2019: KEEPING MUSIC LIVE (Top 20 Favourite Gigs)

It's been a tradition since 2012. So that annual trawl through the gig diary to add a quantitative aspect to the live music experience continues for another year. Also the ritual of honouring those who take gig-going to extraordinary levels is upheld and their presence does as much as any insider to keep the wheels of live music active away from the realms of the public eye. Anyway, from a list that fluctuates from year to year, here are the twenty shows that rose to the fore to shape the gig year of 2019.

1. Lucinda Williams - Birmingham Town Hall

2. The Delines - St.John the Evangelist, Oxford

3. Ryan Bingham - The Bullingdon, Oxford

4. Dale Watson - The Bullingdon, Oxford

5. Molly Tuttle - Kitchen Garden, Birmingham

6. Yola - Hare and Hounds, Birmingham

7. Hayes Carll - The Glee Club, Nottingham

8. Jason Ringenberg - Kitchen Garden, Birmingham

9. Simone Felice - Hare and Hounds, Birmingham

10. Danni Nicholls - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham

11. The Orphan Brigade - Kitchen Garden, Birmingham

12. Robert Vincent - The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham

13. Thea Gilmore- Artrix, Bromsgrove

14. Hannah Aldridge - St.George's Hall, Bewdley

15. Emily Barker - Thimblemill Library, Smethwick

16. Lachlan Bryan and the Wildes - Kitchen Garden, Birmingham

17. Wild Ponies - Elford Village Hall

18. The Local Honeys - Kitchen Garden, Birmingham

19. Oh Susanna - Kitchen Garden, Birmingham

20. Caroline Spence - Kitchen Garden, Birmingham

See you somewhere down the road in 2020.