Live Review | Chris Brain @ Bristol Folk House

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Chris Brain

Bristol Folk House

16th March 2025

Photography by Tabatha Gibson

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Folk artist Chris Brain blesses Bristol with his dulcet odes to the Yorkshire countryside on the UK tour of his third album ‘New Light’

Redolent of the greats, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Jackson C. Frank, Chris Brain is on his well-deserved rise to public acclaim. Performing to a sold out Bristol Folk House, there is no denying Brain’s talent; his wistful, lilting melodies speak of nature, brotherhood, friendship and love.

All of his songs challenge and inspire the listener to draw profound parallels to that of their own life. His tasteful guitar parts harmonise and dance with his voice effortlessly. Whether forlorn or jovial, each song was interspersed with Brain’s witty humour, effortless wisdom and compelling stories of his journey to where he is now.

Making the audience feel like they were in their front room with Brain, or at the pub just shooting the breeze with an old friend, he radiated with the aura of a proper folk performer – not someone who is chasing fame, praise or adoration (even though he gladly deserves all three) but someone who is performing and creating for the very need of it, the need of bringing awareness about the natural world, to coincide with nature, to not be remiss to it, to look up and around to what surrounds.

Opening with a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright‘ the audience, if they were ever in doubt, were immediately awestruck by the waves of Chris Brain’s soothing melodies. A song I am sure we have all heard a hundred times before was presented to me in a different light and I found new meaning to the song through Brain’s interpretation.

I believe this is what Brain is trying to achieve in this third album, to see things in a ‘New Light,’ Whether that is seeing the Sun and the Moon have their brief encounter at dusk or sunrise (‘Two Lights’) or climbing with your Brother and seeing that as a metaphor for always being by your siblings side, through the hanging on of precipices and navigating one another through the rough and sheer face of life.

Through soft sibilance and propulsive phrasing, Brain’s performance succeeded in personifying the Sun and the Moon as two lovers or friends, briefly meeting after waiting all day to see each other once again. This, performed at the Folk House, hushed the crowd into stunned silence – everyone silently admiring the immense talent that was before them – much like you do when observing the beauty of a sunset.

Humble, talented and wise, Chris Brain is set to only rise. After busking for years and releasing two albums, it feels as if Brain has found his audience – people who covet sunrise in song, verdant valleys in melodies and a sense of belonging. Chris Brain is a ‘Rare Find’ to quote one his own songs, in a league of his own. I think everyone, folk fans or not, should be following this artist’s ever-rising incline to the top with the greats. 

Listen to ‘New Light’ below:

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Catch Chris Brain at the following:

Mar 24 – Sheffield – The Lantern

Mar 25 – York – The Crescent

Mar 26 – Hull – The Adelphi Club

Mar 27 – Hebden Bridge  – The Trades Club

Mar 28 – Manchester – Gullivers

Mar 30 – Edinburgh – Leith Depot

Apr 1 – Glasgow – The Glad Cafe

Apr 2 – Newcastle – The Cluny

Apr 5 – Belfast – Sunflower – Pub

Apr 6 – Dublin – Whelans

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