Roman Candle is thrilled to welcome Kelley Stoltz to St Mary's Creative Space, Chester. Special guest Tom Blackwell.

Tuesday 12th July 2022, 7.30PM. Tickets £10 advance from Grey n Pink Records or See Tickets.

KELLEY STOLTZ

Psych pop songwriter from San Francisco - a long time purveyor of melodic, lo-fi indie pop with influences ranging from The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Kinks to The Velvet Underground. Stoltz is also very active behind the scenes performing as a member of Sonny & The Sunsets, producing albums for The Mantles and Tim Cohen, and until recently playing guitar on tour with Echo & The Bunnymen.

After a long stint on Sub Pop, Kelley has now found a home with Castle Face Records, the label founded by John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees.

TOM BLACKWELL

Anyone who has seen Tom Blackwell perform in one of the small, forgotten venues across the North of England he has haunted for over a decade will have witnessed a truly sublime singer-songwriter distilling his blues, folk, soul and gospel influences into what Bob Harris has rightly described as, 'Wonderful, heartfelt music'.
 

In 2018 Blackwell released the first of his Memphis series of albums. The new recordings are minimal, unadorned. There is nothing wasted or unnecessary cluttering the sound, just emotive vocals framed by quiet guitar and harmonica. 
 

The essence of everything Blackwell does is in his singing voice - as plaintive and soulful an instrument as you could hope to hear. On stage he may punctuate with mournful harmonica and emphasise with expressive guitar, but it is the vocal that is the heart-rending centre of his art.
 

Blackwell sings his songs as if he is living them. Authentic songs that feel as if they are coming to you rolling across the plains and through dusty mid-Western streets. Songs that present all the emotional texture and depth of classic Americana - telling stories of bruised hopes, and fragmented settlements between yearning and loss - yet in a distinct, English voice. 
 

Honest, without artifice, Blackwell's music just is what it is, and that is something genuinely remarkable.