About this Event

Tonight's show is FREE entry, with all donations on a pay-what-you-feel basis going to the artists. This is a bill that's as good as it gets. To reserve a place, please email rsvp@karouselmusic.com.



/// PAT DAM SMYTH ///



‘The Great Divide conquers beautifully’ - The Independent

‘He has returned to create something beautiful’ The Daily Mirror

‘The Great Divide is amazing. It’s musical storytelling at its finest’ BBC ‘A rare kind of truthful songwriting’ The Irish Times

‘Beautiful, with an acerbic bite’ - PRS Magazine

‘An authentic masterpiece which never ceases to amaze’ - Rock Italia ‘Beautiful - **** ’ – Stereoboard

‘Intoxicating’ – 9/10 – Rhythm and Booze

‘Epic’ – Female First



PAT DAM SMYTH’S debut album ‘The Great Divide’ was hailed as a modern masterpiece in his native Northern Ireland and received critical acclaim in the rest of the UK from The Independent, Q magazine, Hotpress Magazine, Irish Times, BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 music to name but a few. Born and raised on a farm in Northern Ireland from Irish and Greek roots he moved to London, via Dublin, Liverpool, Athens and Los Angeles. His music falls somewhere between Beck, Lou Reed and Bowie, and his ability to distill his raw authenticity into a mixture of world weary low vocals, and those soul-searingly high moments is winning him an army of fans both inside the industry and out. He has just launched a PledgeMusic campaign bringing fans together to power the new PDS album, and was awarded the top PledgeMusic/Help Musicians UK award at the end of 2015.



In the meantime, The Great Divide remains an album that will stand the test of time, drawing comparisons in some quarters to Bill Fay’s Time of The Last Persecution. The song “Set In Stone” was handpicked by award winning French Director David Moreau for the soundtrack of his 2013 Feature Film “20 Ans D’ecart”. The album also provides the soundtrack for (studio contracts allowing) a forthcoming film, which was written by and stars Tom Hardy. Pat played three sold out shows at September’s Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg where he was selected by the official organisers as Best of Showcase, as well as being quoted as Songlink International’s highlight of the festival, who called him ‘mesmerising’. This followed similarly triumphant sets at Liverpool Sound City and The Great Escape. Recording for Pat’s second album begins in Northern Ireland and London in April 2016.



/// JOEL SARAKULA ///



‘The new album The Imposter is dreamy and Bowie-esque... It’s a really engaging and adventurous record, I would highly recommend it... It takes you to lots of different places’ Lauren Laverne, BBC 6 Music

‘This is a really cool new release... gets under the skin, refuses to budge’, - Craig Charles BBC 6 Music

‘A wonderful Baroque-Pop stomper that puts me in mind of the Small Faces and the Left Banke - Lauren Laverne BBC 6 Music ‘Northern Soul is that rare thing: a pop song that would sound equally at home on Radios 1, 2 and 6.’

– Independent on Sunday, Future Classic Alert

‘Sydney-born, London-based newcomer Joel Sarakula is a songwriter cut from classic cloth.’ - Irish Independent ‘The lovechild of Rufus Wainwright and Billy Joel... on Duracells’, BBC London



Joel Sarakula is an AUS/UK artist who sings Soulful Indie-Pop songs at the piano and guitar. Born in Sydney and now based in London, his debut UK album The Golden Age racked up generous plays across BBC Radio 2, BBC 6, BBC London, XFM, Q Radio, Absolute Music and internationally. He is a regular fixture on the festival and club circuit in the UK, Europe and Australia, including appearances at The Great Escape, Reeperbahn Festival and Hop Farm Festival. Sarakula is a songwriter who has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway, via the dive bars of Europe and the US. With personal tastes that span from the more avant-garde to pop greats like Sly Stone, Todd Rudngren and Elvis Costello, there are clear nods to contemporaries like Beck and Erland Øye in terms of ambition and style. The new record The Imposter (We Are Elevate Records) has enjoyed a wave of support at 6 Music, and is currently on fire in Germany, Holland and Italy - where he’s been playlisted on a slew of public radio and completed several sold out mini tours. With a healthy following in Scandinavia and his native Australia, Joel is a great example of a modern artist who wasn’t prepared to wait around the industry to get on board, and has raised himself to a place where they’ll now be glad if they do. The new album lovingly indulges in his references to the late 60s and early 70s while executing it with a colder, contemporary vision. It’s a fitting album title for a man unafraid of playing his various roles as singer, artist, writer and producer. Joel Sarakula is The Imposter.



/// HE IS A PEGASUS ///



‘I hope to God that you are blessed enough to see multi instrumentalist David Butler’s solo project live...’ 5 ***** PBJ

David Butler - aka HE IS A PEGASUS - came to our attention last year at an Indigo Sessions show, and left the audience completely stunned at The Electric Carousel for our night with our friends at SESAC. He is currently finishing his first proper EP produced by Dougal Lott and Chris Sheehan between Dean St, 50:50 London and Ray Davies’ Konk as part of a PledgeMusic campaign. A man with a ferocious amount of energy, so much so that it’s hard to believe you’re hearing one person on an electric guitar, and not a whole band. Citing influences from Muse to M83, Jeff Buckley to Bon Iver, and all the way back to old Southern USA plantation songs, we’ve heard the new EP, and it’s going to change things for him. Like Pat, David won the PledgeMusic/Help Musicians UK Emerging Artist 2016 award.

Based increasingly between London and Coventry, David made a whole new set of fans amongst his peers at the Songwriting retreat run by Squeeze legend Chris Difford last August, that Karousel co curated along with SESAC. With a couple of co-writes from that making it into the studio for other artists, as well as the remarkable new EP, there’s a real buzz about to hum around him. A young man with big things ahead. Watch this space.