PENARTH Acoustic Club are back next Friday, September 21, after their summer break, with an uplifting programme of acoustic music and poetry to kick off the Autumn season.

The Rumblestrutters first appeared at the club a year ago and bring you feel-good blues, jazz and ragtime from the Prohibition era. The band’s vivid evocations of the music of the 1920s and ‘30s has earned them a reputation as one of the most authentic and popular roots bands around, with highlights including stellar performances at Birmingham International Jazz Festival and Gloucester Blues Festival.

Started when Jon Toft (vocals, mandolin, banjo) found an ink jug at the back of an old cupboard, the Swansea-based acoustic three-piece features the virtuoso guitar-playing and voice of Jonathan Nicholas, and Liam Ward on vocals, harmonica and jug.

Songs of bootleg liquor, all-night parties and bacchanalia abound, tapped from a rich musical source. The Rumblestrutters bring you the authentic sounds of 1920s and '30s America!

Providing the spoken-word entertainment will be Gareth Writer-Davies, a writer from Brecon who is also making his second appearance at the club

He was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2014 and 2017 and the Erbacce Prize in 2014, Commended in the Prole Laureate Competition in 2015, the Welsh Poetry Competition in 2015 and Highly commended in the Welsh Poetry Competition in 2017. He was Prole Laureate in 2017.

His pamphlet Bodies was published by Indigo Dreams in 2015 and his next pamphlet, Cry Baby, in 2017. His first collection, The Lover's Pinch, was published by Arenig Press just a couple of months ago in June 2018.

Doors open at 7.30pm upstairs at Penarth Conservative Club. Tickets are available from Pencerdd Music or Griffin Books in Penarth, or online via the club’s website at penarthacoustic.club, where full details of all events can be obtained.