Taphouse Burnout ’25 featuring Phil Hooley, Ellen Smith, Gary Stewart and Simon Snaize
Taphouse Burnout are back for 2025! Graeme Hargreaves has put together a fantastic line up of talented musicians for a night of great live music.
Gary Stewart is a singer/songwriter from Perthshire who cut his teeth performing on the Leeds Music Scene for 15 years before moving to York, where he currently lives. Stewart writes songs in the Folk/Pop vein and is influenced by the folk artists of the 1960s and 1970s (Paul Simon/James Taylor/The Eagles/Joni Mitchell/Carole King).
The Scottish songsmith has released four albums to date, the latest, ‘Lost, Now Found’, self-recorded, produced and released in June 2021. The left-hander is also no stranger to the festival circuit, having played Kendal Calling, Green Man and Larmer Tree Festivals to name but a few.
When not performing his own music, the multi-instrumentalist busies himself playing drums for Hope & Social and bass for Leeds-based Fleetwood Mac tribute, Weetwood Mac (ex-Ellen & The Escapades). He also fronts his own reworking of Paul Simon’s classic album, ‘Graceland’, with a seven-piece band.
Simon Snaize is an accomplished singer-songwriter guitarist and producer, performing solo and in duos as well as fronting the popular York based Y Street Band. His solo set is a mix of classics, blues, and Americana, delivered with strong vocals and explosive guitar playing.
Ellen Smith is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Leeds. In 2010 Ellen won Q Magazine’s Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition with her band Ellen & the Escapades and has since gone on to make main stage appearances at the festival a further two times.
Having spent the following years writing and touring, in 2018 Ellen signed a publishing deal with 13 Artists/Warner Chappell UK, after releasing music with dark-electro pop band Shadowlark, produced by Dan Austin (Massive Attack, Doves, Biffy Clyro),
2020 saw Ellen release her first solo material, having been commissioned to write the eponymous soundtrack to ‘Take Us Home’, an Amazon Prime docu-series following Leeds United during their momentous 2019/2020 promotion winning season.
Phil Hooley is a singer-songwriter and founder of the alt country band The Woolgatherers, Scarborough-based Phil is also busy as a solo performer. Citing Guy Clarke, John Prine and Nick Lowe among his many influences, Phil’s songs are lyrically driven and always thought-provoking.
Describing himself as ’late to the party’ having worked the pubs and clubs for many years, and with an
easy stage presence, Phil has received many plaudits for his live shows, and is a favourite on the festival circuit. He has released two albums to date, ‘Songs From the Back Room’ and ’Provenance’ in April this year, both receiving critical acclaim from the reviewers.
