CHAMPION TREES + NIKKI ROUS

We are thrilled to welcome Champion Trees to Shrewsbury.

London-based band Champion Trees is the word rock/folk/diy musical collaboration of Francis Christie (lyrics, vocals, guitars), Lex Pienaar (bass), James Bickford-Smith (keys, violin), Michael Burke (saxophone) and Michele Hromin (clarinet). The lush arrangements of their new, independently released second album A Duck’s Water Off My Back are a marked departure from the lean production of the band’s early material. A Duck’s Water Off My Back has greatly expanded the band’s following, earning coverage on BBC Introducing on Radio 6 and critical acclaim from Outside Noise, who maintain that it features “some of the most beautiful poetry we’ve heard in independent music all year”.

Support comes from Nikki Rous,who is no stranger to performing. Over the course of her childhood and teenage years she travelled the dance festivals and performed at countless shows around the UK. When she turned 17 Nikki won a place at one of the UK’s most prestigious stage schools and around the same time she bought herself a guitar and started teaching herself to play. She discovered artists such as Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Tori Amos, Sinead O’ Connor, Skunk Anansie, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Portishead, Bjork, Alanis Morissette and many more musicians that inspire her still to this day.

Doors Open at 7pm