Matt Elliott

You'd be tempted to classify Matt Elliott in one genre or another, but in the end the Englishman is more part of a heritage, or rather a tradition, that of the lament, the song of lament that runs from continent to continent, from country to country. From Greek rebetic songs to Portuguese Fado, Delta Blues, Balkan brass bands, Yiddish melancholy and Cape Verdean Saudade, you can hear it all in Matt Elliott's music, the song of an uprooted person, a stateless person, a person outside the world.

Twenty years ago, Matt Elliott released Drinking Songs, the first part of a significant trilogy—a magnificent album of seven dark folk tracks that remains to this day the most listened to on streaming platforms and highly praised by fans of the Bristol native. Today, to celebrate the anniversary of the most iconic work in his discography, Matt Elliott presents ‘Drinking Songs Live 20 Years On’, a collection of alternative versions recorded live as a trio.