Gwenno (pictured) and rEDOLENT have been announced as Welsh and Scottish Ambassadors, respectively, for Independent Venue Week 2025.
They join the previously confirmed overall Independent Venue Week 2025 Ambassador, two-time MOBO-winning jazz musician, broadcaster and author YolanDa Brown.
All three acts will play exclusive shows during the week-long series of events celebrating independent grassroots venues and the people that run them, with the Welsh singer-songwriter playing Cardiff's Acapela Studio on January 29, with support from Dean Lligwy and Pat Morgan. Gwenno said:
“I'm delighted to be this year's IVW Welsh Ambassador, having spent so much of my musical life playing and going to gigs at independent venues across Wales and beyond for the past 25+ years. I'm so looking forward to performing at the beautiful Acapela in Pentyrch, a venue that I've heard so much about and have always wanted to play. I'll be playing a stripped-back solo piano set of old and new material with a few surprises here and there, and make sure to get down early for the wonderfully elusive ambient solo traveller Dean Lligwy, as well as Welsh music icon Pat Morgan of the band Datblygu for a special solo set."
rEDOLENT, who won the Scottish Album of the Year Award for their debut LP 'Dinny Greet', will also play an exclusive show. Andrew Turnbull from the Edinburgh-based quintet added:
"One of my most memorable gigs was when I was 17 and went to see The Xcerts at Sneaky Pete’s. They had just released their second album, 'Scatterbrain', which remains one of my favourite albums to this day. Sneaky Pete’s, though a smaller venue, has an incredible vibe, and I felt so lucky to get a ticket - it felt like a smaller setting for a band as big as The Xcerts. The show was one of the most intense and exciting shows I’ve experienced. The crowd hung on every word during the quiet parts of the songs, and the silence in those moments felt intimate and special. It’s a night I’ll never forget."
Brown's own Soul Mama in Stratford, London is among many venues participating for the first time, joining hundreds of other artists that are set to perform between January 27 and February 2 at over 200 UK venues.
Other acts confirmed to perform at independent venues across the week include Ibibio Sound Machine, Gilles Peterson, The Bug Club, Dodgy, The Blockheads, C Duncan, Lizzie Esau + Dirty Blonde, and Do Nothing. More names are still to be revealed, and will be added weekly.
We're so happy to reveal Gwenno and rEDOLENT as our Artist Ambassadors for Wales and Scotland ⭐️They are joining our overall Artist Ambassador, YolanDa Brown OBE DL.
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