With a number of the UK’s biggest and most impressive venues in our patch, we Midlanders are guaranteed a chance to see some of the music industry’s brightest stars as they tour the country. Our grass-roots music scene is super-cool, too. Here’s a selection of gigs worth grabbing a ticket for over the next few weeks...  

SARAH MCQUAID

Playing music that invites reflection, connection, and a deep appreciation of the quiet power of a well-crafted song, Cornwall-based singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid blends a lush, velvety voice with excellent musicianship, insightful storytelling and an engaging personality. It’s a powerful combination, and one which has seen her gather around her a small-but-growing army of loyal and appreciative fans.

Nuneaton Folk Club, Wednesday 3 September; West Malvern Social Club, Wednesday 17 September

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XANDER AND THE PEACE PIRATES

Making Keith Xander’s guitar playing all the more remarkable is the fact that he was born without a right arm below the elbow, so plays the instrument using a prosthesis and hook with a pick attached...
But there’s plenty more besides Keith’s impressive musicianship to admire about this hugely talented quintet; coming complete with an infectious on-stage charisma, they boast a distinctive sound that’s positively awash with haunting riffs and uniquely innovative melodies.    

Lichfield Guildhall, Friday 5 September

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THE LEYLINES

The Leylines are a firm favourite on the UK festival circuit, drawing comparisons with the likes of Levellers, Mad Dog Mcrea and Ferocious Dog.

With a genre-defying sound that ranges from traditional folk to full-blown festival rock, the West Country band have just released third studio album Phosphenes. 

Six years in the making, the record sees them seamlessly blending expansive, cinematic rock with the heartfelt authenticity of indie-folk.

The Marrs Bar, Worcester, Friday 5 September

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GRUFF RHYS

Gruff Rhys finds inspiration for his music in a variety of unusual places. 
The Pembrokeshire-born, Cardiff-based musician - best known, of course, as the singer and main songwriter for Super Furry Animals - has released albums based on all manner of subjects. 
His first, 2005’s Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, revelled in Welsh-language puns. This was swiftly followed by experimental pop albums Candylion and Hotel Shampoo, while 2014’s American Interior followed the journey of 18th-century cartographer John Evans. 

Babelsberg came along in 2018, offering a baroque take on the modern world, while 2019’s Pang! created a multi-lingual mash-up driven by folkish bleeps crafted in collaboration with Zulu artist-producer Muzi. 
A conceptual record about his own mountain, Seeking New Gods, became his most critically and commercially successful solo album yet, and was followed last year by the widescreen, baroque pop of Sadness Sets Me Free. Never a man to rest on his laurels, Gruff is this month releasing a new Welsh-language album entitled Dim Probs.  

Wolverhampton Arts Centre, Sunday 7 September

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JAKE BUGG

If you want a reminder of how quickly time flies, how about this: precocious singer-songwriter Jake Bugg, who performed at Glastonbury at the age of 17 and had a number-one album the following year, is now 31! In the interim period, he’s released five more albums, toured the world, supported the Rolling Stones and even recorded the soundtrack to a documentary about football superstar Ronaldinho. It’s been a whirlwind 14 years for the boy from a Nottingham council estate, a background that keeps him grounded as well as amiably matter-of-fact.

Jake’s Coventry gig sees him performing two sets; one acoustic, one electric.

hmv Empire, Coventry, Thursday 11 September

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THE NEW EVES

Lovers of primal rock & roll will find plenty to enjoy in the music of The New Eves. As will fans of transcendent ritual. Hailing from their adopted hometown of Brighton, the all-female quartet have been carving out an impressive reputation for themselves the length and breadth of the country, particularly via some truly mesmerising festival performances... Their Birmingham show comes in support of debut album The New Eve Is Rising, released last month.

Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Monday 15 September

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SELF ESTEEM

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter & actor Rebecca Lucy Taylor launched her solo career under the Self Esteem moniker in 2017 - and she’s been going great guns ever since.

The one-time member of Sheffield duo Slow Club writes and sings infectiously fun songs which nevertheless come complete with some smack-in-the-mouth messages about hot and topical subjects; think, misogyny, toxic relationships and mental health.

“I’m trying to do a Trojan Horse thing,” she explained to the Guardian. “You think you’re getting this sugary injection of a pop song, but it’s going to leave you with something more."

Self Esteem’s Birmingham gig comes as part of her biggest tour to date. 

O2 Academy, Birmingham, Monday 15 September

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MEREBA

Showcasing melancholic tinges, metaphors connected to nature, and a raw and rebellious attitude and vocal, the songs sung by Alabama-born rapper & record producer Mereba focus on simple stories of everyday life, their melodies rooted in folk and country music even as her sound has evolved in a different direction. Having scored a major success with debut offering The Jungle Is The Only Way Out, she visits Birmingham this month in support of sophomore album The Breeze Grew A Fire. 

O2 Institute, Birmingham, Monday 15 September

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THE RHEINGANS SISTERS

The Rheingans Sisters have been described  as ‘a truly unique and unmissable act on the folk and world music stage’. And it’s easy to see why. With their adventurous use of fiddles, voices, banjo, bansitar, tambourin à cordes, spoken word, dancing feet and percussion, the award-winning siblings have developed a rich artistic approach to the deconstruction and reimagining of traditional music. 
They visit Malvern a year after the release of their most recent, and fifth, studio album, Start Close In.

Malvern Cube, Tuesday 16 September

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JON BODEN & THE REMNANT KINGS

A stand-out performer from his generation of traditional folk artists, Jon Boden is perhaps best known as a member of multi-award-winning band Bellowhead, with whom he played for 12 years until 2016. 
Away from his time as Bellowhead’s lead singer and main arranger, Jon has enjoyed plenty of other successes, not least with his own band, The Remnant Kings, which he formed back in 2009. Hailed for their unique and swaggering brand of folk, they appear at MAC following the release late last year of their album, Parlour Ballads.  

Midlands Arts Centre (mac), Birmingham, Thursday 18 September

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AMIT DATTANI

Musically speaking, nimble finger-picking and expertly crafted songwriting are Amit Dattani’s stand-out talents, and they’ve secured him a solid reputation on the folk circuit in the 20-plus years he’s been plying his trade. Amit is here making a welcome return to Leamington to launch his latest album, Wrong Kind Of One. 

Temperance, Leamington Spa, Sunday 21 September

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DEACON BLUE

Taking their name from the title of the Steely Dan song Deacon Blues, the Glaswegian pop-rock boys came together in 1985, releasing the highly regarded concept album Raintown two years later. Follow-up offering When The World Knows Your Name topped the UK album charts in 1989, with further records being released in 1991 and 93, the latter just a year prior to the group splitting up. The band re-formed on the eve of the 21st century, since which time they’ve released eight albums, the most recent of which is this year’s The Great Western Road. 

Utilita Arena Birmingham, Monday 22 September

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JAMES MORRISON

Scoring a hit with his 2006 debut single, You Give Me Something, Warwickshire-born James Morrison then achieved global fame with breakthrough album Undiscovered, released later that year. He has since established himself as a major name on the UK music scene, in the process picking up a Brit Award and releasing a further four albums. His latest offering, Fight Another Day, is slated for release early next month.  

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Tuesday 23 September

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NADIA REID

Nadia Reid is on a long journey - and with her latest album, Enter Now Brightness, she is moving still further away from her folk-music roots. “I still feel uncomfortable about the word folk and being a folk singer,” says the 34-year-old New Zealander. “It makes me sort of cringe. It’s too confining.” 

There’s certainly no sense of Nadia feeling confined on the new album, which effectively blends textural pop with country-leaning folk-rock and showcases a sound which is distinctly her own. “I’m so much better off now that it exists,” she says of the record. “Now feels like a new time.”  

The Tin at The Coal Vaults, Coventry, Tuesday 23 September

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STEPHEN FEARING AND THE SENTIMENTALS

One of Canada’s most respected performers, Stephen Fearing is a hugely talented guitar player with a smooth, intimate and powerful voice. He’s joined for this Shropshire gig by his longtime collaborators, Danish indie-folk band The Sentimentals.

The Hive, Shrewsbury, Wednesday 24 September

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JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR

Wednesbury-born Joanne Shaw Taylor has certainly made good on a dream start to her career. At the tender age of 16, her remarkable guitar playing caught the attention of Eurythmics star Dave Stewart, who was so impressed that he invited her to join his supergroup, D.U.P.. Before long, Joanne was garnering all manner of praise from some of the biggest names in the business, including Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox and Joe Bonamassa. 

Having turned 40 earlier this year, she continues to hit all the right notes with a blues-based sound that unapologetically borrows from rock, funk, soul and pop. 

Her Wolverhampton stop-off is part of a promotional tour for her recently released 10th studio album, Black & Gold. Folk duo Ferris & Sylvester also feature on the bill.  

The Wulfrun at The Halls Wolverhampton, Saturday 27 September

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GWENIFER RAYMOND

Welsh instrumentalist Gwenifer Raymond plays Shrewsbury just three weeks after the release of her new album, Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark. A champion of the finger-picked guitar, Gwenifer creates music which reflects her interest in folk horror and the avant-garde. This day time gig sees Gwenifer joined by fellow guitarist Elizabeth Still.   

The Darwin Room, Shrewsbury Library, Sunday 28 September

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LEVEL 42

Forty-six years after forming, and with more than 30 million albums sold worldwide, Level 42 have hit the road to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album that set them on the path to superstardom.
The now-double-Platinum World Machine, their sixth studio album, was the record on which they cemented the sound and the style that led to them becoming one of the most successful bands in the world... They are joined at Victoria Hall by Roachford.

Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Monday 29 September; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sunday 16 November