Laura Veirs

Event Information

Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter Laura Veirs blends the poetic sensibilities of folk with the rough edges of indie rock. Her career has seen her collaborate with luminaries such as kd lang, Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens, Jim James, The Decemberists, Bill Frisell and many more.

2026 sees Laura return with her new album, Temple Songs— her first in four years and the first she has written, recorded, arranged, produced and performed entirely on her own. It captures a songwriter in peak form. The album is intimate, dreamy, brave and quietly defiant, built around Veirs’ intricate fingerstyle nylon-string guitar, vulnerable vocals and bold electric guitar embellishments. The new songs lend themselves perfectly to being performed live in a stripped-back form, with Laura accompanied only by Karl Blau on electric guitar.

Karl Blau will also support. The croon of Karl Blau’s voice hits the ear like baritone Hazelwood, Cohen or Cave, especially in his albums since he found his “country voice” in the past 10 years. Blau’s staggering number of solo albums added up to 54 for the ironically entitled Introducing album, his first on London’s Bella Union in 2016, and his first foray into singing country. Not afraid to keep expanding his frontier, 2025 saw Blau’s Vultures of Love – a loose homage to psychedelia – come out on eccentric Los Angeles label Otherly Love. With thirty years of songwriting, recording and touring behind him, Karl Blau hits the road with long time collaborator and friend, Laura Veirs. As they celebrate Laura’s Temple Songs album they also mark over twenty years of making music together.

This concert takes place in Hallé at St Michael’s – a former Roman Catholic church, which was founded in 1859 and became the heart of the Little Italy Community in Ancoats.

AGE RESTRICTION: This is a 14+ show. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

PLEASE NOTE: The ticket price includes a £1.20 venue levy.