Starfish fundraiser: Hugh Harris (The Kooks), Sam Walker, Lotte Pearl & Theo Howard

We're delighted to welcome Hugh Harris, Sam Walker, Lotte Pearl and Theo Howard, all returning to Lewes to support Starfish, a charity they have all been involved with. 

Starfish Youth Music is the brilliant music charity that helps young people find their musical voice, and give them confidence in their own creativity. Within the setting of a regular band-practice, young people explore writing songs and jamming, encouraging them to communicate ideas, share skills, and make decisions for themselves.

The members create the music, with the support of experienced and very musical staff. Its all about doing your own thing and helping others, raising the roof, laying foundations for life.

Hugh Harris: “Starfish was everything to me growing up in Lewes at a time when grocery stores sold groceries. Long live Starfish, long live youth music programmes”

The Kooks guitarist Hugh Harris’s stunning self-titled solo album is one of love, loss, strength and tragedy, introspection and self-discovery. His music is an intimate diary into his life, and a tour de force of imagination.

You’ll find songs set around train crashes, alien love affairs and dizzying lyrical montages from twenty years in one of indie rock’s greatest modern success stories.

Hugh has travelled the world since he was fifteen learning to arrange for many instruments, keen to capture the clear, rich sounds in his head. Writing and playing with musicians and producers worldwide, inserting captivating snapshots of Marrakesh, Rishikesh, St Petersburg, Melbourne, LA and Singapore into his music, Hugh finished up his journey recording brass, wind and percussion in a deconsecrated chapel in Old Havana, Cuba with trumpet aficionado Yasek Manzano Silva and his band.

Sam Walker: "I was involved in Starfish right from the start. Both as a participant and tutor.

It's a glorious open doorway into the world of music, a totally supportive place to meet people, find what you want to do and develop your craft. It's been hugely important for me and it's hugely important that it continues."

Falling through dreamscapes, imagined lands and different realities. Stumbling into rolling, dancefloor rocking grooves and heart breaking soaring melodies along the way. Sam Walkers' songs and instrumentals are full of new stories, tender twists and anthemic melody. His live shows have gained him a reputation for boundless energy and much multi-instrumentalism. Sam has toured the world over and is equally at home rocking a dancefloor or serenading a living room.

Expect hope, fury and joy.

Lotte Pearl: Lotte Pearl is a Singer Songwriter currently based in Bristol.  She gigs around local venues and festivals. She has been singing since she was born and plays the piano, ukulele and guitar. Her musical inspirations are MIKA, Amy Winehouse and Leonard Cohen. She also very much idealises Alabama Shakes. She would describe her music genre as alternative pop/jazz. Check out her debut EP 'Terracotta Feelings'.

Theo Howard: Theo Howard is a Singer-Songwriter with a Cabaret twist. Based in Chichester, He'll write beside his keyboard about anything, from the mundane to the bizzare, but never without a little heart. Performing in pubs, clubs and musical hubs, his love of the musical stylings of The Divine Comedy, Tom Lehrer & Flight of the Conchords bleed heavily in his own works, resulting in a loving blend of silly, warmth and, most importantly, camp.