Singer, guitarist and flute-player, Gordon Tyrrall has played in various bands (Iona, Dab Hand, Morgan Rattler, Roisin Ban), a few duos (with Dave Townsend, Brian Peters and Maggie Boyle) and mostly as a soloist. Gordon has been a professional musician most of his working life and has released 17 albums. He became a full-time musician in 1979 as the news of Mrs Thatcher’s election victory in May that year came through he was driving a battered Ford Transit down an autobahn in Germany in a futile attempt to escape.
Gordon is mainly interested in traditional music but has also written songs and instrumentals including various projects such as his settings of John Clare’s poetry and a Zen album Mumonkan.
Besides being a musician and artist, as an author Gordon wrote the book Around The Blooming Heather about Whitby Folk Week and the Northern folk scene.
A collection of folk songs about people, groups and special places in Bradford District.
To mark Bradford City of Culture in 2025 the Topic Folk Club is gathering together folk songs about the story of the people and/or groups who work to make Bradford District a welcoming and supportive place.
THE TOPIC'S HOME is at Hullabaloo, a couple of minutes walk from Groove Pad, nearer the station. There is parking on Crowgill Street. See MAP for venue location. Hullabaloo site: hullabalooshipley.org.uk/ Hullabaloo's Facebook page: facebook.com/PuttingTheHipInShipley/
PLEASE NOTE: The club room is downstairs and the only toilets are upstairs. (There is a plan for construction of downstairs toilets but that will take some weeks yet before completion)
Coming Soon
Bradford is City of Culture this year - Bradford Booking in the listing below indicates when a guest artist from Bradford has been booked to appear.
20 Feb
Singers and Musicians
A chance for you to sing a song or play a tune or just listen.
£1 Entry
Doors open 7pm
27 Feb
Maddie Morris
Maddie Morris is an artist who strives to make a difference in the world. Bold, insightful and refreshingly unique, she takes traditional song in new directions to shine a light on contemporary issues, offering new perspectives about the world we live in today.
After graduating with a first-class honours degree from Leeds Conservatoire, Maddie soon made waves by winning the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, as well as landing a grant from the Alan Surtees Trust. From these firm foundations, her career has gone from strength to strength, with recent performances including Cropredy and Cambridge Folk Festival.
Folk songs have always told stories, but how Maddie makes her mark is by turning this storytelling into action. Described by Jim Moray as “leading the next generation of socially conscious songwriters”, she uses her work to highlight inequality, challenge viewpoints and provide an inclusive space for shared experiences. She was recently commissioned by Rural Arts to explore LGBTQIA+ experiences through traditional music and has also been proud to collaborate with organisations such as Queer Folk, Esperance and Trans Pride Brighton.
Whether she’s turning a centuries-old ballad on its head or writing something completely new, Maddie places her focus on drawing out true meaning rather than being true to tradition. From tweaking tunings to adding ornamentation, she’s never afraid to put her own stamp on things and create something distinctively her own.
Maddie Morris is an extremely accomplished young singer - not just the possessor of a haunting and delicately ornamented vocal style, but also a performer with serious insight into how to tell a story in song. Traditional ballads or inclusive social commentary - she always connects with the deepest meaning in her material. Not to be missed by any audience wanting to hear something new and passionate - Nancy Kerr
A chance for you to sing a song or play a tune or just listen.
£1 Entry
Doors open 7pm
13 Mar
Skinner and T'witch Bradford Booking
Drawing on music-hall and vaudeville traditions, Skinner & T’witch combine comedy and satire with folk, flamenco and theatre-style songs.
‘Skinner & T’witch are unique: there is nobody to compare them with. A pair of comic geniuses'. The Living Tradition
They have released five albums; performed widely around the UK; and recently toured in both Australia and the US.
'Some things just work. Skinner & T’witch are one of those things. An absolute must see.' Lakefest
Steve Skinner has a background in musical theatre, having managed a theatre company and toured the country with musical reviews such as The Cuts Show and the Third World Road Show. Steve is an experienced songwriter, including comedy and satire.
Sandra Twitchett (T’witch) has a classical training, and has a passion for Choral music and singing, having herself sung with various choirs, including the Bradford Festival Choral Society, of which she is currently a member, the Huddersfield Choral Society and the Munich Philharmonic Chorus. T'witch is a folk-rock chick at heart. She has an excellent ear for sound production and harmony singing, which contributes to the distinctive Skinner & T’witch sound.
Book them if you can, and don't miss them if they are playing anywhere near you - Ulverston Live Music
Support - Andrew Metheven
Andrew wants to write lo-fi folk from the hills and the concrete. His songs set out on journeys across births, over hills, into decay, past daydreams. They skirt around nightmares, hazard guesses at new ways and old muck, starve the soul and cut our losses free.
He tries to avoid just writing songs about birds, but sometimes that’s hard.
Andrew released his first EP, called A Quiet Life, in March 2022, and his first album – Sister Winter – in June 2024.
A chance for you to sing a song or play a tune or just listen.
£1 Entry
Doors open 7pm
27 Mar
Crowes Pasture
A roots-infused, internationally touring folk duo, Crowes Pasture performs sometimes joyful, and oftentimes, poignant, songs that reflect a mutual passion, sense of discovery and celebration of the human connection. Monique’s romantic clawhammer banjo playing and Andy’s expressive guitar picking are enlivened by their personal chemistry, intimate harmonies and unique instrumental style that can only be described as a “banjo-guitar romance.”
Crowes Pasture has been a supporting act for The Kennedys and The Small Glories, and has performed at internationally renowned folk venues such as Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Rockwood Music Hall, in NYC and Cafe Mariposa in Montreal. Crowes Pasture was chosen to showcase at Folk Alliance Regionals Midwest by DJ Al Kniola, and was nominated for Roots Act of the Year (New England Music Awards 2022 and 2019) and Americana Artist of the Year (Boston Music Awards 2019). The duo was named Finalist for Best Group/Duo in the International Acoustic Music Awards in 2020 and 2021. Crowes Pasture has had eight singles reach Top 10 Songs on the Folk Alliance International Folk Chart, including their #1 hit, “Slow it Down,” the title track of their 2019 album. Fresh from touring in Southern Ontario and Quebec (Summer 2022), the duo is currently recording their fourth album, with award winning producer Eric Lichter of Connecticut’s Dirt Floor Recording Studios.
An uncanny blend of voices, the duo sound born to mesh their voices, his a handsome sandpapery timbre, hers an angelic firmness [...] with a lovely lilt - Bill Copeland Music News
Hall Brothers Bradford Booking Note: rescheduled from January 9th (club night cancellation due to weather)
Duncan and Nick Hall have performed around Europe, sharing bills with the likes of Fairport Convention, Kate Rusby and The Wedding Present. The Hall Brothers are joined by ex-Magna Carta fiddle player John Carey. Expect emotional songs, with sweet sibling harmonies and “seriously nifty guitar-playing”.
Originally, the duo was formed out of the ashes of a teenage rock band, as Duncan and Nick, approaching 20, wandered into a folk club and never looked back. Discovered (literally) bouncing off the furniture at a gig, they were signed up to play the second Otley Folk Festival, quickly building a reputation for their ‘must-see’ live performances. Adding ex-Magna Carta fiddle player John Carey to their line-up broadened their sound and they quickly began to perform concerts and at festivals across Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Nick has also toured as lead guitarist with Ian Prowse & Amsterdam and is also a member of Plumhall - with whom he has played at Costa Festival Ibiza, appeared with Al Stewart at the London Palladium, toured with Fairport Convention and played as part of an extended Fairport line up at their Cropredy Festival with Ralph McTell.
Henry Parker's contemporary take on folk, which he explores via thoughtful yet deeply accomplished guitar playing, unfurls and moves much like the landscape itself – mirroring the unpredictable, yet beautifully flowing, rolling hills and valleys of his native county of West Yorkshire.
Parker’s musical roots go back to a self appointed upbringing in prog-rock and metal. However, enthralled at the age of 20 by the ethereal playing of Bert Jansch and Nick Drake, finger-picking and open tunings rapidly became the essence of his sound. The result is a strain of informed, progressive folk music found nowhere else.
Henry has recorded two albums: the eco-conscious Silent Spring (2019) and Lammas Fair (2021), bringing him to the forefront of the progressive folk music world. In 2023 he curated and recorded on behalf of the American label Tompkins Square Records, bringing together a tribute album to Michael Chapman, one of his most important musical influences.
What Parker does so effectively is to blend ancient with early-70’s and modern styles - Mojo
Channelling the ghosts of Jansch and Renbourn through his fingertips, the fluid playing and emotive singing of Yorkshire-born Henry Parker evokes the spirit of the early-60’s folk revival as if it were yesterday”- RnR Magazine
Precision guitar playing...effortless use of loop pedals, nice to see an unsigned folk musician playing to such a high level - FATEA
A really excellent young guitarist/ songwriter - Steve Tilston
Support Heslop & Stringer Bradford Booking
Mark Heslop & Matt Stringer are a Yorkshire based duo performing original songs, based on a mixture of northern history and their own personal experiences.
Now hailing from Liversedge & Fixby, West Yorkshire, live performances feature guitar, mandolin (Stringer), violin (Heslop) and harmony vocals, bringing their stories to life.
Mark Heslop grew up in Bankfoot/Dudley Hill so is a Bradfordian through and through. He’s a big Bradford City fan and played a song that he wrote at Valley Parade and on Look North when City reached Wembley a LONG time ago.
After releasing their first album New Beginnings in November 2022, the pair set out to introduce themselves to the people of Yorkshire and beyond.
The last couple of years have seen them play at Cleckheaton, Filey, Robin Hood’s Bay, Saltaire and Holmfirth folk festivals, the Great North Folk Festival and UK West Coast Folk Festival at Blackpool Winter Gardens and several of the county’s great folk clubs. They previously appeared at the Topic as a support to Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer in April 2023
Matt Stringer works in Bradford at the new city park office near the fountains from August 2024 onwards, which he’s excited about. He also lived in Gomersal/Cleckheaton for many years, which is a BD postcode, and sadly attended Odsal Stadium most weeks to support the Bradford Bulls.
"Seeing the changes in the city centre with Bradford Live, the demolition of the NCP on Hall Ings and the proposed new city park is exciting and we’re looking forward to seeing how the city of culture can be an exciting change for the city. It would be a real pleasure for us to contribute to the Topic’s events".
A chance for you to sing a song or play a tune or just listen.
£1 Entry
Doors open 7pm
24 Apr
Chris Cleverley
Chris Cleverley was born under a solstice moon, in an aura of honeysuckle mysticism. Described as ‘impressive’ (The Telegraph), and ‘haunting’ (The Sunday Times) his collection of award-winning independent releases have earned him a robust and loyal, grassroots following on the New British Folk Scene.
With a visceral lyrical style, inspired by the American-Indie greats Elliott Smith & Sufjan Stevens, his ambient Dream-Folk songwriting explores the place of acoustic-driven music within the 21st Century emotional landscape. Shining an honest light on diverse, arresting themes from pervasive artificial intelligence to disquieting climate emergency, it is no wonder Folk Radio UK have called him "One of the most vital voices of his generation." As a student of Nic Jones and Joni Mitchell records, his blistering guitar technique is infused with the hazy, dreamlike essence of the 60s Folk Revival, while his ambient synth-laden production reflects his well-earned position as a true innovator within the world of UK acoustic music. Cleverley is a performer whose presence occupies the room effortlessly - taking his audiences on a journey deep into the self and unpicking our place within this increasingly head-spinning modern age.
Chris’ critically acclaimed 2019 album ‘We Sat Back and Watched it Unfold’ released to rave reviews, with RnR Magazine describing it as “One of those rare albums that can genuinely be called important”, while earning him the position of FATEA Magazine’s “Male Artist of 2019”. Cleverley’s highly anticipated 4th album, ‘Broadcast The Secret Verse’ is scheduled for release in November 2022. Produced by the visionary John Patrick Elliott (The Little Unsaid) the project promises to take his vision of contemporary acoustic music to enthralling and uncharted places.
One of the most vital voices of today’s folk generation – Folk Radio UK
Haunting – The Sunday Times
As loaded as Ballard – Time Past and Time Passing
Sheer Stylishness – fRoots
With artists like Chris Cleverley writing and performing like this, the new British folk scene is in incredibly rude health”– Rock Society
It’s so refreshing to hear someone who doesn’t obey the rules – Folking.com
A chance for you to sing a song or play a tune or just listen.
£1 Entry
Doors open 7pm
08 May
Double Header: Gerry Cooper andMockingbirds Bradford Booking
Gerry Cooper
Gerry Cooper is a singer, guitarist and songwriter from Bradford specialising in acoustic blues, ragtime and other Americana. Gerry also plays a mean harmonica.
Gerry grew up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he was drawn into the folk club scene in the North East during the 1960s. He was inspired by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, but soon discovered acoustic blues - Big Bill Broonzy, and Brownie McGhee – mainly through artists like Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones and Ralph McTell.
Gerry moved to Yorkshire in 1972 as a teacher, playing folk clubs and joining a variety of bands. Once retired, he started writing songs and playing solo acoustic blues gig in pubs, clubs and festivals in the UK.
Mockingbirds
Mockingbirds are acoustic harmonies duo Cath Harney and Pam Johnson. Cath and Pam both live in Keighley, West Yorkshire and are well known in local music circles for their lovely harmonies and original songs. Mockingbirds have been singing and writing together for around 8 years now and loving every minute of it.
They cover a wide range of styles and eras from folk to country, to bluegrass and pop and have recorded two CDs, one of which was Christmas fundraiser for the Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank. Both CDs are available on Bandcamp.
Cath and Pam have been busy over the last year writing new songs about people from their local area and about places in Yorkshire and are planning to record them later this year. Songwriting remotely has been a novel and rewarding challenge for them and they are looking forward to playing this new set of original songs for the first time as a full set at The Topic Folk Club.