Paul Armfield Comes to the East Gate Bookshop

Bringing together music and books was never Paul’s intention, he says: ‘The first two book songs just spilled out with very little conscious thought, so I tried to write another, then another… a lifetime in the book trade had clearly furnished me with plenty of material. Within a month I had 5 songs under my belt and set off to Stuttgart for four days in the studio with a great group of musicians and friends, once we had recorded my songs we had enough time left to try out a few songs about books by other people, these songs became the bookends for the album, hence the punny title ‘Between The Covers’”. The songs are not about particular books but the act of reading and our relationships with books. The first single taken from the album ‘The Books Beside My Bed’ is a lighthearted and upbeat exploration of the idea of tsundoku: the buying and hoarding of more books than you can ever read, whilst the second single ‘Paperback’ is a soulful string-laden paean to the unwanted books that end up gathering dust on the shelves of charity shops.

A larger than life character, his soothing vocal tones and witty and poetic lyrics have been lauded and applauded by those in the know since his first album appeared 21 years ago. His debut received an enthusiastic reception which saw him working alongside the likes of Tindersticks, Lambchop and the Go-Betweens, but since then he has devoted his time to running a bookshop and raising a family, with only the occasional musical release. Yet despite being heralded by the Daily Mirror as a ‘buried treasure’ Paul has still managed to pick up an impressive list of endorsements from the likes of Guy Garvey ‘really beautiful’, Chris Difford ’a really special songwriter’, Lauren Laverne ‘Gorgeous..beautiful, positive and amazing’, and Caitlin Moran ‘as toasty and lovely as Christmas morning’.

But when the release of his self-published 2020 album ‘Domestic’ coincided with the first lock-down, things started to change and Paul began to pick up more radio play in the UK, most notably from Mark Radcliffe who declared himself a big fan, and last year saw Paul venturing out for a few UK dates to promote his EP of 5 commissioned songs about trees. This May’s dates represent his biggest ever UK tour with most concerts taking place in bookshops or libraries with just a few nights in traditional music venues.

Paul’s own bookshop on the Isle of Wight was recently declared Independent Bookshop Of The Year for the South East of England, which comes with an invitation to the book trade’s Oscars, the star studied awards ceremony known as the ‘Nibbies’ where they find out if they have won the national title, however, Paul will be unable to attend as he’ll be mid gig in Newcastle waiting excitedly for a text from his team who will be attending in his stead.

Audiences can expect an intimate performance of these songs along with a selection of others from his repertoire, interspersed with stories from his 30 year career in bookselling. Although an accomplished double bass player who can be heard on recordings by the likes of Michael Kiwanuka, Paul will be accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, with a smattering of musical saw.

Tickets are £11.55 available here