Whether you’re a gigging musician or a passionate listener, Skipton has a great deal to offer the musicophile. The town centre is crammed with bustling bars and restaurants, many of which offer a platform for local bands. Strolling along the pavements on a weekend evening, the air can be so full of resplendent song you could be mistaken for thinking you were on a sidewalk of New Orleans. For those who would like to get up and play, there are plenty of opportunities including open mic nights and folk clubs, as well as the many welcoming amateur groups from orchestras and choirs to ukulele jamming sessions. And if you have a thirst for the finer things in life, Skipton won’t disappoint with its many classical concerts, music festivals and theatrical performances.
Below is just a quick snapshot of why everyone who loves music should make a beeline for our town. For those in the know, Skipton is worth visiting as much for its music scene as for its famous high street market.
The Sound Bar is one of Skipton’s fairly recent success stories, putting on really great gigs three or four nights a week. With a lively but friendly bar, and a vinyl record shop tucked in the corner, this place pulls in so many music lovers that they’re often spilling into the courtyard outside. To give you a sense of the atmosphere, here’s a recent image from their Facebook page showing the classic folk rock band, Gaelforce, playing on the Sound Bar stage:
Around the corner from the Sound Bar is Swadford Street, where you’ll find plenty more live music going on, especially at weekends. Just yards apart are The Speakeasy Bar, The Cock and Bottle and Swadford Tap, all of which put on live bands. Your choice of venue on any given night might be determined by your taste in music – I’ve seen great local performers at The Cock and Bottle, jazz at Speakeasy, and Swadford Tap always seems to be a lively place to hang out and listen to upbeat songs. But, to get an idea of what’s coming up this week, just click on the links above to check out their websites.
There are really too many great live music venues in Skipton to namecheck them all – last time I totted them up on my fingers, I counted nearly 30 bars in or very near Skipton town centre! But, one that must get a mention here is The Mess Room: nestled in corner of Bridge Street shopper’s car park, this place sells great beer and is a must visit for music lovers. They have music and comedy on Thursday and Sunday evenings, a ‘Cheese & Vinyl’ afternoon once a month, and an open mic night every second Thursday in each month.
‘Open mic’ / ‘Singaround’ nights are a wonderful way for newer musicians (who may not yet have built up their own following) to get up on stage, perform to encouraging, supportive audiences, and get themselves and their music ‘out there’ for people to get to know. Lots of pubs and bars in Skipton offer some version of this format, and usually welcome novices as well as more accomplished performers. These include Skipton Sound Bar, The Mess Room, The Narrowboat, The Boathouse Bar, The Cock and Bottle, The Venue Sports and Music Bar, The Albion, The Beer Engine and The Two Sisters. Again, click on the links to find out more specific details of what’s going on at each venue.
An alternative to plugging away at learning and performing music on your own is to join one of Skipton’s many ‘readymade’ clubs. The choirs, orchestras, uke and accordion groups in this area offer not only the chance to hone your craft with likeminded musicians, but also to integrate into a whole musical community. Here’s a very quick list of the groups that you might fancy getting involved with:
- Carleton Ladies Choir – Thursday nights – I run this one!
- The Skipton Choir – Monday nights
- Skipton Choral Society – Monday nights
- Voices of Yorkshire – Tuesday nights
- Skipton Community Orchestra – Every other Tuesday
- Craven Accordion Orchestra
- Skipton Ukulele Club – Thursday nights
- Skipton Folk Unplugged – Third Monday of each month
If you enjoy your singing with some drama on the side, you could consider joining Skipton Musical Theatre Company. This local group puts on one major show each year, and has its own musical theatre choir. Recent musicals that SMTC have staged include Calendar Girls, Oliver and Addams Family, and this year they will be putting on Shrek the Musical. The group goes back many, many years so there’s a lot of experience there in preparing and performing really ambitious shows. They’re very welcoming to new members, tending to rehearse twice a week, and maybe a little more running up to show week.
Finally, I should put in a mention for Skipton Music – a society that delivers an extremely high quality annual season of classical concerts, attracting world class soloists and ensembles. Among the artists who have performed since it’s inception in 1947 are Nigel Kennedy, Jacqueline de Pre, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears! Each year they organise six superb chamber music concerts, on Tuesday evenings through Autumn and Spring, bringing the finest in classical music to our little town. Understandably, tickets for these events are sought after, so it’s well worth checking out their website and getting yours booked sooner rather than later!
This September Fenella Humphreys and Martin Roscoe will be playing Prokofiev and Mendelssohn, and later in the season the Carducci Quartet will be performing (among other things) Shostakovich’s Second String Quartet.
Getting Here:
Skipton is easily accessible by car, bus or train. There are multiple trains each hour running from Bradford and Leeds city centres, passing through Apperley Bridge, Shipley, Saltaire, Keighley and Silsden. The train station in Skipton is really convenient, just a short work from the high street. The bus station is even closer to all the action, offering affordable, regular and reliable services to and from Ilkley, Harrogate, Keighley, Preston, Settle, Malham and the Yorkshire Dales. Or if you’re planning to drive yourself here, there’s plenty of parking in and around the town centre, including shoppers car parks on Cavendish Street, Bridge Street, and on Jerry Croft (near the top of the High Street).
Share this page: