Local singer-songwriter Louis Coupe returns to Shrewsbury for his first show in the town for over 5 years.

Fashion together classic piano-led songwriting from the 70s, with a “contemporary-E-Street-kind-of-indie-groove” and you’re somewhere in Louis Coupe’s ballpark. From his beginnings as the outcast in the music class, Louis has forged his own path through a sheer passion and love for music making.

It was a surprise ticket to see Elton John that saw a then 12-year-old instantly obsessed with the pioneering greats - The Beatles, Billy Joel, ELO. Sat for hours searching for internet video tutorials, Louis set about teaching himself any instrument he could find – “I didn’t care for technique or doing it correctly, I just wanted to be able to play songs”.

Undeterred, the next decade saw Louis notch up over a thousand live shows, honing his craft the old fashioned way; often performing rowdy piano bar marathons anywhere that would take him. His extensive time cutting his teeth out on the road gave him the perfect preparation for recent performances at the Royal Albert Hall and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, as well as his most recent sold out show at the Green Note in London in September 2023.

Contrasting his dynamic live show, Louis’ carefully crafted writing tells stories about growing up in the quiet hills of Shropshire, his grandparents 65 years together, as well as frank conversations on relationships and life as a young man. Louis Coupe's music is proudly personal while boldly nostalgic.

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Support from Ash Bates.

Ash Bates is an alternative folk artist from Shropshire. His songwriting explores the self, the challenges we face as humans and the transmutation of those into new rites of passage. Finding inspiration within artists such as Blake Mills, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen, the music evokes a similar but individual, somewhat electronic style.

Written and recorded in Ash’s small studio above a stable barn in rural Shropshire, the soundscape he creates has a modern electronic resonance blended with seemingly aged and familiar, crackled tones. There is a feeling of space created in his writing, a space where all can quietly go and feel free to express. His music is a study of who we are and how we fit in to this modern world, and he cleverly narrates the stories he has experienced in himself and others.