Music

Three Cane Whale & The Wraiths

Sat 11 Jun 8pm £10/£7 (concs) Friends £8/£6 (concs)

Here’s an evening of gentle but phenomenally intelligent acoustic music from two of the West Country’s most exciting groups. Three Cane Whale is a new multi-instrumental trio, playing acoustic miniatures which draw influence from folk and minimalist music. The trio comprises Alex Vann (mandolin, bowed psaltery, music box), who many of you will know from his work with Spiro, Pete Judge (trumpet, harmonium, lyre, glockenspiel) from the the duo ‘Eyebrow’ and Paul Bradley (acoustic guitar) who is the maverick genius behind legendary Bristol band Organelles. Venue magazine describes Three Cane Whale’s music as ‘unutterably lovely compositions - altogether too delicate for concrete description. A team of watchmakers, each crafting their own bejewelled cog, and intricately splicing together a glorious whole'. In short, here we have small gems of minimalist, gentle beauty with a habit of building to a spellbinding, mesmerising crescendo.

For second course, here are The Wraiths – Bristol-based duo deliver finely-tuned settings of poems from Lord Tennyson, Emily Dickinson, Walter de la Mare and William Blake. The music comes in the form of percussive guitar strains from Jon Hunt (also from Spiro) to underpin the fine and compelling voice of Mog. Their sound is gentle and pithy, opulent arrangements with a beguiling simplicity – once described as “imagine the intelligence of Morrissey with string arrangements by Jonny Marr”.

Whatever you do this summer, make sure you’re at Prema for this start to our mini-fest of musical brilliance to hear the very finest Bristol has to offer.

The Old Dance School

Sun 12 Jun 8pm £10/£7 (concs) Friends £8/£6 (concs)

Harnessing energy from the elements and inspiration from their unstoppable sense of adventure, this formidable folk collective fuses seven of the exciting young folk scene's finest musicians. Tonight the Old Dance School blends fiddles with soaring brass crescendos, wind and vocal harmonies with earth shattering grooves to create blistering tunes and vivid songs. Their journey began in 2006 as a gathering of friends in the garden of the old Betty Fox school of ballet in Birmingham, then legendary party venue, from where they take their name. Five years on, 40,000 miles and many dozen festivals (and several trips to A&E) later they continue to deliver a startling ‘take’ on contemporary folk which is both firmly rooted and unashamedly forward thinking. This septet may seem fresh faced, but don't let them fool you! The diversity and sheer talent of each musician combine forces to build a creative, infectious fizz. Don’t miss this Sunday night summer special. A real coup for Prema and for Gloucestershire so book your tickets now!

K’passa

Sat 16 Jul 8pm £10/£7 (concs) Friends £8/£6 (concs)

Since their formation back in 1988, K’passa have undergone many incarnations but maintains their highly contagious drive, energy, passion as well as an ever-loyal, ever-growing army of fans. Often spotted across the South West, this powerhouse of loud folk-rock sound is prone to causing crowd-euphoria at the many festivals and gigs they play. They fuse elements of folk, dub, Cajun and reggae to create a highly danceable sound which it’s impossible to resist. This is another blasting summer offering from Prema in our mini-fest of bustin’ roots sounds. Book good and early as we’ll sell out in days!