of the film. This special showing is to celebrate Pocklington Arts Centre's 21st anniversary. Maggie and Sue from LipService will introduce the film live on Zoom and there will be a live Q&A at the end. This is a streamed event, on Zoom, with login details emailed out by LipService in advance.

Since 2016, Women In Rock have been wowing audiences across the UK & Europe with their high energy performances. Featuring soaring vocals, choreography, audience interaction, striking costumes and backed by a band of world class musicians, Women In Rock has built a reputation as the leading rock show around. Having performed to audiences of up to 120,000, these women are ready to take you on a spectacular journey through five decades of female rock leaving you cheering for more. Featuring the songs of Cher, Blondie, Janis Joplin, Republica, Belinda Carlisle, Bonnie Tyler, P!nk, Suzi Quatro, Tina Turner & many more, Women In Rock are guaranteed to get you on your feet. Grab your tickets and let’s get ready to sing, dance and ROCK!