A POPULAR musician will be returning to Kendal next month to perform his new album.

John Smith will be playing at The Brewery Arts Centre on Wednesday, April 13 at 8pm as part of his first UK tour since the pandemic. 

This will be the first time John will be performing songs from his sixth studio album 'The Fray' which was released in 2021. 

The new album was written and produced during the lockdown. John said: "I was in Australia when it all kicked off. I had to high tail it home and I came back to a different world.

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"My response was to close the curtains and write a new record."

John said he was partly inspired by the situation we all found ourselves in while writing this record, he said: "Everything that was going on in my life around that time was intensified by the fact I was dealing with it at home in one place.

"The record speaks about loss, grief, hope and optimism moving forward. Everything that was framed by that period of time."

The Westmorland Gazette: Pictured: John SmithPictured: John Smith

John co-produced ‘The Fray’ with long-time friend and producer Sam Lakeman.  They recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio, with pianist Jason Rebello (Sting, John Mayer), bass player Ben Nicholls (Seth Lakeman, Nadine Shah), Drummer Jay Sikora (Paolo Nutini) and Jessica Staveley-Taylor of The Staves. 

John said he is looking forward to finally getting out and performing his new songs, he said: "I have been out to America mostly this year touring and it has been wonderful to see people react to these songs and what they mean to them.

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"The Brewery Arts is a gig I have played many times, I have a good crowd there so it is going to be good to see some familiar faces and to see if these songs have found them."

John said that he loves performing at the Brewery Arts Centre as it is a 'wonderfully intimate space' adding "It feels like you could just be playing to a couple of dozen people even when it is full and I love rooms like that where the scale of the place doesn't mater it feels like you're paying in someone's living room and I love that."

Tickets for John Smith are still available for £16.50 and on the door, they are £18.50.