Blackburn Gigs: Jack Watkins + Jacob Reddy + John Witherspoon

Experience an enchanting evening at The Bureau, Exchange Street, Blackburn, featuring a rich blend of glorious pop melodies meddled with electronica and folk.  This event directly follows the town centre Christmas lights switch on, so take the short skip over to the new Bureau and dive into a night to remember.  Jack Watkins blends electronic synths, soulful vocals, and piano melodies, drawing from his debut album Wonderland. Jacob Reddy brings energetic indie rock anthems, known for his catchy hooks and vibrant performances.  John Witherspoon's set showcases classic songwriting inspired by Dylan and The Beatles, combined with the nostalgic sounds of 90s Britpop.  Together, they promise a captivating evening of original music.

Jack Watkins
Jack Watkins is a British singer-song writer-producer.  His first EP, Light in the Dark, was released in summer 2022.  It explored themes of coming out and self-acceptance, reaching the top 10 in the iTunes charts.  In June 2023, he released his follow up EP, Infinity Inside, rich with melody and meaningful lyrics.  At his first solo headline show, Infinity Inside Live, Jack played to a full house at The Grand in Clitheroe.  He entertained a delighted audience with live piano, songs, conversation and slick production.

2024 has been a prolific year for Jack, with six new singles released in the first seven months.  In September 2024, he released his debut album, Wonderland, bringing together all his songs to date plus exciting new material.  The album tells the powerful story of Jack's lifelong relationship with music.  Although Jack was a classically trained pianist from the age of six, his music is heavily influenced by his passion for pop in all its forms, including electronic, synth, commercial, dance and LGBTQ+.  His dreamy fusion of acoustic instruments, electronic synths and soulful vocals creates a blissful, other-worldly soundscape, and he moves effortlessly between poppy dance tracks and stripped back, haunting ballads. Artistically, Jack creates a cohesive form of escapism that is also highly relatable.  His music making is often an organic process which typically begins on the piano by exploring a problem or frustration.  Inspired by both classic songwriters and modern pop producers, he creates layered production that adds ear candy to a recording, but at the heart of every song Jack's signature can be found, a beautiful piano melody.

Jacob Reddy
Dynamic indie rock artist Jacob Reddy's journey keeps getting more and more exciting every day.  From first picking up a guitar aged seven to playing Glastonbury Festival, selling out headline shows, winning Song of the Year Awards, performing live on prime time TV at 18, and even writing an anthem for Blackburn Rovers FC, there's really been no slowing down.  Jacob set out with the goal of writing instantly catchy indie rock anthems and has been doing so ever since.  He currently holds over 300,000 streams on Spotify, has been played on BBC Radio numerous times and has supported acts such as The Lottery Winners, The South & James Walsh of Starsailor, as well as playing to crowds of over 5,000 people.  His single, Kings (Reloaded) was named Song of the Year by Songs Behind The Music.

John Witherspoon
John Witherspoon is a singer/song writer, chiefly inspired by icons Dylan, Paul Simon and The Beatles.  The principals behind his craftsmanship are strictly old-school, and it is these principals on which his 2020 album Showin' Up Startin Again stands so firmly.  The Manchester-born, Merseyside-raised artist released four singles in 2016 under the name Flynn's Piece, produced by Tony Draper at Liverpool's legendary Parr Street Studios.  The guitar sounds of 90's stars Oasis, Blur, early Coldplay, Stereophonics and Cast would heavily inform John's early work, and still permeate his music today.  In 2018 Witherspoon worked tirelessly on the songs that would become Showin' Up.., and the long-awaited debut LP was produced and mixed by Alec Brits at The Cabin, also in Liverpool.  Bolstered by the brilliance of top session guitarist Scott Poley and keyboardist Henry Burnett, each single release saw Witherspoon draw sizeable crowds and plenty of local airplay.  After another intense writing period in summer 2020, he returned to The Cabin, where work on album number two is ongoing. 

This event is brought to you by blackburngigs.co.uk, an initiative by Actual Music in partnership with Arts Council England and Blackburn with Darwen Council.