The London Roots Festival 2018 has gotten underway in the metropolis and you can find out who is performing and get tickets below:

London Roots Festival is back for 2018, bringing you the latest in Americana, roots, folk, blues and world music, taking place over the next three weeks, Oct 25 – Nov 22. This year’s Roots Festival takes place across eleven music venues, from renowned destinations including: The Union Chapel, Electric Ballroom, Dingwalls and The Lexington, to the more intimate spaces like The Slaughtered Lamb, Green Note and Waiting Room and, as has become the festival’s trademark, the more unique and ornate such as: Bush Hall, St Pancras Church, St Johns and St Mary’s Music Hall.

Brimming with talent plucked from a rich and diverse array of roots scene luminaries worldwide, the line-up includes everyone from the African Gospel Choir revisiting their celebrated interpretation of Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ album and legendary Geordie veteran masters Lindisfarne, to the explosive and passionate Grammy award winning Fantastic Negrito.

Experience the extraordinary and wondrous landscapes of Lancashire-born Callaghan, the homestead storytelling of Finbar Furey, the Afro-fusion stylings of Zimbabwe’s Mokoomba. A little closer to home, meanwhile, the Cornish eight-piece vocal act Fisherman’s Friends, the real-life fishermen who were plucked from obscurity to score a record deal with Universal and a Top 10 album with ‘Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends’.

Exeter duo Sound of the Sirens bring their upbeat and tightly harmonised vocal gymnastics to the Slaughtered Lamb. The much-tipped John Smith delves deeply into the traditions of both British and American folk with his stripped back singer-songwriter stylings, and the joyfully frenetic Trampled by Turtles make the trip from Minnesota to showcase their high speed bluegrass shenanigans.

Celebrated newcomers join the line-up, multi-instrumentalist Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys’, with the haunting voices and soaring harmonies. Robert Vincent, the talented and accomplished songwriter will take you on journey through his highs and lows. Meanwhile, much loved hero of the roots underground, Tom Baxter returns to present his first new LP in a decade, the long awaited ‘The Other Side of Blue’, at the Union Chapel.

London Roots Festival is the brainchild of renowned promoter and scene tastemaker David Messer, responsible for bringing roots music to the forefront of London’s music scene. David says: “It’s great to see artists getting the credit they deserve,” insisting that one of the main aims of the festival is “to give new artists a platform to be heard… I hope to see some of these headlining their own shows in the future.”

A full list of shows can be found here:

Friday 2nd November 2018 – Fisherman’s Friends, Union Chapel

Tuesday 6th November 2018 – Robert Vincent, The Lexington

Tuesday 6th November 2018 – Tom Baxter, Union Chapel

Wednesday 7th November 2018 – Callaghan, Dingwalls

Friday 9th November 2018 – Tellamure + Andy Cutting, St John’s Music Hall, Leytonstone

Friday 9th November 2018 – Lindisfarne, Union Chapel

Saturday 10th November 2018 – Bruce Cockburn, St Pancras Church

Sunday 11th November 2018 – Sam Kelly + The Lost Boys, Bush Hall

Monday 12th November 2018 – Vagabond Voices (Dean Owens & Yvonne Lyon), The Green Note, Camden

Tuesday 13th November 2018 – Over The Rhine, Union Chapel

Wednesday 14th November 2018 – Jake Morrell, The Slaughtered Lamb

Thursday 15th November 2018 – Finbar Furey, Union Chapel

Thursday 15th November 2018 – Sound of Sirens, The Slaughtered Lamb

Thursday 15th November 2018 – John Smith, St Pancras Church

Thursday 16th November 2018 – Trampled by Turtles, Electric Ballroom

Thursday 22nd November 2018 – Joshua Burnside, The Waiting Room

Pete Sargeant