One of British music’s best-kept secrets set to perform in Barnoldswick

An artist that has been described as the “music industry's best kept secret” is set to perform at the Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre next month for a show that promises to be one of the most rewarding concerts of the year.

Steve Pilgrim, who is set to head to Barnoldswick on Thursday, November 12th, first emerged as drummer with the acclaimed "Bandwagon" generation outfit The Stands, part of the vibrant Merseyside scene that also produced The Coral, The Zutons and a wave of artists who would help redefine British guitar music in the early 2000s.

Since then, Pilgrim has gone on to work with the likes of The La’s and Cast’s John Power. before becoming an integral member of one of the most celebrated touring bands in modern British music.

For the past seventeen years Pilgrim has been a key member of Paul Weller's band, providing drums, acoustic guitar and vocals on stages across the world. During that time he has performed before thousands upon thousands of people, sharing bills and stages with an extraordinary roll call of artists including Noel Gallagher, Tom Jones, Roger Daltrey, Kelly Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, Emeli Sandé, Jools Holland, Graham Coxon, Villagers, Lucy Rose, Robert Wyatt and many more.

Yet despite playing some of the world's biggest stages, Pilgrim’s greatest strength might be when he trades performing in large-scale settings for intimate ones. Over five studio albums, Pilgrim has crafted a body of work that’s respected and admired by critics, musicians and audiences alike, drawing from a sound that’s influenced by the melodic craftsmanship of the great singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 70s while addressing the realities of modern life with honesty, compassion and emotional intelligence.

One of the most fascinating chapters of Steve's solo career has been his collaboration with legendary double bassist Danny Thompson, the revered folk-jazz giant whose extraordinary career includes work with Pentangle, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Kate Bush, Rod Stewart, Roy Orbison, Humphrey Lyttelton and countless others. Their partnership has brought together two generations of British musical excellence, creating recordings and performances filled with grace, space and emotional depth.

While Pilgrim regularly performs on major stages around the world, evenings like this offer something increasingly rare — the chance to experience a truly gifted songwriter in a room small enough to hear every nuance, every lyric and every story exactly as it was intended. Tickets to see Pilgrim in Barnoldswick are available here.