Experience the intimate storytelling of a Nashville-style songwriters’ round as Eve Simpson brings an array of international and local guests to the Pianodrome.

The round features songwriters from across the globe, as well as highlighting a local artist, sharing the stories behind their songs and performing them in unexpected ways. Four writers sit together, playing stripped-back acoustic versions, responding to one another and inviting improvisation that makes each performance unique.

Audiences are drawn into a warm, collaborative atmosphere where songs evolve in real time.

Eve Simpson is a North East-rooted artist crafting piano-led folk and melodic pop. Her sound is defined by soaring vocals, and a classic, nostalgic vibrato, offering an unfiltered approach to songwriting, while creating a theatrical, cinematic world where intimate emotions are expanded into something shared, mythic, and deeply human. With over a decade of live performance behind her, she has evolved from early collaborations with Kathryn Tickell to headline UK tours and international stages, including Celtic Connections, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, London Fashion Week, and Nashville’s Bluebird Café.

Nina Sundstrom is a London-based songwriter with a clear and promising future. Nina’s versatility is evident, penning works across Pop, Folk, Singer-Songwriter Country, K-pop & EDM, as well as commissioned works for musicals, advert campaigns, and a cappella groups. That said, her early musical education on the York open mic circuit ensures that heartfelt lyricism is maintained as a through line for every song. Nina was awarded the Develop Your Creative Practice Grant from Arts Council England, which funded a writing residency in Nashville, including writing sessions at Warner Chappell and performances at the Listening Room and the Bluebird Cafe. This inspired her to launch and host “The WIP round”, an intimate writers round focused on providing a space for songwriters to try new material and bringing the focus back to the songs themselves.  Nina has a respect for the sanctity of the studio and an emotional assiduity with others that is rare and desperately needed, and is unequivocally one to watch over the coming years. Previous collaborators include Darius Rucker, Danny O’Donoghue, Jamie Lawson, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Hannah Grace, Cassandra Coleman & more. 

Brodie is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s hairiest musicians which says a lot about how hairy he is. The Scotsman began his career songwriting for dance music and has since used this experience and pivoted into the indie folk space where he currently enjoys lulling audiences into a false sense of security with humour to then hit them where it hurts with his emotive lyrics. 

CATHAL MURPHY: Featuring across BBC Radio 1 as 'Tip of the Week' and BBC Radio Scotland as 'Artist of the Week', ‘Track of the Week’ and ‘Best of the Best’ Cathal is one to watch. Having toured the U.K, Germany and Switzerland extensively and released music/toured with the likes of Ariel Posen and London's own Charlie Stacey, he blends guitar-centric funk with new wave jazz and soul. Cathal’s music has been featured on the likes of Amazon Prime Film Soundtracks, AerLingus adverts, Spotify Editorial Playlisting and across national and international TV with live performances from BBC Northern Ireland to ABC News in the states.