I'm excited to learn that the launch of Crazy Puzzle, the new CD by Nashville vocalist and performer Roxie Rogers, is to take place on Saturday August 15 at Spice Of Life in Soho, London.  The album comprises entirely songs from my songwriting catalog, spanning 1992-2012.  At the launch, Roxie will be backed by some of London's best known Jazz musicians including my twin brother Matt Wates on alto sax.  Here's wishing Roxie and her band a very good night.

I'm excited to announce 6 upcoming dates in Poland, with virtuoso pianist (and my good friend) Bartosz Hadala.  We're performing in some of Poland's most beautiful venues.  We're calling ourselves The Nightwatchers.  See details of these and other gigs on the calendar page of this website, and at www.thenightwatchers.com.  Very best for fall, Rupert 

I'm very excited and proud to have been selected as one of 6 headliners at the Listening Room Festival in Florida, April 20-26.  For this I'm very grateful to the house concert network Concerts In Your Home (www.concertsinyourhome.com), which has been good to me in so many ways.  Best for fall, Rupert 

Concerts In Your Home, an organization of house concert hosts booking artists across the United States, named Rupert a 2013 Artist of the Year, an honor given to three CIYH artists. The award is shared with Ian Mcferon (www.ianmcferon.com) and Jesse Terry (www.jesseterrymusic.com). "Our decision reflects a number of factors related to bookings, performances, participation and enthusiasm."
– CIYH

As of December 2013, Rupert Wates is at number two in the Top 10 most booked performers on the Concerts In Your Home house concert network (www.concertsinyourhome.com), with almost 50 house shows booked through the network since 2009.

 

I've begun an exciting new project with my good friend, virtuoso pianist Bartosz Hadala. We're forming a piano/guitar duo with the aim of touring Europe in 2014. We're calling ourselves The Nightwatchers. This week we recorded six demos towards the project at Rogue Studios in Toronto. Dave Turner will be putting together a new website for us in the next couple of weeks. It will include song samples, bios and a live video made in Hamilton, Ontario. In the meantime here's a sample track from the new demos (click here to listen). It's a song I wrote with my brother Matt some years back, entitled (When I Get Over) To California.

Best to all,
– Rupert

It's been a busy year of touring so far, with more than 150 gigs on my calendar. Meanwhile, plans are taking shape for my 6th CD, to be recorded in February 2014. I've been looking at studios in Toronto, New Orleans and other parts of the States. Guest musicians will be Trifon Dmitrov (bass), Chris Howard (percussion), and Bartosz Hadala (keyboards). The engineer will be Chris Medrano, who did such a great job on "Joe's Cafe" and "At The Losers' Motel." It will be a thrill and a pleasure for me to work with such wonderful musicians and such good friends. Like my other CDs, the album will feature only original songs.

I've already written more than a dozen towards the album, and I've recorded demos at two great Brooklyn studios: Wash And Dry and Godelstring. In sound, the album will be a departure from the folk/fingerpicking style of my earlier CDs. It will be closer to Vaudeville, Cabaret and Jazz.

Click here to listen to a sample of a brand new song, "Suspend Our Disbelief (A Little Longer)".

Best to all for summer and fall,
– Rupert