We’re just about to end our 2025/2026 season… And what a season it’s been!
Join us as we reminisce about the artists that performed, the campaigns we’ve launched, and our plans for the year ahead.
September 2025
Our 2025/2026 began with a very special celebratory show, with Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting, and Nancy Kerr commemorating the tenth anniversary of their debut album, Murmurs.
We then saw two exclusive gigs from some fantastic artists. Greg Russell, who no longer tours, returned for a beautiful one-off show, and we were also delighted to welcome Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson for one of Leon’s final performances.
The momentum kept on going with a masterclass in folk guitar from Kevin Dempsey and a outstanding show from Teesside trio The Young’uns, at the stunning St Andrew’s Church in Sheffield.
We ended the month in style with a barn-storming performance from half of iconic Scottish fiddle band RANT; Lauren MacColl and Anna Massie.
October 2025
As you may know, we’re not just about the music at Live to your Living Room. We’re dedicated to promoting the benefits of livestreaming to arts and music venues. At the start of October, our co-founder Cat McGill spoke at EFDSS Connection Online, talking about the benefits of virtual and hybrid learning.
We celebrated some wonderful artists this month, including Katie Spencer, Lisa Knapp & Gerry Diver, and Jez Lowe. We also said hello to Andy Cutting & Nigel Eaton for a long-awaited show that had been postponed from the start of the year.
At the end of October, we welcomed Robert Lloyd Parry who embodied the spirit of the father of the English ghost story M R James, for some spine-tingling Halloween tales.
November 2025
We showcased two fabulous shows in November: female folk trio Tamesas and fiddle and melodeon power-duo Knight & Spiers.
Rest assured though, there was plenty more going on behind the scenes!
We launched our ONEAudience quick-start guide, a document designed to help arts and music venues host their own hybrid gigs.
We also launched our GiftAGig gift vouchers and Live to your Living Room memberships, which offer up to 25% off gig tickets.
Finally, we discovered that we’d won £10,000 of funding from CreaTech Frontiers, which we will be using to develop a plug-and-play solution for remote vision mixing. Exciting times!
December 2025
The final month of the year is always filled with folk music and fun, and this December was no exception!
At the start of the month, we launched our inaugural World Cup of Christmas Folk on Facebook. Fans of Live to your Living Room nominated their favourite festive albums, and 64 (!) of the best went toe-to-toe in a month-long bracket-style tournament!
With nearly 10,000 collective votes across 40 rounds, the winning album was WinterFolk by O’Hooley & Tidow.
We started the month with multi-instrumentalist Tim Edey, who played with a very special guest, Irish accordion player Dermot Byrne.
A few days later, we welcomed singer-songwriter Charlie Dore, accompanied by Gareth Huw Davies, at a lovely gig at Ace Space Newbury.
Festive tunes were the order of the month, with Christmassy shows from Miranda Sykes & Jim Causley (Midwinter) and Bryony Griffith & Alice Jones (Wesselbobs) – who were second and third respectively in the World Cup of Christmas Folk. We also said ‘season’s greetings’ to folk supergroup St Agnes Fountain – no Christmas is complete without a little bit of Aggie!
Anna Massie returned for her second gig of the season with Hannah Rarity as part of their Hannannarama Christmas tour, full of festive craic!
Our patron, Karine Polwart, a massive supporter of what we do, welcomed fans and followers to Pathhead Community Club for a cosy, intimate show with Dave Milligan.
For our final performance of the year, we welcomed back Robert Lloyd Parry as M R James, for two more eerie stories – perfect for feeling scared around the Christmas tree!
January 2026
Our New Year’s Resolution for 2026? To host even more amazing gigs!
We started January off with a superb show from acapella quartet Oaken, who regaled us with a mix of traditional and contemporary tunes from all around the world.
We also welcomed Irish singer-songwriter Colum Sands, who entertained listeners with a gorgeous, relaxed show – perfect after a very hectic Christmas!
February 2026
February was a time for celebrating history. We welcomed the fantastic John Kirkpatrick as he took us on a whirlwind tour of 200 years of the squeezebox, as well as Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, who celebrated 30 years of playing together in a fabulous gig at Foxlowe Arts Centre.
We also saw some brilliant shows from jazz-folk trio Pagoda Project, fiddle virtuoso Mikey Kenney, and the Songman himself, Bob Fox.
February also saw some drama when one of our sound desks got stuck in a lost property office in Belfast, only to end up at an auction house in Stockport! Thankfully, we were able to retrieve it before it was sold to the highest bidder.
(A big thank you to all the lovely Live to your Living Room fans who offered to retrieve it for us.)
March 2026
March was one of our busiest months of the year so far. Not only were the team at the English Folk Expo in Manchester, but we were also appointed to test and review Culture Central’s new Charter for Equity.
Accessibility and inclusivity are at the heart of what we do, and we’re looking forward to working with Charter for Equity and the other organisations involved in the programme.
We also livestreamed some fantastic gigs with artists old and new. We started the month with a dreamy, ethereal show from Northern trio Salt House and a one-off show with The Duellists, who revisited the seminal album English Hurdy Gurdy Music.
Blazin’ Fiddles joined us for a boisterous performance, celebrating the talent and diversity of Celtic fiddle music, and we welcomed duo Filkins Drift, who specialise in beautiful songs inspired by nature.
Steve Knightley, best known for his work with Show of Hands and The Winter Yards Band, shared a very special project with us, Sanctuary: Songs in Sacred Spaces. Immersive and atmospheric music written and performed for churches and historic venues.
We said hello to Maz O’Connor, who showcased her latest album, Love it is a Killing Thing, and welcomed The Young’uns Sean Cooney for a performance of his epic musical chronical, Peter’s Field.
Joined by Rowan Rheingans and Sam Carter, Peter’s Field told the tale of the Peterloo Massacre, with an enthralling narrative drawn from hundreds of eyewitness accounts.
April 2026
We kicked off April with an exciting show by O’Hooley & Tidow in Halifax, celebrating the birthday of Anne Lister, also known as Gentleman Jack. Heidi Tidow had taken a sabbatical from the duo, so it was wonderful to see (and hear!) her reunite with Belinda O’Hooley once more.
April was a month for lively shows celebrating the very best of folk. We welcomed festival favourites Banter, international acoustic quartet Track Dogs, Irish folk legends Ranagri (who played at The Met in Bury), and indie folk trio Good Habits.
We also launched our folk alphabet challenge on social media, which is still ongoing at the moment! The rules are simple – we name a letter of the alphabet; you name a folk song or tune which begins with that letter. Check out our Facebook page to take part and suggest your songs!
May 2026
May saw two tremendous shows from two fantastic performers!
At the start of May we welcomed artist, activist, and star of the Reasons to be Cheerful musical John Kelly to the Live to your Living Room stage, who performed a very special acoustic gig at The Metronome in Morden.
And biggedy biggedy bong! At the end of May we livestreamed BBC Radio 1 legends Mark & Lard for the last-ever show of their Carry On: An Audience with Mark & Lard tour.
We livestreamed one of the very first shows of the tour when it debuted in Manchester in 2024, so it was a glorious treat to go full circle!
June 2026
June was a quiet month with no gigs, but that didn’t mean we weren’t planning things behind the scenes…
July 2026
In previous years we’ve taken a well-deserved break in July, ready to restart the season in September but this year, we’re packing our tent and heading off to the festivals!
We start festival season with a trip to Cumbria, where we’re checking out Furness Trad, a small, intimate festival that takes place in picturesque Ulverston.
From there we’ll be showcasing a fantastic double-bill of two young rising stars in the festival folk scene: Wychbury and The Madeleine Stewart Trio.
And finally, at the end of the month, we’re heading off to Castle Park for Warwick Folk Festival. We livestreamed the festival for the first time last year, and it went down so well that we were invited back to share the fun with fans all over the world!
This year we’re livestreaming all the headliners on the main Kingmaker stage, including Eddi Reader, Fisherman’s Friends, Naragonia Quartet, and Spiers & Boden.
(If you’re going to the festival, our team will be there; come and say hello!)
What’s next for Live to your Living Room?
We’re now busy organising our schedule for 2026/2027, and it’s going to be bigger, better, and brighter than ever!
We’ve already announced some amazing artists including Phil Beer, Tarren, and Mishra, with many more to be announced soon.
We’ll also be expanding our ONEAudience programme and announcing some very special initiatives through social media and our email newsletter.
Here’s to an exciting year ahead; we can’t wait to take you along on the journey!