Performing collaboratively for the first time, prepared piano player Hauschka, 12-string guitarist James Blackshaw, and singer/songwriter Nancy Elizabeth play their beautifully matched music together in a contoured programme of solo and ensemble performances.

May
Mon 10th	London	Barbican Hall
Wed 12th	Cambridge	Junction
Thu 13th	Bristol	St Georges
Fri 14th	Oxford	Holywell Music Room
Sat 15th	Manchester	Band on The Wall
Sun 16th	Edinburgh	Roxy

The Kept Impulses tour brings together three gifted young music makers who weave traditional folk, contemporary classical and modern song into textured, emotional and transfixing songs and musical suites. The prepared piano player Hauschka (FatCat) from Germany, singer/multi-instrumentalist Nancy Elizabeth (Leaf Label) from Manchester, and the 12-string guitarist James Blackshaw (Young God) from Hastings, Kent are brought together for this special tour to entice concert halls with their beautifully matched music. All three have the endearing talent of being able to harness wild impulses into measured and musical journeys that run deep.

Each artist will perform their own material each night, with the other two musicians guesting on selected tracks. The ensemble will also perform material devised collaboratively together for the very first time. The acts are distinct but musically complimentary and these collaborations are an exciting prospect, combining Hauschka's percussive piano interventions with James Blackshaw's cascading acoustic guitar and Nancy Elizabeth's pure and emotive vocals.

This evening of Kept Impulses quietly explores the sense of other and the hidden emotions that all three acts draw upon. While they have relationships with specific musical genres they skilfully and deftly play themselves out of these restrictions into verdant new musical terrains. They are characters who follow their hearts and emotions but the drama is not over stylised or fraught, their impulsive streaks are refined, and their music has a wonderful ability to seep into one's waking life and dreams. Romantics, for sure, but not the red roses kind.

All three acts quote from a breadth of traditions (Eric Satie, English 'Rose and Thorn' folk, and American Primitivism respectively) but have modernistic leanings and individualistic styles that make their music exotic to the ear. They experiment with form and playfully, quietly push their craft into new areas but remain accessible on the ear. They conjure up lyrical and cinematic suites of music and understand the transformative properties of music. They can take the listener on a journey through extended compositions or captivate with a perfectly-formed miniature. As soloists and ensemble players they know how to make their live performances magical experiences and are currently on dazzling form.

David Coulter is working with all the artists on their collaborative pieces and is the music supervisor for the Barbican show. David is one of the best musical sidemen going and has played with The Pogues and Test Dept in his time. When artists such as Tom Waits, Damon Albarn, Hal Willner, Talvin Singh, Handsome Family and Marianne Faithful need a inspired musical ear they go to David. He has also released a record on Young God Records.