Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand

Dan Willson is Scotland’s acclaimed singer songwriter Withered Hand. He has released three albums and a number of EPs over the last 15 years and has toured internationally, amassing a devoted following while staying close to his DIY roots in the underground music scene.

Kathryn Williams is a Mercury Music prize-nominated English singer songwriter who has released 16 albums. She had collaborated with poet Dame Carol Ann Duffy, author Laura Barnett and written songs with Paul Weller, Neill Maccoll and Michele and Romeo Stodart, to name just a few. She has written the novel The Ormering Tide, hosts her own podcast Before the Light Goes Out and tutors at the Arvon and Moniack Mhor Foundations.

When Covid hit, it prompted technophobes Dan and Katheryn to write and meet online. They both also took to live stream concerts on Instagram. By the end of lockdown, they had a whole album of songs. The initial premise was discussions and open conversations on bereavement; they had both recently lost friends who were also in the public eye and talked about the strange place between personal loss and the communal grieving of a public figure.

A friendship developed alongside the writing of the album. Before the time came to record the album, Dan wrote his first solo album in 10 years released early 2023 on Reveal Records. Dan says that the writing and friendship with Kath rejuvenated his own song writing process enough to be able to do this: “We talk and spend time together and then it’s almost like the next time we sit down to write, it’s like a synthesis of late-night kitchen conversations become distilled into the songs. It’s hard to separate who’s done what and where the songs sprang from.” Kath says: “Yeah… what he said.”

Doors from 19:30.