A Different Thread + Caitlin Gilligan at The Carlton Club

Event information

A Different Thread bring their Transatlantic Americana Show to Leeds, with support from Caitlin Gilligan.

“Warm, deep, songwriters who have drank from the well of 20th century folk tradition” - Folk Radio UK

A Different Thread is a transatlantic band fronted by Alicia Best from Durham, North Carolina, and Robert Jackson from the Midlands of England. The two met busking in Ireland in 2016 and have been on the road ever since, touring and creating original music together.

Pulling from their respective roots, they weave together elements of 70s’ Folk Revival, Country, and Appalachian Blues into a timeless blend of Americana.

Their music has garnered the attention of the BBC and NPR radio and landed them support slots with the likes of Jody Stevens (Big Star) Native Harrow, and the Milk Carton Kids. Their intimate blend of raw vocals and atmospheric instrumentation is reminiscent of The Band, Bert Jansch, and Joni Mitchell, with a nod to more contemporary artists such as The Wood Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens and Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings.

The band released their second album, Call of the Road, in September last year, followed by a UK tour with double bass player, Mike Seal. The new album was recorded in Bristol, UK, with producer Luke Cawthra (Phantom Limb) and the Folk duo, Chris Elliott and Caitlin Jones. Written over lockdown, these eleven songs deal with the themes of love, loss, wanderlust, and life on the open road.

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Caitlin Gilligan

“..she sings with a singular clear-eyed intensity of her own.” Folk Radio

Caitlin Gilligan is from the rolling hills of rural Galloway. Now based in the North-West of England, her songs still echo the wildness of her Scottish youth.

Stirring age-old folk songs into a set of bare-boned and poetically-crafted originals, she demonstrates refreshing insight whilst simultaneously summoning the voices of times gone by.

She draws much inspiration from folk giants such as Anne Briggs, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen as well as traditional vocal music of Scotland, Ireland and America.
She has supported artists such as Martin Carthy, Martin Simpson, Sam Amidon, Rachel Sermanni, Emily Portman, Rachel Newton and The Rails. She played her debut Cambridge Folk Festival in 2019, where she was a selected highlight on The Den Stage.