Event type: Music

Born and raised in the South Bronx, Grandmaster Flash is inarguably one of Hip Hop’s original innovators.

In the early 1970s, Grandmaster Flash was the first DJ to use the turntable as a musical instrument by placing his fingers on the vinyl and perfecting beat looping. It’s no surprise that The New York Times calls him Hip Hop’s first virtuoso.

His determination to manipulate music led to innovations that changed the trajectory of Hip Hop music and culture: the Quik Mix Theory and the wafer – or what is now commercially known as the slipmat.

Today, he’s the voice of an entire generation of 1970s Hip Hop pioneers and reminds us of that decades influence through his tours, weekly livestreams, lectures and other projects. Grandmaster Flash is at once a historian, a storyteller, and a cultural force.

Shez Raja and Guthrie Govan unite once again and return to Future Yard on Friday 24th July 2026!

Voted one of the “Hottest Bass Players in the World” by Bass Player magazine, Shez Raja is a boundary-pushing bassist and electrifying performer who has drawn comparisons to Jaco Pastorius. Playing a fusion of Indo-jazz, funk and groove, he has collaborated with icons including Mike Stern, Randy Brecker, Wayne Krantz and Trilok Gurtu.

Joining Shez is visionary guitarist Guthrie Govan, famed for his virtuosic technique and work with Hans Zimmer. Guthrie has been voted “Guitarist of the Year” by Guitarist magazine, graced the covers of Guitar Player and Guitar World and has earned his place as guitar royalty on the world stage.

Completing this stellar line-up are long-time collaborators Chris Jerome (Courtney Pine) on keyboards and Sophie Alloway – dubbed the ‘Goddess of Groove’ by Jazz FM – on drums.

Future Yard are thrilled to present Brown Wimpenny on Sunday 26th July 2026.

A collective who mine the transcendental collective power of traditional folk music, Brown Wimpenny, split between Manchester, London and Liverpool, are bringing communities together to celebrate that rich catalog of folk songs owned by no individual in particular bar humanity itself.

Taking their name from a distant 19th century relative of tenor banjoist Seth Lockwood’s, Brown Wimpenny began with informal get-together Sunday jam sessions in his Manchester living room. Growing as large as 25 members before being whittled down to its current number of 11, early gigs saw the band take up half the capacity of the room they were playing in, lyrics being passed around to attendees too, as part of a broader ideal of reducing the gap between audience and performer.

“We see the band as a shared social and creative endeavour.” explains Anna Korbel. “We love the sense of the everyday and the normal, and rejoicing in the collective and communal. I think that’s the key to our process and our ethos. We’re not over-egging anything. We’re just seeing it and playing as it is.”

Debut album ‘Long Live Brown Wimpenny’ is released Friday 5th June on Broadside Hacks.

 

 

Future Yard are excited to welcome She Drew the Gun to the Live Room for an all-dayer celebrating the 10 year anniversary of debut album – “Memories of Another Future”. 

Wirral born songwriter Louisa Roach’s sound is best described as psych-pop with a spirit of rebellion. Writing music that rallies against injustice and food banks and celebrates outsiderdom. 

She Drew the Gun headline and curate the day, full line up TBA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ak’chamel has built a solid reputation as a compelling stage project. Wearing nightmarish costumes and engaging in hallucinatory “rituals”, their singular sound comprising desert-scorched psychedelia, post-apocalyptic shamanism, and lo-fi ritual-folk is as unique as the physical theater of their live performances. 

Authors of around fifteen cassettes, three vinyl LP’s, several cryptic VHS videos and their reels have generated millions of views. They tour frequently and have performed major festivals on both sides of the Atlantic garnering press from VICE, Consequence, The Wire, and many more.

 

Connor Selby is a young UK songwriter with a sound rooted in blues, soul and folk. His music is shaped by real experience. It’s direct and personal, often dealing with identity, mental health and the feeling of not quite fitting in.

His latest work, The Truth Comes Out Eventually, leans into that honesty. The songs reflect on growing up, relationships and trying to understand your place in the world. Nothing feels forced. It’s all written from instinct.

Selby has built a strong reputation over the past few years. His 2023 self titled album was named Blues Album of the Year by MOJO Magazine and has picked up millions of streams. He’s had support from BBC Radio 2 and toured across the UK and Europe.

On stage, he keeps things simple. No theatrics. Just a tight band and a focus on the songs. He’s shared stages with major names, including a performance at Wembley with The Who, but the approach stays the same whether it’s a large crowd or a smaller room.

Jim Pearson and Scaredycats returns to Future Yard on 15th January 2027 for a rare fully seated hometown show celebrating 10 years of the Scaredycats album Dumb Animals. Scaredycats have always done things their own way. Since forming on the Wirral in 2015, the band built an audience with music filled with offbeat observations on online shopping, pointless conflict, dogs, disappointment and trying to find some meaning in the noise. Now, a decade on from the release of Dumb Animals, Jim Pearson comes back to the Wirral for a special performance with Scaredycats. With the band rarely playing live, and Jim now based away from Merseyside, this is set to be a wonderful Wirral reunion. Featuring Jim Pearson on vocals and guitar, Steve Wale on vocals and bass, and Neil Dutton on drums.

Support comes from long-time collaborators Igloo Hearts who will be presenting their true mastery of vocal harmonies and instrumentation – delivered with outstanding musical sensitivity, to powerful effect’

We also have a massive treat in a solo set from the one and only Steve Wale, returning to live music after a considerable time away.

Jonathon Linaberry looks back on Radio Waves, his sixth album as The Bones Of J.R. Jones, but there’s more than just nostalgia at play.

Recorded with producer Robbie Lackritz (Feist, Bahamas), the collection is moody and hypnotic, drawing on the sonic landscape of Linaberry’s youth as it reckons with the doubt and uncertainty of adulthood. The arrangements are entrancing, built on the tension between acoustic instruments and retro synthesizers, and Linaberry’s performances are raw and visceral, at times aching in their vulnerability. Put it all together and you’ve got a poignant exploration of memory and longing delivered by a relentless searcher, a revelatory work of personal reflection rooted in the endless beauty, pain, and chaos of growing up.  

Born in central New York, Linaberry got his start playing in punk bands before becoming enamored with the field recordings of Alan Lomax. He launched The Bones of J.R. Jones in 2012 and began releasing a series of albums and EPs that would land his songs in films and TV shows like True Detective, Suits, and Daredevil, and lead to countless tours across the US and Europe, including stops everywhere from Telluride Blues to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Along the way, Linaberry would also share bills with the likes of The Wallflowers, G. Love, and The Devil Makes Three, soundtrack an Amazon commercial helmed by Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi, and earn praise from Billboard, American Songwriter, Under the Radar, and more.

Mike Viola. You probably already know him .. producer, songwriter, the kind of musician your favourite musicians quietly obsess over. Decades in, and somehow he keeps finding new generations to infect. Since 2019, he’s been on a proper run .. The American Egypt, Godmuffin, Paul McCarthy .. all cut at his LA home studio, Barebones.

Sold out US shows, a whole new fanbase, the usual. Then September 2024 brought Rock of Boston, recorded on half-inch tape over the winter of 2023, with Jake Sinclair on bass and Brendon Urie (Panic! At The Disco) on drums. Viola wrote most of the album on a Panic! At The Disco tour bus, between soundcheck and showtime, sneaking into whatever local studio he could find on his days off. When the tour ended, he and the band just carried on playing, no gap, no breath, just straight from hockey arenas into the tape machine, which might explain why the riffs feel bigger!

On Friday 13th November 2026, he brings that, and more, to Future Yard. No hyperbole necessary. Get involved!