After countless rescheduled dates and then a cancellation, we can confirm Geraint will be finally playing for us.

For so many years a keystone of the bands of Nick Lowe, Van Morrison, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, Dave Edmunds and countless more, Geraint Watkins is also a revered creator of his own sublime music, much of which has already been perfectly captured in a handful of solo albums.

Attempting to designate a musical category for Watkins is not without its challenges, but the perspicacious Nick Lowe once observed that he could be filed as “the missing link between Paulo Conte and Howling Wolf”. Another beacon of taste - Bob Dylan – proclaimed himself a fan by playing two solo cuts on his Theme Time Radio Hour saying (without a hint of irony) that “Geraint Watkins is my favourite English piano player.” There you have it…high praise indeed.

Born in Wales, Watkins was a member of noted British bands Juice on the Loose and Red Beans & Rice and following a move to London with the latter, he soon found himself on the “Be Stiff Route 78” tour as part of Micky Jupp’s band. Shortly afterwards in 1979, Andy Fairweather Low produced Watkins’ first album for the Vertigo label. Session work for producer Stuart Coleman followed which led to a regular spot for Geraint in Shakin’ Stevens’ band before going on to record and play live with Dave Edmunds and many others including Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Dr. Feelgood, Rory Gallagher, The Blues Band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stray Cats, Carl Perkins, John Wesley Harding, Tom Jones and John Martyn.

Sustained by this kind of session work in the eighties, Geraint played accordion and keyboards with infamous pub band, The Balham Alligators. With Watkins leading the charge, and a few comings and goings, the nucleus of this pioneering outfit somehow held together for fifteen years keeping the music of Louisiana alive in London's pubs and setting the bar impossibly high for those in their wake on the Americana trail.

in 2017, Geraint returned to the idea of recording his own material having found a new and unlikely collaborator in the form of Simon Ratcliffe of The Basement Jaxx to push his boundaries even further. This unique aggregation - aided by some master musicians has produced what will surely come to be regarded as the finest yet of Geraint’s solo projects. The latest album entitled RUSH OF BLOOD was released in September 2019.

Mike and the Moonpies is an American neotraditional country and Americana band based in Austin, Texas. It was formed by singer-songwriter Mike Harmeier in 2007. Its members are Harmeier and drummer Kyle Ponder, guitarist Catlin Rutherford, bassist Omar Oyoque, and steel guitarist Zachary Moulton.

Once celebrated as Austin's premiere dancehall band, with popular residencies at local institutions like The Hole In the Wall, Broken Spoke and the White Horse to match, the Moonpies have spent years expanding their reach far beyond the Lone Star State.

Out of nowhere, Mike and the Moonpies unleashed a new single “Paycheck to Paycheck” in June 2021, and hold onto your hats everyone. It finds the boys from Texas in top form, and kicking country music as is their predilection, all while paying homage to their blue collar roots, and a righteous country legend.

Where their last studio album Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London found a much more sedate and genteel tone, this new single shifts into that 70’s and 80’s style of full-tilt boot-kicking country this outfit is known for bringing to honky tonk stages across the globe.