When John Smith took to the stage at St Stephen’s Church in Ipswich, the atmosphere shifted from reverent silence to quiet anticipation. With just his voice and guitar, under the glittering fairy lights that illuminated the church, he was immediately captivating, opening with ‘Great Lakes’. His warm, sonorous voice filled the vaulted space, his eyes closed, head tilted back as though completely lost in the sound. Smith shared that he was celebrating twenty years in the music business — his new album “Gatherings” revisits and reimagines songs from his first three records — and joked that it was his first time performing in Ipswich, so he’d be back in 2045. Introducing ‘Freezing Winds’, he reflected on the pain of moving on and leaving things behind, before layering his rhythmic strumming with the thud of a kick drum. His playing was light and percussive, his tone bright against the song’s melancholy.
Songs old and new intertwined through the set, including ‘Something Terrible’ from his debut “Fox and Dove”, a tender lament to unrequited love, and ‘Town to Town’, a wryly self-deprecating tale about being hungover. ‘Hummingbird’, the title track from his 2018 album, was a highlight: fluttering notes and featherlight vocals captured the bird’s grace. Midway through, he stopped playing the guitar entirely, his unaccompanied voice rising and falling in carefully controlled swells that showcased his mastery of dynamics. For ‘Deserving’ from “The Fray” (2021), Smith was joined onstage by Katie Spencer, their guitars and harmonies intertwining with effortless beauty as the song built to a soaring finish. Smith’s repeated, rhythmic guitar phrase was the foundation for the sustained notes from Spencer’s guitar.
Smith’s easy humour threaded through the evening — tales of recording sessions, touring mishaps and small absurdities. He recalled working with producer Joe Henry on ‘Trick of the Light’, and how Henry declared a take finished before Smith had realised they’d started. The next song, ‘A Long Way for a Woman’, inspired by time in Ireland, was dedicated to his loyal sound engineer and performed on what he called a “nine-string psychedelic trance machine.” The stories flowed: recording under a Louisiana viaduct where a towering police officer appeared with two giant coffees; making his first record in a Liverpool loft for £300; writing ‘Winter’ in a burglarised student flat in 2002, his guitar the only thing left behind. The humour never undercut the music’s sincerity — instead, it deepened it. A change of mood accompanied the spellbinding ‘Winter’, for which he played the guitar while seated, the instrument on his lap, tapping the strings and body for rhythm.
As the set drew to a close, Smith’s generosity towards his audience shone. ‘To Have So Many’ unfolded as a love song both intimate and expansive, with voices from the pews joining softly in the refrain. Between songs, he teased about staying at the “boutique French hotel Le Premier Inn,” and the joy of “unlimited Heinz beans” at breakfast, before shifting gears into ‘Salty and Sweet,’ a lilting, lullaby-like tune. Indeed, Smith’s voice is a glorious combination of salty and sweet, honey and whisky, grit wrapped in velvet – there’s a warm, rich, fullness in his tone, with just a hint of a gravelled edge. His encore, ‘Far Too Good’ from “Headlong” (2017), was a stirring finale. With rhythmic guitar taps and rich high notes, he ended on a powerful, unaccompanied vocal that resonated through the church rafters — a fitting close to a night that celebrated both craft and connection.
Before Smith took to the stage, the evening began with a luminous set from Yorkshire singer-songwriter Katie Spencer. Bathed in soft stage light, Spencer opened with ‘What Love Is’, the title track from her new album released this month. Her voice carried a gentle warmth, woven beautifully with the rich tones of her guitar. The following song, ‘Forget Me Not’, showcased her lyrical grace — lines like, “Take my arm and come with me, trace the steps of fragility,” lingered in the air, sung with poise and quiet confidence. Between songs, she shared her delight at performing in such a gorgeous venue, her easy charm adding to the sense of intimacy.
One of the highlights of her set came with ‘Come Back and Find Me’ from the new record. It was written about feeling bewildered, the disparate parts of her scattered and then searching for self-understanding, bringing those parts of herself back together through song. Her low, thumb-picked guitar and contemplative mood drew the audience in completely. Spencer spoke warmly of headliner John Smith as a constant influence on her guitar playing, before introducing ‘The Edge of the Land’, the title track from her previous album. A tribute to her home near Hull, it reflected on how landscapes — particularly the coastline and water — shape both place and people. The melody was airy and tender, and her connection to the song’s theme of belonging was deeply felt.
Spencer’s later songs revealed even more emotional depth. ‘It Was Then That I Knew Love’ was a song of gratitude and self-discovery, inspired by her experience of being adopted — a rare, moving expression of familial love that never tipped into sentimentality. Her voice elongated into soft, trembling notes that seemed to hang in the air. Closing with ‘Cold Stone’, she shifted into a darker, more atmospheric tone, her guitar bending and echoing beneath a breathy, intimate vocal. It was a captivating and heartfelt performance — one that perfectly set the tone for the evening ahead.
This was a truly spellbinding evening, during which the music filled this enchanting space, rising through the arches to the vaulted ceiling. At once expansive and deeply intimate, these hushed songs held us all in a musical embrace, connecting us, drawing us together in communion. Both artists appeared as lost in the music as the audience was, fully immersed and revelling in its timeless beauty. Once, St Stephen’s was a sacred place, a place of worship and reverence. Now, we can find the profound and rediscover our sense of wonder in a setting like this, on a night like this. If you get the chance to catch either of these performers on tour, then do so. This is what the independent music scene in the UK is all about: fine musicianship, compelling storytelling, distinctive performance spaces, and community.
