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“...the unique
performance venue”
Acapela Studio
tel: 029 2089 0862
info@acapela.co.uk
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John Smith

Born in Essex, raised by the Devon seaside, and making his bones in the bars and clubs of Liverpool, John has released six studio albums with over 100 million Spotify streams. He has played to audiences all over the world in living rooms, festival tents and sold-out concert halls, barely pausing for breath during his eighteen years as a full-time independent touring musician.

Steeped in the lineage of British folk and American guitar music, taking his cue from Richard Thompson, John Martyn and Ry Cooder, Smith has evolved a transatlantic blend of fingerstyle and slide guitar techniques. His deeply romantic and vivid songwriting, combined with his innovative guitar work, have won him a loyal following. His honey-on-gravel voice and mesmerizing fingerstyle guitar are undeniable. Sometimes using a slide, sometimes with guitar on his lap, sometimes detuning mid-song or pulling subtle expressions out of an array of effect pedals, Smith’s obsession with the instrument has made a master of him. Whether by way of an album or a live show, he always leads the listener on a viscerally emotional journey.

His career began opening for folk greats including John Martyn, Davy Graham and John Renbourn, who called him “the future of folk music.” He has since opened for Iron and Wine, Patty Griffin and Ben Howard, and guested with artists such as Jackson Browne, Martin Carthy, Roseanne Cash, Gomez, Richard Hawley, Jarvis Cocker, Jerry Douglas, Glen Hansard and Rodney Crowell. In his occasional role as sideman, he has played guitar for artists as diverse as David Gray, Lisa Hannigan, Lianne La Havas, Joe Henry and Joan Baez.

He has released six records of his own songs. ‘Headlong’ (2017) reached #15 in the Indie Breakers chart, #1 on iTunes’ Singer-Songwriter chart, and his catalogue has amassed over 100 million Spotify streams. There is also a variety of live albums, instrumental EPs and cover records out there, which John often makes available directly to his loyal following of die-hard music fans.

Now he is back with new album “The Living Kind” released in March 2024 on his own imprint, Commoner Records, via Thirty Tigers.

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.  

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