Roman Candle is delighted to welcome C.W. Stoneking with special guests Caitlin Gilligan and Tom Blackwell to St Michael's Church, Liverpool, on Saturday, 30th May.

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Tickets are £26 in advance from See Tickets.

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C.W. STONEKING

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“This is uh, C.W. Stoneking, an Australia artist who sounds like he’s 600 years old, he’s much younger actually, but he’s got a style all his own” - Tom Waits, BBC 6 Radio 2023

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C.W. Stoneking is an Australian/American singer, musician, recording artist. Born in Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia in the mid 1970s. He has lived and toured across Australia, the UK, Europe, and the U.S.A. He has independently released 3 critically acclaimed original full length albums, King Hokum, Jungle Blues, and Gon’ Boogaloo. He’s performed extensively internationally with various backing band lineups and as a solo performer, the instrumentation of his musical groups and recordings mirror the stylistic inspirations of his songwriting, New Orleans style brass and drums, Traditional African, Caribbean style percussion, early 20th century blues, jazz, and American folk styled guitar and banjo, gospel inspired electric guitar and background singing… C.W. Stoneking’s music and lyrics draw inspiration from a wide spectrum of musical styles and traditions which he combines to create his own unique sound.

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“If I could ever trade my speaking voice with a person, it would be C.W Stoneking. He just sounds like he's from a ghost ship in the middle of monster island to me. It's just beautiful.” - Jack White, Double J 2018

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TOM BLACKWELL

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Now landed on Teesside after a meandering journey across all corners of England, Tom Blackwell emerged from the Manchester folk club circuit, where he discovered the country, blues and gospel music that would become the foundations of his work.

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A prolific writer with a visceral and dynamic performance style, Blackwell has been playing across the UK and beyond for the last 15 years. He has shared the stage with artists such as legendary Love guitarist Johnny Echols, and supported many other illustrious names including Terry Reid, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Joshua Ray Walker.

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CAITLIN GILLIGAN

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“... there's a little Linda Perhacs and Vashti Bunyan in the delicacy of her delivery, though she sings with a singular clear-eyed intensity of her own.” - KLOF Mag -

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​Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist Caitlin Gilligan hails from the rolling hills of rural Galloway. Though now based in Liverpool, her songs still echo the wildness of her Scottish youth.

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Her live performaces combine haunting vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo and harmonium to create soul-stirring drones and melodies, weaving age-old folk songs into sets of bare-boned and poetically-crafted originals. She demonstrates refreshing insight whilst simultaneously summoning the voices of times gone by.

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She draws much from the well of folk giants such as Anne Briggs, JACKSON C FRANK, Nick Drake and lisa o'neill as well as the traditional vocal music of Scotland, Ireland and America.

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Caitlin has played alongside artists such as Martin Carthy, Nora Brown, The Unthanks, Sam Amidon and Jerron Paxton. 2025 saw Caitlin play shows nationwide with names such as Jim Ghedi, Sabine McCalla, Jude Brothers, Chloë Foy and Yoshika Colwell as well as headlining well-established folk clubs in the North West. 2026 will see plenty more live shows across the country as well as festival appearances, leading into her own headline album tour later in the year.

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Caitlin is currently working on her debut album at Sloe Flower Studio in Chester, UK, which is due to be released in 2026. Her album so far features illustrious names such as Jude Brothers (backing vocals), dbh (fiddle, banjo, guitar) and Charli Wild (viola).