A VOICE, A HARP AND SOME VAULTED SOUNDS
BBC Introducing star CLARA POPLE to embark on a tour of UK churches
Thursday 26th March – The Kelvin, Glasgow 7.30pm

From the shadow of Colwyn Bay to the heart of Tyneside, from Edinburgh’s Newtown to Bristol, from London to Cardiff to Leeds to The Kelvin in Glasgow, a clutch of UK churches awaits the arrival in March 2026 of the outstanding Cumbria-born, London-based singer, Clara Pople. Over the course of two weeks, their vaulted rooves will be raised to the sound of a voice that is both earthy and ethereal, to music that is edgy, full of pathos, combining the Celtic with trip/pop and soul.

‘My idea for a church tour came about through my love of performing in unusual settings,’ says Clara. ‘For 3 years now, I have been hosting gigs on my houseboat in SE London and I’ve learnt that a gig is about so much more than just the music. Church settings are always dramatic – and as a former school head chorister, I miss singing in those sacred spaces. Ritualism, spiritual intensity, the hottest acoustics in any town – what’s not to love?’

The PARYS MOUNTAIN Church Tour – named after Clara’s eponymous forthcoming EP, in its turn named after a copper mine on Anglesey – visits The Kelvin on Thursday 26th March. ‘While Cumbria is my homeland, Scotland is the land of my mum and her family. I came on tour to Glasgow last year and played at McNeils. It was wild and I can’t wait to come back!’

While 2025 was a landmark year for Clara – she performed at Glastonbury, had several plays on Radio 1’s BBC Introducing, headlined the Kendal Calling Roots Stage and performed again under the BBC Introducing umbrella as ‘One to Watch’ at Newcastle’s The Glasshouse – 2026 looks to be going one better. At New Year, she discovered that her song The Lark won song of the year 2025 from BBC Introducing Cumbria & Lancashire; while the first track of the Parys Mountain EP was played on Radio 6 Music. April sees Clara doing a tour of Cumbrian venues including Kendal’s The Brewery Arts Centre. In May, Clara is booked to take her Church tour overseas to Ireland where she will be playing in venues such as Seachurch in Ballycotton and Mount Carmel in Loughrea. The summer will include the usual mad dash round festivals (Kendal Calling, Blue Reef, Keswick Mountain Festival & many more) whilst she shoots, records and collates her debut album in time for release in the autumn.