Image credit: @serencarys
November means peak gigging season in Glasgow. Phoebe Bridgers and Dizzie Rascal may be heading down the M8 before long, but here’s a list of lesser known artists worth checking out this month, with an emphasis on indie folk and emo rock to soundtrack your autumn.
4 Nov: Ugly
Room 2, £18
The latest of umpteen world-leading alt rock bands emerging from a single music venue in Brixton, Ugly are heirs to the Windmill scene throne. Their melodic folk rock is virtuosic, sinuous, and unfailingly unconventional. Their first visit to Scotland in the intimate Room 2 promises to be a night to remember.
Listen: Sha
8 Nov: shaking hand
Hug & Pint, £13
Manchester’s shaking hand have been one of the buzziest bands on the indie circuit since the release of their atmospheric self-titled debut in January. Their autumnal, Midwest emo-inspired tones of twinkling guitars and plaintive vocals make for a mouth-watering fixture for an otherwise potentially grim November night in Glasgow.
Listen: Sundance
9 Nov: Robert Lester Folsom
Art School, £28
71-year-old Robert Lester Folsom scored an unlikely TikTok hit a few years ago with his devastatingly melancholic 1974 track See You Later, I’m Gone, and Americana ditty that sounded like Labi Siffre at his most tender. It’s likely to form the bittersweet singalong highlight of Folsom’s comeback tour, which should go some way to accounting for decades of underappreciation for the Georgia songwriter.
Listen: See You Later, I’m Gone
13 Nov: @
1990, £17
There are no alphabetic letters to be found in this gig listing, but Philadelphia duo @ overcame their ungoogleable name to score an indie hit in their recent record Autosmile. Somewhere between Alex G and Caroline Polachek at her most artful, their earthy, enchanting experimental folk will be a good fit for the cosy surroundings of Sauchiehall Street’s 1990 bar.
Listen: Autosmile
15 Nov: Chasing Abbey
SWG3
Irish trio Chasing Abbey have been at the forefront of a new wave of fresh folk talent with their innovative melding of traditional instrumentation with distinctly modern EDM flourishes. They look set to receive a warm welcome in SWG3’s Warehouse, in a UK and Ireland tour that culminates in what should be the band’s crowning moment at Belfast’s Usher Hall next May.
Listen: Íorónta
21 Nov: Curiosity Shop
Glad Café
Edinburgh collective Curiosity Shop are full of momentum following the recent release of their debut EP, and the Glasgow leg of their triumphant UK tour takes in The Glad Café, the Southside’s most homely community arts venue. Their lush harmonies, babbling banjos and colourful storytelling should be a welcome escape from the ensuing Glasgow winter.
Listen: Rambling
29 Nov: wilt
McChuill’s
Few TikTok bands riff quite as hard as LA’s wilt, which at times can feel like merely a vehicle for Chelsea Rifkin’s roof-raising vocal belt. Bring your earplugs for their fiery set at old school Trongate boozer McChuill’s at the end of the month. Beers will fly.
Listen: gwen
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