Live, stripped-back, acoustic gigs - carefully curated monthly Bookshelf Sessions. These EXCLUSIVE sessions offer unique opportunity to experience top quality live performance in Alton. Come and see what everyone’s talking about!
HEY! We are looking for local, up & coming solo or duo acoustic acts with original material to support our main artists for Bookshelf Sessions. If you are interested, drop Gary an email and introduce yourself and your music, and you could find yourself supporting the likes of James Walsh (Starsailor), Richard Walters, Matthew & The Atlas, Ben Ottewell (Gomez), Fran Lusty or Nigel Clark (Dodgy).
Performances recorded live for our YouTube channel.
Nigel Clark
Friday 15th August 2025
Founding member of indie rock band Dodgy in 1990, Nigel Clark has 30+ years in the music business. From successful artist in the 1990’s with hits staying out for the summer & good enough soundtracking the summers of 1995 & 1996.
Nigel is still touring with Dodgy and also has also built up a strong following for his own solo gigs.
Nigel plays Dodgy classics and some very special cover versions & also songs from his solo albums.
Expect great stories from his musical past!
Tara MacLean
Friday 19th september 2025
Canadian singer/songwriter Tara MacLean has been an internationally renowned and award winning recording and touring artist for over 25 years. She’s written and recorded six solo albums and two with her band Shaye (with Kim Stockwood and Damhnait Doyle). Tara has been signed to Nettwerk Music Group, EMI Canada, Capitol US and Asia and is still with Sony Music Publishing Canada.
An environmental and social Justice activist, Tara has recently received the Senate of Canada medal for her work in her community. In 2020, she received the SOCAN Songwriter of the Year award, as well as Solo Recording of the Year for her album “Deeper” at the Music PEI awards, and an ECMA nomination for Pop Album of the Year.
Her theatre show Atlantic Blue- a Celebration of East Coast Songwriters, that she wrote was a sold out success for three summers on PEI, one summer with the Charlottetown Festival. It played in concert with the PEI Symphony Orchestra.
Tara MacLean resides in her home province of Prince Edward Island and requires the Atlantic ocean for optimal well being. She also spends time on Salt Spring Island, BC. Her greatest joy is being a mother to her three beautiful girls, Sophia, Stella and Flora.
She is excited to have released her first book with HarperCollins in 2023 about her life in music, along with the soundtrack, Sparrow, released concurrently with the memoir.
Matthew and the Atlas
Friday 121st November 2025
Matthew plays Goldfinch for the second time, the first being on opening of the bookshop in 2022 and this time his Bookshelf Session coincides with the Goldfinch 3rd birthday. We are very excited for this one.
Founded by Matt Hegarty, Matthew and the Atlas was borne of the late 00’s folk rock movement as he became a regular in the West London scene. It was after playing at the Communion Clubnight that the event-turned-Record label released his first official EP in 2010. Since then, he has released four albums, traversing a range of musical territories from classic acoustic folk, to dramatic synth-laden electronica, and urgent guitar led alt-rock. The common thread has been a song-writing style that marries a subtle melodic sensibility with lyrics full of natural imagery and dark emotional heft - all delivered in his striking and distinctive vocal. In the process Hegarty has quietly built a major cult following in Europe and the US.
On his latest record, Matt travelled to the famous Rockfield Studios in Wales, recording 11 tracks live to tape over just a couple of days. Here he worked with Kevin Jones (Wunderhorse, Jay Anderson, Bear’s Den), and their aim was to capture a moment in time and a sense of place into the recording, with all the magic and intimacy just a lone voice and a guitar can bring.