Courtney Marie Andrews at Islington Assembly Hall

Courtney Marie Andrews

Brown Horse

Islington Assembly Hall, 26 February 2026

I was back yet again to the lovely Islington Assembly Hall to see the even more lovely Courtney Marie Andrews for fourth show in just four months, but this time for a full band show that was equally dreamy and sublime. It really feels like Andrews just keeps getting better and better.

Courtney Marie Andrews at Rough Trade Denmark Street

Courtney Marie Andrews

Rough Trade Denmark St, 17 February 2026

It's only a couple of months since I last saw Courtney Marie Andrews play live and both those shows were particularly special: one in a tiny church, the other a part poetry reading in a shabby chic arts club. This surprise in store though was easily the tiniest show I've seen her play and was all the more magical for being completely acoustic, letting her natural big voice shine through.

Best Gigs of 2025

I went to so many great gigs this year, it was actually really hard to choose a top ten this time! I had to leave out great shows from artists like Margo Price, Tift Merritt, Pearl Charles and Wet Leg, to name but a few, even the fantastic Thurston Moore show where he brought out his beautiful dogs and I got to pet them! But of course, once again, the year was all about seeing MJ Lenderman again, twice! And both shows were mind-blowingly good. 

Courtney Marie Andrews at Sessions Arts Club

Courtney Marie Andrews

Sessions Arts Club, 9 November 2025 

After seeing Courtney Marie Andrews last week in the intimate atmosphere of St Pancras Old Church, I was even more lucky to see her again for a special event at the Sessions Arts Club for a magical, shimmering candlelit evening of poetry, song and a playback of Andrews' upcoming new album, Valentine.

Courtney Marie Andrews at St Pancras Old Church

Courtney Marie Andrews

St Pancras Old Church, 28 October 2025

It was an absolute joy to see Courtney Marie Andrews again after four long years and playing such an intimate and beautiful venue as St Pancras Old Church. It was also a special night because we got, not one, but two sets, the first focusing on only new material and the second giving us lots of old favourites, and what a treat it was!

My Favourite Albums of 2022

My top 10 albums of 2022, in no order:

Courtney Marie Andrews - Loose Future
Caitlin Rose - Cazimi
Pines - I Walked With You A Way
The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta

Alison Sudol - Still Comes The Night

Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow

Kelsey Waldon - No Regular Dog 

Erin Rae - Lighten Up

Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?

Angel Olsen - Big Time

Best Gigs Of 2021

Ha! By Virtue of being my only gig of 2021, Courtney Marie Andrews at Union Chapel is my gig of the year! Yay, Courtney! That said I'm pretty sure it would have been near the top, if not the very top, of my list regardless. Hopefully better times are ahead for us all.

Courtney Marie Andrews at the Union Chapel

 

Courtney Marie Andrews   

Memorial
Union Chapel, 2 November 2021 

Hard to believe but it's been over a year and a half since I've been to a gig. Of course these have been unusual, unprecedented times due to the pandemic and I remember at the beginning of 2020 feeling quite nervous about my upcoming concerts and grateful when they ended up being postponed (or in the case of Greg Dulli, cancelled altogether). 

My Favourite Albums Of 2020

13. Tanya Donelly & The Parkington Sisters

12. Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman

11. Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers

10. Isobel Campbell - There Is No Other...

9. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter

8. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud

7. Ren Harvieu - Revel In The Drama

6. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters

5. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

4. Greg Dulli - Random Desire

3. Margo Price - That's How Rumors Get Started

2. Neil Young - Homegrown

1. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom

My Favorite Albums Of 2018

There have been some years while I've been writing this blog where I have struggled to come up with even 10 albums I've loved released in the previous 12 months. This year though has had so many I've loved instead it's been hugely difficult to whittle it down to just 10. There were two EPs in particular that wowed me that didn't make the list simply because they weren't long players: Alison Sudol, formerly A Fine Frenzy, making her debut as a solo artist with the dreamily atmospheric Moon EP and the brilliant "super-group" Boy Genius, combining the talents of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. I hope we'll get proper albums from both of them.

Best Gigs Of 2018

It's incredibly hard to rank all the great gigs I've been to this year but one definitely stands out as the best: Jenny Lewis wowing the crowds at Koko. If there was any doubt that the world needs Ms Lewis (and really there isn't) then this concert celebrating her entire career from Rilo Kiley to her forthcoming solo release, certainly proved that she still is as essential and exciting as ever.

Courtney Marie Andrews at the Union Chapel

Courtney Marie Andrews
Andy Jenkins
Union Chapel, 3 December 2018

Courtney Marie Andrews has a cold tonight. But aside from a few coughs in between songs you wouldn't know it. In fact, to my ears anyway, Andrews sounds more incredible than ever. Last time I saw her with a band but she is even more spectacular with just her guitar and that amazing voice of hers, particularly in such a beautiful venue as the Union Chapel.

My Favourite Albums Of 2017

This year has definitely been an interesting one musically, with women in particular releasing many of the best albums of any genre. That wasn't reflected well enough in the end of year polls, in my opinion, but it certainly is in my list. I actually included a couple more men in my first draft before realising that in my heart these were the albums that won me over more than anything else this year regardless of gender.

Best Gigs Of 2017

Out of all the shows I went to this year the two most memorable were touched by death and that's what will forever define them in my mind. There was the first night of Eddie Vedder's two shows at Hammersmith where Chris Cornell's death hung over everything like a huge black cloud. Cornell's suicide affected me more deeply than other celebrity deaths for many reasons so to experience that shared grief with other fans and also to witness Vedder's first public acknowledgement of it was very moving and cathartic and I will never forget it.

Courtney Marie Andrews at Bush Hall

Courtney Marie Andrews
Joana Serrat
Bush Hall, 4 September 2017

It's always worth the long journey over to Shepherd's Bush for the lovely intimate atmosphere of the tiny Bush Hall. The sound is always great here, it's easy to have a good view of the stage and the audiences tend to be warm and friendly. The perfect place to see acclaimed country/folk singer Courtney Marie Andrews then, whose album, Honest Life, has been a real joy to me this year.