The Mark Hummel Trio – with Bob Hall & Dave Peabody (SOLD OUT)
Mark Hummel is one of the premier blues harmonica players of his generation. He is a multi-award winning performer and recording artist, as well as a nominated author.
In the company of 2 great stalwarts of the British blues scene:
Bob Hall on piano – he cut his teeth with Alexis Korner, Peter Green, Charlie Watts, and, of course Savoy Brown.
Dave Peabody on guitar – awarded UK Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year on 3 occasions and highly respected for his work with Honey Boy Edwards, and Charlie Musselwhite.
In short – a fabulous evening of blues in a very atmospheric venue.
The Mark Hummel Trio will play The Havana, Chichester, PO19 1PH for an evening show at 8pm on Thursday 26th March.
Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.
Unreserved seating
The Havana’s licensed bar, cosy seating, and brilliant sound system make for a very enjoyable musical experience!
All profits from ticket sales are reinvested into our local community
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable. Please note however that unfortunately this venue is not wheelchair accessible.
The Errol Linton Band – 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival – in association with Harbour Records
A welcome return to the Emsworth BluesFest for Errol Linton, who has graced our WemsFest stage several times over the years, always impressing us with his true-blue voice, wailing harmonica skills, and brilliant band.
We are delighted to have him closing out our 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival! Presented in association with Harbour Records, this weekend festival will feature two nights of ticketed shows at St James Church Parish Hall on Friday and Saturday night, and a Saturday afternoon of FREE performances at various pubs in Emsworth.
This year our charity bucket on the bar is fundraising for Cardiac Risk in the Young, and all profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Lucca Mae & her band – with support from Michael & Sadie Roach – 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival – in association with Harbour Records
Lucca Mae is a rising star on the burgeoning London Soul / Rock‘n’Roll scene. Taking cues from the likes of Sam Cooke, Amy Winehouse & Paolo Nutini, her singing, songwriting, and performance is second to none.
With sold out gigs under her belt in the UK, Australia & Canada, alongside her solo weekly residency at the legendary Marquis Covent Garden, Lucca Mae is well underway and is taking over the UK, one gig at a time.
We are delighted to have her opening up our 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival! Presented in association with Harbour Records, this weekend festival will feature two nights of ticketed shows at St James Church Parish Hall on Friday and Saturday night, and a Saturday afternoon of FREE performances at various pubs in Emsworth.
“As far as I’m concerned The London scene is Lucca Mae, Laurie Wright & The Molotovs” ~ Steve White (Paul Weller/Style Council drummer)
“Outstanding, I want to play drums on her album.” ~ (Alan White – Oasis drummer)
“She’s got a beautiful voice… tell her to holler when she comes out to LA” ~ Tom Brenneck, Dunham Records
Lucca Mae – with support from Michael & Sadie Roach – will play St James Church Parish Hall (20A Church Path, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DP) on Friday 16th January
Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show
Unreserved seating
As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks
This year our charity bucket on the bar is fundraising for Cardiac Risk in the Young, and all profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Max & Veronica
Passionate playing by this Italian duo who stunned everyone when they played The Old Malthouse in Chidham last year. Hip, cool, and highly entertaining, this duo enjoyed a hugely successful UK tour last year and are back for more! Country blues, and ragtime, hokum, jug band and rural music from the 1920s and 1930s and beyond.
“Good time blues is alive and well and residing in… Milan, Italy. A band with a mission” – Folk & Roots Magazine
Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi passionately play country blues and ragtime, hokum, jug band and rural music from the 20’s and 30’s. They like to keep this precious musical heritage alive faithfully reproducing its original sound whilst playing it with a modern twist.
Using strictly acoustic instruments such ukulele, washboard, kazoo, resophonic guitars and doublebass their passion for this music is perfectly represented on their last CD “OLD STORIES FOR MODERN TIMES”, that also sees contributions by other leading musicians and friends, Sugar Blue (a legendary harmonica player in the past with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Dixon and Frank Zappa) and the world master of resophonic guitar, Bob Brozman.
The album is an overview of the American popular music from the early years of the last century with the Red Wine Serenaders reinterpreting great songs by artists like Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, Jimmie Rodgers, Sidney Bechet, Lucille Bogan, Bo Carter, and the Delmore Brothers in their own unique style.
With their trio called ‘Veronica & The Red Wine Serenaders’ they won the European Blues Challenge 2013, an important international contest held in Toulouse in March. Thanks to this result they performed at the prestigious Notodden Blues Festival in Norway and Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland.
Veronica & Max regularly perform in the USA, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Spain, England, Italy and Poland. Veronica is also the first Italian artist ever invited to the Mustique Blues Festival (2012 and 2013), in the Caribbean.
In 2025, WemsFest adds The Havana to its quiver of venues. The Havana is an atmospheric subterranean venue in the heart of Chichester. Easily accessible by public transport, come enjoy an evening out in Chichester’s premier grassroots music venue. The Havana’s licensed bar and cosy (unreserved) seating will ensure you are comfortable. Apologies however that this venue is not wheelchair-accessible.
Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start
Michael Messer & Chaz Jankel – SOLD OUT
Their first album together, ‘Mostly We Drive’, is one of the highlights of 2024, from this master slide-guitarist and former Blockhead guitarist. Think JJ Cale or Clapton & Allman – and then bring it kicking and gently screaming into this decade.
Michael Messer is a virtuoso slide guitarist, singer, songwriter and roots & blues innovator. Throughout his forty two year career his music has remained individual and contemporary. Michael’s reputation as an innovator of the blues and master of slide guitar is well known.
Being British with an international reputation for blues slide guitar is a rarity in itself, but Messer’s obsessive appetite for knowledge of his art is virtually unrivalled. His stunning slide guitar playing and superb vocals ooze authenticity and integrity. His use of turntables in the Second Mind Band marked him as one of the trailblazers of the noughties blues sound and his blues-Indian trio, Michael Messer’s Mitra, has once again broken new ground by playing an exhilarating and accessible fusion of rural blues and Indian classical music. Their highly acclaimed album, ‘Call Of The Blues’, was iTunes No1 blues album and has won them worldwide acclaim, receiving radio airplay in more than fifty countries.
Johnny Cash was a fan of Michael Messer’s music and wrote the liner notes for his 1993 album ‘Rhythm Oil’, a rare honour shared only with Bob Dylan on the ‘Nashville Skyline’ album. ‘Rhythm Oil’ was awarded Import Album of the Year by the Austin, Texas, music press. Messer’s ‘King Guitar’ album reached number one in the US Living Blues chart. ‘Second Mind’ won Best International Guitar Album of the Year, and the American magazine ‘Spirit’ listed Michael Messer as one of the greatest slide guitarists ever, alongside Duane Allman and Ry Cooder.
Messer’s latest project is an album he has recorded with the renowned songwriter and musician, Chaz Jankel. A recording artist in his own right, Chaz Jankel is most widely known as the co-writer of many hit records with Ian Dury & The Blockheads. The album ‘Mostly We Drive’ was released in January 2024 and reached #2 in the IBBA (Independent Blues Broadcasters) chart for January. The album has been featured on numerous radio shows including – BBC Radio 2 Cerys Matthews Blues Show, Jazz FM David Freeman Blues & Boogie Show, WLTH Chicago Brothers Of The Blues Show, and shows in these countries… Ireland, Canada, Scotland, USA, Poland, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, France, Japan….and more to follow.
In 2025, WemsFest adds The Havana (3 Little London, Chichester PO19 1PH) to its quiver of venues. The Havana is an atmospheric subterranean venue in the heart of Chichester. Easily accessible by public transport using bus or train, come enjoy an evening out in Chichester’s premier grassroots music venue. The Havana’s licensed bar and cosy seating will ensure you are comfortable.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please note that unfortunately there is no wheelchair access at this venue.
Jo Harman (and band)
A warm welcome to Emsworth for one of the most talented Blues artists to emerge in the past 20 years – Jo Harman will be the closing act for the 3rd Emsworth Blues Festival, presented by WemsFest and Harbour Records over the weekend of 17-18 January 2025.
Widely regarded as one of Europe’s finest ever soul/blues fuelled voices, Jo Harman is an international touring and recording artist who remains a genre-defying, independently minded artist of rare credibility. An artist who makes sincere and heartfelt music, The Mirror proclaimed her ‘UK’s finest female soul blues voice’ who, according to Classic Rock, writes ‘lip-biting beautiful songs’.
Jo released her second studio album ‘People We Album’ to much critical acclaim (see accolades at foot of the page) and no little commercial success. Indeed the ‘lead single’, ‘When We Were Young’ (featuring Michael McDonald) achieved BBC Radio 2 play-listing, as well as play listing on other mainstream national stations across Ireland (RTE1) and Europe. The album has also made various ‘best of’ lists, internationally.
‘Sometimes you hear a voice that leaves you speechless’ – Huey Morgan, Fun Loving Criminals on his BBC Radio 2 show
‘On course to be the finest UK female blues soul voice’ – Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror
‘Cracking rootsy blues singer well known to festival audiences’ – Mail On Sunday
‘What a voice!’ – Classic Rock Magazine
‘Stunning. Harman’s music mainlines the human soul’ – Classic Rock Blues Magazine
‘It was my great privilege to work with her. Listening to her interpret one of my songs was a spiritual experience’ – Michael McDonald (Soul superstar and Doobie Brothers frontman)
‘I believe this lady to be one of the finest singers this country has to offer! She really is tremendous! I hope our paths cross again’ – Rag N Bone Man
‘An exquisite album rooted in the classic, timeless music of past generations, and quite possibly the finest blue eyed soul vocal performance you’ll hear all year.’ – Get Ready To Rock
‘Jo mines pop, soul and gritty blues with conviction’ – The Daily Mirror
‘Jo Harman is an incredibly believable and soulful singer…perhaps right now UK’s finest’ – Chris Wells, Editor, Echoes
‘Just Stunning’ – Mail On Sunday
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please park considerately. Church Path is parking for residents only, but there is plenty of free parking in town car parks off Bridge Street and Palmers Road.
The Bex Marshall Band
Raunchy blues-rock from the lady who wears her heart on her sleeve – Bex Marshall will be the opening act for the 3rd Emsworth Blues Festival, presented by WemsFest and Harbour Records over the weekend of 17-18 January 2025.
‘….at last a woman who plays guitar like a goddess, sings like an angel, writes like Dylan and smiles like the devil’ – Booker T.
UK British Blues Award winner and 4 time European Blues Awards nomineeBex Marshall’s unique style of guitar playing is a combined technique of slide, blues rock, ragtime and roots pickin’.
Her voice is a powerful melting pot of old black woman’s heartache and rock diva soul. Bex is a writer of distinction and notability. She pushes the boundaries of blues. Her songs have been called ‘timeless touches of genius’, and now she tours internationally solo or with a three-piece band which augments her unique style of of virtuoso playing. Born In Plymouth, Devon, she was the product of two very different families: blue-blooded landed gentry (her great grandfather was the Squire of Cornwall) and Irish Romany (her great grandmother was the original fairground fortune teller Madam Olga).
As a child at family gatherings, her uncles would always play and stand her on the table to sing. At 11 years old she was given a 1963 Gibson Hummingbird by her Uncle David and started playing – she got hooked on instrumentals and classical guitar standards, which stretched her fingers and gave her a great basis for her own music to develop: flamenco, ragtime, country chicken pickin’, rock, and on to blues and roots where she is now in her element.
She always had a passion for travelling; it is in her blood. Trained as a croupier at 18, she began her travels around the world working gaming tables on cruise liners to Park Lane, even dealing illegal poker games in Amsterdam. She hitchhiked the coast of Australia on cattle trains – always with a guitar on her back, living and storing tales.
‘Bex Marshall is a heartwrenching singer, a dazzling guitarist, and a charismatic stage presence. Whatever she does, you’re in safe hands… but heh, not TOO safe’ – Charles Shaar Murray
‘…sounds like a breakthrough album’– Rock n Reel (R2) UK
‘…Marshall’s album is of such class and maturity, without an apparent weakness or filler’ – Blues Matters UK
‘…As a writer she’s mastered the art of making new material sound like its been found in long-forgotten vaults’ –Net Rhythms UK
‘…She has harnessed the power of the blues without resorting to cliché or plagiarism’ – Spiral Earth UK
‘…deserves wider recognition for her spit and saw dust vocals and fluid resonator guitar licks’ – Classic Rock Magazine UK
‘..Marshall’s competent axework has Mark Knopfler’s feathery touch’ – LA Weekly US
‘…the blues ‘Black Guitar’ culminates in a slide guitar clamour Derek Trucks would be pleased to call his own’ – Downbeat Magazine US
‘…a younger version of Bonnie Raitt. Seldom do we hear such blues inflected rawness in female guitar players and its so refreshing to hear it done with such authenticity and assurance’ – Folk and Roots Magazine UK
‘…..Bex Marshall’s voice draws up the ghosts of old blues women’s heartaches’ – Outlaw Magazine US
‘…the absolute stand out on this album is Marshall’s vocals’ – Root of Rock Magazine NZ
‘….She has all those essential vocal frailties that make the difference between soul and soulful’ – Folk and Roots Magazine UK
Bex’s first release ‘Bootlace’ was released on Numinous Records in 2002. Her second album ‘Kitchen Table’ (released May 2008) pushed Bex to number 13 in the USA ‘UK artists chart’ and number 20 in the USA national Americana Music Association Chart. ‘The House Of Mercy’, released Sept 17th 2012, received stunning reviews worldwide along with her stand out sessions recorded for Paul Jones‘s & Bob Harris’ BBC radio 2 shows. ‘The House Of Mercy’ won 3rd Best British Blues Album of the year Award 2013 and is featured in DOWNBEAT magazine’s ‘Best Album of the Year’ list 2013 with a rare 4-star review. Guests musicians on the record are Don Wayne Reno (banjo), Dale Reno (mandolin) & Jake Byers (acoustic bass), all from Hayseed Dixie, plus B J Cole (dobro), Eileen Healy (fiddle) and Brigitte DeMeyer adding backing vocals, along with The Bex Marshall Band of Barry Payne (acoustic bass), Crispin Taylor (drums), Danny Bryan (percussion), Toby Baker (keyboards) and newest edition, gospel singer Shola Adegorove.
Bex Marshall’s brand new album ‘Fortuna’ was released and distributed through Dixiefrog Records in March 2024 alongside three single releases supporting the album: ‘5am’, ‘I Cant Look You In The Eye’ (remixed & re-released) & ‘Preaching To The Choir’.
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please park considerately. Church Path is parking for residents only, but there is plenty of free parking in town car parks off Bridge Street and Palmers Road.
Justin Adams & Mauro Durante
An acclaimed collaboration between Robert Plant‘s former guitarist Justin Adams, and Italian fiddle, guitar, and percussion player Mauro Durante. Their music is rooted in the fascinating tradition of Taranta – the healing rituals of Southern Italy. It’s atmospheric and hugely danceable.
Justin Adams, guitarist, producer and composer, has been a chief collaborator with Robert Plant in his band, the Sensational Spaceshifters, co-writing a series of 4 albums and touring the world. His production on landmark albums by Tinariwen and Rachid Taha highlight his feel for North African groove, while his award-winning project with Gambian maestro Juldeh Camara, ‘JUJU’, linked griot tradition with raw blues spirit. His recent solo album of guitar atmospherics, ‘Ribbons’, was cited amongst the top 50 albums of the past decade by Songlines magazine.
Mauro Durante toured the world for many years with Ludovico Einaudi playing violin and frame drums. He is one of the leading players in the pizzica style of Southern Italy and leads Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, who have played great festivals all over the world. Last year CSG were featured in their own concert at the BBC Proms (where Justin Adams guested with them) and they won Best Group in the Songlines Music Awards.
This new collaboration stems from a concert led by Ludovico Einaudi, the Notte della Taranta in Puglia, where the two first played together, recognising kindred spirits in the trance rhythms of Taranta which transcend “melancolia” or the blues. Together they create a raw, stripped-back sound that moves and mesmerises.
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert. You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.
Veronica Sbergia & Max de Bernardi
Hip, cool, and highly entertaining, this duo enjoyed a hugely successful UK tour last year and are back for more! Join us for country blues, ragtime, vaudeville, hokum, jug band, and rural music from the 1920s and 1930s.
“Good time blues is alive and well and residing in… Milan, Italy. A band with a mission” – Folk & Roots Magazine
Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi passionately play country blues and ragtime, hokum, jug band and rural music from the 20’s and 30’s.
They like to keep this precious musical heritage alive faithfully reproducing its original sound whilst playing it with a modern twist.
Using strictly acoustic instruments such ukulele, washboard, kazoo, resophonic guitars and doublebass their passion for this music is perfectly represented on their last CD “OLD STORIES FOR MODERN TIMES”, that also sees contributions by other leading musicians and friends, Sugar Blue (a legendary harmonica player in the past with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Dixon and Frank Zappa) and the world master of resophonic guitar, Bob Brozman.
The album is an overview of the American popular music from the early years of the last century with the Red Wine Serenaders reinterpreting great songs by artists like Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, Jimmie Rodgers, Sidney Bechet, Lucille Bogan, Bo Carter, and the Delmore Brothers in their own unique style.
With their trio called ‘Veronica & The Red Wine Serenaders’ they won the European Blues Challenge 2013, an important international contest held in Toulouse in March. Thanks to this result they performed at the prestigious Notodden Blues Festival in Norway and Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland.
Veronica & Max regularly perform in the USA, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Spain, England, Italy and Poland.
Veronica is also the first Italian artist ever invited to the Mustique Blues Festival (2012 and 2013), in the Caribbean.
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert. You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.
Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, and online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest
as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks
as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
