Caught By The River Thames

On the northern banks of the Thames, right where the dirty old river begins to roll out of the city, sits Fulham Palace. It’s a best-kept secret in a city that’s not got many unturned stones left; a shortcut to verdant green space just west of the metropolis. An idle ten minutes walk from the tube, it’s somewhere that makes you feel like you’ve stumbled out of the city and into the countryside with the very minimum of effort. It’s the perfect place to host a festival.

This August, Caught by the River Thames will do just that. A remarkable new festival celebrating the very best in music, arts and the natural world, it promises to bring together a truly inspirational gathering of bands and brewers, authors and artists, thinkers and drinkers. Part gig, part literary gathering, part nature symposium, part high-summer garden party, Caught by the River Thames promises to the most diverse and inspirational festival line-up in the capital this summer.

Brought together by the people behind the much-loved website Caught by the River and visionary promoters Robomagic, the festival will bridge the previously un-spanned gap between mind-bending psychedelic rock’n’roll shows and Springwatch. Over two days, it will unearth archival London audio-history; provide poetry in the total serenity of a Victorian chapel; play host to jump-up party music from the four corners of the world and hold a low-impact, locally sourced Ten Mile Beer Festival.

Across all the stages of the festival there will be talks and readings. Leading the speakers are Kate Tempest (in conversation with Miranda Sawyer and reading from her forthcoming debut novel) and one of the UK’s best-loved naturalists, Springwatch presenter Chris Packham. Joining them will be many of Caught by the River’s regular contributors including author Amy Liptrot (reading from her hugely-acclaimed debut The Outrun); activist and author of ‘The Wake’, Paul Kingsnorth, Letters from Arcadia and other stories: Dexter Petley in conversation with John Andrews and genius audio-historian London Sound Survey.

Each day, the UK’s greatest independent publisher Faber & Faber will be presenting their own programme in the Faber Poetry Chapel. Florence and Virginia Astley will play rare live performances alongside readings from a selection of Faber New Poets and friends including prize-winning Scottish poet Don Paterson.

Visit www.Caughtbytheriverthames.com for more information.

Featuring

Low

American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota. Formed in 1994 Low scored two entries in NME's top 50 albums in 1999. Their music is commonly described as 'slowcore', a subgenre characterised by slow tempos and minimalist arrangements - very reminiscent of Joy Division in their utter soulfulness. They have also worked with noisenik Steve Albini.

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Super Furry Animals

As Wales' favourite psychedelic popsters, the Super Furry Animals have inspired a whole generation of artists since their emergence in the mid-nineties. Recording in both English and Welsh, they changed the way that many thought about the language, whilst producing some of the finest summery Beach Boys-inspired indie to have surfaced in the last two decades.

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Beth Orton

Beth Orton is one of the UK’s most unique and beguiling voices. Across almost thirty years, Orton’s sound has shapeshifted from her output with The Chemical Brothers, Andrew Weatherall, Red Snapper and William Orbit, to a pioneer of an electronic, woozy brand of trip-hop. Over the course of her six albums to date, Orton resolutely refutes categorisation, weaving from a hushed, folk-informed storytelling to dark, brooding esoteric experimentalism. Through all these different sonic explorations, Beth Orton remains a fantastically evocative songwriter, finding artist fans and collaborators in the most unlikely of places. Out of the studio, she’s shared the stage and mic with the likes of Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Sinead O’Connor, Flaming Lips and Beck. A BRIT Award winner, and Mercury Prize nominee twice, for all the plaudits acclaim that fall Beth Orton’s way, she continues to take the path less travelled in forging her next move, making for a riveting and hugely unpredictable back catalogue. One of our longstanding finest musicians, and yet one with so much more still to give.

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Mulatu Astatke

The music that became known as Ethio-jazz is a compelling fusion of traditional styles with funk, jazz and soul. Its creator, Mulatu Astatke has a musical history rivalled by few. He has contributed music to the film work of Jim Jarmush, been sampled by the biggest names in hip-hop and played to audiences of thousands at festivals around Europe.

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Kae Tempest

Kae Tempest is a published playwright, poet and recording artist. Their playwriting credits include Wasted (Paines Plough) Brand New Ancients (BAC) and Glasshouse (Cardboard Citizens). They have written poetry for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Barnado’s, Channel 4 and the BBC. They have worked with Amnesty International to create a schools pack helping secondary school children write their own protest songs. Kae is a two times slam winner at the prestigious Nu-Yorican poetry cafe in New York and they have played all the major UK and European music festivals either solo or with their band Sound Of Rum. Their poetry book/CD/DVD package Everything Speaks In Its Own Way was published on their own imprint Zingaro in 2012. Kae's 2014 debut album Everybody Down became a Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize nominee. Each track on the album correlated with a chapter in their debut novel, The Bricks That Built The Houses, while the follow-up, 2016's 'Let Them Eat Chaos' entered the UK Top 30. 2019's 3rd album, The Book of Traps and Lessons, continues their rise to both critical and commercial success.

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