You may remember Howie from his days with the jangly shoegaze stars of the early noughties ‘Scouse’ movement, The Stands. Other luminaries were The Zutons and The Coral. There was always an earnest eclecticism about The Stands and singer songwriter Howie Payne’s lyricism. A touch of Dylan, Jim White and Americana. With solo album ‘Bright Light Ballads’ he cemented his standing (sorry) as an exceptional talent in his own right. ‘Come Down Easy’ is a bittersweet piece of melancholic magic we listen to repeatedly. Incredibly he has released a free ten track album of beautiful demos, ‘High Times Home Recordings’, that can downloaded from here. There will be more beautiful acoustic noise with Matt Millard and Patrick Brewer supporting.

Tue 7 Feb 7.30 pm at Hare and Hounds, High Street, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7JZ £8 skiddletickets