
An intimate evening of story and song from Bob Harris’s 50 years in broadcasting and music. With support from Martyn Joseph.
Whispering” Bob Harris, OBE has been at the very heart of UK music scene for the best part of fifty years. He has established a worldwide reputation as one of the most trusted and influential broadcasters of his generation – described by Radio Times as “…one of the greats of British contemporary music broadcasting” and by The Mail On Sunday as “a national treasure”.
“Bob Harris is a straight-up legend” Chris Martin / Coldplay
Few people have taken as many bands into mainstream consciousness as Bob Harris – from his groundbreaking work in 1970s on BBC Radio 1 and the legendary Old Grey Whistle Test TV shows to his current programme Bob Harris Country on BBC Radio 2.
His guiding principle is the pursuit of excellence – reflected in the passion of his broadcasting and his devotion to the best music. He is a trusted guide and mentor to millions who have music at the centre of their lives. When Bob gives his support to an artist, people listen.
His tireless promotion of emerging and cutting-edge music has been second to none across a career that has seen him acknowledged by a series of international awards. In 2011, Bob received an OBE for his services to music broadcasting. He has twice been named International Music Broadcaster of the Year by Country Music Association – who also awarded him the prestigious Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award in 2012. He is a fellow of University of Northampton, has received a UK Heritage Award, a Mojo Medal and was inducted into UK Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.
But, broadcasting is not the only string to Bob’s bow. He is also a respected and successful writer. He co-founded Time Out magazine in 1968 and currently has his own column in Maverick Magazine. In 2015, he published the second edition of his autobiography Still Whispering After All These Years which spent more than two months at the top of Amazon Music Book Chart.
Bob, his wife Trudie and their son Miles run the multi award-winning Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company – an independent boutique production house. WBBC curates and captures beautiful Under The Apple Tree Sessions in Bob’s own Apple Tree Studio – highlighting the best emerging talent from UK, US and beyond. The team have additionally made innovative programmes for BBC Four and SkyArts – including Bob Harris: My Nashville and the Back To…TV series and won two Sony Radio Awards for the radio documentaries The Day John Met Paul and The Sandy Denny Story both broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
As a familiar voice across the airwaves for half a century he is reassuringly knowledgeable and totally unique. He has enjoyed an incredibly prolific five-decade career (so far) and is as passionate about music today as he was as a small boy – hosting listening parties in parents’ basement.
“He champions the unknown, the obscure and legendary with equal zest and detail. He has stayed the distance, the good times and the others with character and resilience, always digging deep and deeper”
Robert Plant
Accompanied on the evening by MARTYN JOSEPH
Martyn Joseph is a completely unique and mind blowing artist. Take everything you think you know about singer songwriters….and rip it up. For one man and a guitar he creates a performance with a huge far-reaching sound that is energetic, compelling and passionate. Be it to two hundred people or twenty thousand, he blows the crowd away night after night.
He is gifted with the rare ability to speak to the soul with his expressive and poignant lyrics and has a career spanning 30 years, 32 albums, over a half a million record sales and thousands of live performances.
Compared to Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Matthews, he has created his own style and reputation as a mesmerising live performer and stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives. A unique talent driven by passion, social awareness and love for his trade, he’s a jaw dropping guitar player who has developed a unique percussive style, teamed up with a powerful show stopping voice, and has been called “The Welsh Springsteen”.
Book a table for pre-concert dining
Acapela Studio provides pre-concert dining between 6.00pm and 7.30pm from our pizza oven. To view the current menu visit here.
Please purchase your concert tickets first before booking a table. We will not accept any table bookings that do not have a corresponding ticket purchase.
Then return to the event page to book your table, by selecting the date of your event, number of diners and time you require table. The times shown are the only vacancies left. Please complete your email and phone number as this is required to ensure your table is allocated. You will receive confirmation of your booking by email and text.
If on the date you have chosen no tables are available - no times will be shown and the booking system will revert you back to todays date - PLEASE ENSURE YOU BOOK THE CORRECT DATE!
PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE RELIES ON THE INCOME FROM DINING TO ENSURE WE CAN BOOK ALL THE GREAT ACTS PERFORMING.
Income from the provision of pizzas is very important to the venue and if you have booked a table it is a requirement that all people sat at tables order food - a salad alternative is available to pizzas. Please do ensure that all individuals will be ordering on your table - if this is not the case please cancel your table so others who are looking to dine can do so. Our apologies to raise this but recently we have had many tables (some very large) where less than 50% of those sat at tables have ordered food. Financially this is a real problem to the sustainability of the venue.
- All seating at tables must purchase a pizza - so please do not book a table if everyone is not eating.
- Please ensure that you arrive 10 minutes before the time slot allocated to order your pizzas prior to your booking time.
- Tables not seated within 15 minutes of the allocated time may be lost and allocated to other audience members wishing to order pizzas.
- If you wish to book a table for 6 or more please email info@acapela.co.uk
Please note that all of our pizzas are made fresh to order and cooked in an authentic wood-fired oven. It may take up to 45 minutes to be served during busy periods.
IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO BOOK A TABLE YOU CAN STILL ORDER PIZZAS ON THE NIGHT (USUALLY ON BUSY NIGHTS NO LATER THAN 7.15PM) AND WE WILL SERVE THEM TO YOU WHEREVER YOU ARE SAT IN THE VENUE - IN A PIZZA BOX.