Meet The Songwriters: Bristol Song Circle

The inaugural Bristol Song Circle line-up performing together at Rough Trade. Photo: Jack Whitcombe

Blair Dunlop, Luke Sital-Singh, Kitty Macfarlane, and Eva Parfitt each reflect on a new night of live songs and stories

Organised by our own editor Duncan Haskell and singer-songwriter Blair Dunlop, who also hosted and performed on the night, the first ever Bristol Song Circle took place at Rough Trade Bristol on 23 April 2026. Inspired by similar songwriting nights they had either attended or performed at themselves, the evening opened with Dunlop joined on stage by fellow troubadours Luke Sital-Singh and Kitty Macfarlane, with the trio taking turns to discuss their writing process and perform.


After a short break, Eva Parfitt – a rising student talent from BIMM Bristol – joined the line-up, and once again the performers shared songs and stories before coming together to close the evening with a stirring rendition of Who Knows Where the Time Goes? by Fairport Convention.

There is always something rare and special about gaining such close access to songwriters as they reveal the workings of their craft and perform live in an intimate setting. Making the most of our insider access, we caught up with all four performers…

Blair Dunlop: “It’s a symbiotic loop of intrigue and positivity.” Photo: Jack Whitcombe

Blair Dunlop

instagram.com/blairdunlop

How are you feeling?

“I’m feeling relieved, because it was new for me in terms of the hybrid role of both performer and host. That took a lot more out of me than a normal gig, which increasingly in my life feels like I can do it in my sleep. This really challenged me, but it was so much more rewarding because of that. I was delighted by how everyone played and chatted. Everyone got the memo. Everyone was on good form. The personalities were really compatible, and the music was also compatible. It couldn’t have gone any better.”

What are the challenges of hosting that type of night?

“I found that the challenge was to foster a jovial atmosphere without being annoying, and also towing the line between informal and insightful. You know, not too far either way. And make everyone feel comfortable, that was the main thing, making sure I could get some information out of the artists, but also make them feel comfortable at the same time and not annoy them… figuring out their boundaries on the fly. I know Kitty well, so that was cool, but I’d not met Eva and Luke before.”

Did the format influence the songs you chose to play at all?

“It didn’t influence it in the slightest, at least not consciously. I just played what I wanted to play in the moment and that was cool. I quite enjoy doing shorter sets, and this gig came in the middle of a run where I was opening for an artist called John Smith, and so I was used to playing five or six songs in an evening. It’s a case of cherry-picking on the night, and that’s quite nice. When you’re in the flow you’re not scrambling around for a set, or wondering what the audience needs at this point because you’re an hour into a set and you feel like you need to mix things up. There’s none of that. It’s more short form, play what you fancy.”

What did you think of the other three performers?

“Luke’s voice and delivery is phenomenal, really special. It was really cool to sit next to him while he was belting it out. It was like, ‘Yeah, this is the real deal.’ I know Kitty very well having toured with her, so I didn’t have any revelations listening to her, but I was reminded about how much of a brilliant storyteller she is, uniquely so I would say. So that was great and a little bit nostalgic for me. Then Eva – I was blown away with how assured she was and how interesting her song composition was. In some ways, hers was the most interesting of all of our material, melodically, and she didn’t seem out of place at all. That’s really exciting and encouraging.”

And what do you specifically like about the format itself?

“It gives everyone a peek into the personality of the songwriter, and I think it is broadly greater than the sum of its parts due to the fact that you get a little bit of chat then a song, a little bit of chat, another song… I always come away from it looking at the ways that the different artists complement each other, as opposed to comparing traits negatively. And that’s really cool, because too often we focus on negative comparisons. If the personalities are compatible, you generally come away valuing the differences.”

“Something I’ve felt as a performer, when I’ve been invited to do these, is that I feel so much more disarmed and honest. I tend to have mainly done them abroad and it’s the thing I’ve been missing in the UK. I think the audience can feel that too, and in turn, it’s a symbiotic loop of intrigue and positivity that you don’t always get when you’ve prepared a set and you’re delivering that same or similar set night after night.”

Are there things you can do as host to create that mood?

“The key pillar is making sure the songwriters feel comfortable on stage and are compatible. I do think a lot of that is on the host, if there is a host, and I think that’s why I was feeling the pressure, because it’s such an important role. The whole thing can fall flat on its face if that energy isn’t harnessed in the right way, so I was relieved that we’d managed to deliver that open and honest discussion that gave a true peek behind the curtain.

“I could have derailed the whole thing by not doing a very good job of hosting, but I feel like we got away with it, and that was mainly due to the fact that everyone was so forthcoming. Also, the audience was lovely as well. You’re onto a winner at that point. From minute one, it was such a good energy in the room, and I knew it was going to be a great night”.

Does that mean there will be more Bristol Song Circles?

“Absolutely. The next one is on 20 August. We have another incredible lineup and can’t wait to see everyone there.”

Luke Sital-Singh: “When you can add that extra bit of depth to what they’re about to hear, people really buy in.” Photo: Jack Whitcombe

Luke Sital-Singh

instagram.com/lukesitalsingh

How was that for you?

“It was great. It was pretty unique as shows go – it was quite relaxed and I like this feeling. When I play on my own, I’m on stage for quite a long time, playing lots of songs, it’s quite exhausting and I feel quite spent – sometimes in a good way, sometimes in an overwhelmed way. But the night felt very relaxed in comparison. You know, the nitty-gritty of it, we played four songs and that’s a really short set for me. I really enjoyed it, being able to sit and listen to other people do their thing, having a bit more of a conversation, it’s just really nice.

“I’ve witnessed song circles before, but I’ve never been part of one. It’s a whole different way of performing. I really felt like the audience appreciated the songs more. In today’s world, with so much music for people to consume, it can all be a little bit shallow. When you can add that extra bit of depth to what they’re about to hear, people really buy in. You could sense that a lot deeper attention was happening about the lyrics and the stories we were saying.”

What opportunities does the format present to you as a performer and songwriter?

“I did feel quite differently. If anything, I was more nervous beforehand than the usual gig, partly because of the newness of it, but also you don’t know what Blair’s gonna ask and I wanted to have anecdotes or songs that felt like they lend themselves to a story. Then there are things happening in the background in my career, in life, that were making me feel quite nostalgic about my journey, so I wanted to play some songs that represented different parts.

“There was one song I played, Bottled Up Tight, and I can’t remember the last time I played it. It’s one of my biggest, more successful songs off my first record. I have a complicated relationship, as a lot of artists do, with my early work. It’s definitely dropped off the setlist, but I just thought, ‘You know what? This is an important song for me in terms of my career, so I should crack it out.’

“I don’t think I’d even decided to do that until I got on stage. It was a bit hairy, like, ‘Do I even know how to play this?’ So, yeah, that was really different. And then something about sharing a stage… the only thing I compare it to is when you go on tour and you have an opener and maybe you bring them on stage, it’s quite a bonding thing, much more so than going to a fellow musician’s gig. Actually sharing the stage, even though we weren’t doing too much jamming, apart from the last song, it felt like we were a team up there. That’s a really nice feeling.”

What did you make the other three?

“I was really taken aback by Kitty; she’s so different to me and how I approach songwriting. She’s sort of subject-based; she finds these things that inspire her and then goes deep on these very nature-based songs. It’s a completely different way of approaching songwriting. Listening to her spin these worlds that she’s made out of these stories that she’s come across, that’s such a cool talent that I don’t really have.

“I probably related more to the other two in terms of how they appear to write songs, but Kitty was more of an outlier in the way she approaches it. I don’t really listen to much music that’s written like this, and hearing her explain it was just really cool and inspiring.”

One thing we noticed was the contrast between yours and Blair’s guitar sounds…

“That was completely not planned. If there’s one thing that gets me sometimes about acoustic gigs, it is the sort of monotony of that instrument, and everyone playing the same instrument. It might be interesting to get a lineup where there’s one pianist or something, so there is a little tonal variety. It’s a completely personal thing, but my ear gets pretty fatigued at hearing people strumming acoustic guitars for a whole concert, but then that’s also a sound mix thing.”

And what do you have coming up?

“It’s sort of a fallow period. There’s an imminent project, but I don’t know when it is officially launching. Otherwise, I’m just writing, and trying to figure out what the next record is. I try and do something a bit different every time. This will be my sixth record and I’ve got a few ideas. I like to have a vision for the whole thing before I really jump in. I don’t just write songs. I kind of go, ‘Okay, what’s the vibe of this record?’ I’m still searching for what that spark is that’s gonna turn into the whole thing.”

Kitty Macfarlane: “I like contextualising it and placing the audience in the mindset of why I wrote something.” Photo: Jack Whitcombe

Kitty Macfarlane

instagram.com/kittymacfarlane

Having not played for so long, was that a nice reintroduction or a difficult type of show to do?

“It was actually the perfect reintroduction, because I haven’t played for over a year… One of the big reasons why I haven’t been playing is because I really felt that I’d been playing the same songs for too long. Even though people always say they want to hear the old stuff, I felt that I didn’t want to keep on playing the it over and over again. It doesn’t feel like it’s moving forward, if I’m just doing that.

“I didn’t have any material because I’ve been so caught up in other work, and I’m a very slow songwriter. When Blair called about the gig, it happened to be the week that I had been working on two new songs. It’s such a lovely feeling when you’ve got a new song going, it’s just really exciting. When you’re writing, you’re like, ‘I want people to hear these.’ So, it was really good timing, because if he’d rung the week before, I probably would have said, ‘I’m not ready to come out of my shell yet.’

Does that mean you enjoyed the night?

“It was just really lovely. And the fact that it was sharing songs in that format, where you are talking about why you’ve written them… for me, that’s really important. I think giving context to the songs is almost part of the song. I worry sometimes about how the song stands alone without that kind of spiel beforehand, because I like contextualising it and placing the audience in the mindset of why I wrote something.”

How did the new songs go?

“I thought one of the songs worked well, I realised that, on the other song, the guitar didn’t work at all. I’m going to have to rework that. But that’s fine, because that’s what you do when you try a song. In this particular case, it’s about the fact that I really wanted to sing it in a particular key, and that meant putting the capo up so high… it’s fine when I’m playing it unamplified, because it’s a nice strumming song, but when I’m playing it live, you really notice what is picked up on the pickup; it sounds really tinny and doesn’t have the body to it. I need to work out a way of reorganising the chords on an open fretboard.”

Is sitting next to three other performers intimidating, or do you feel a camaraderie?

“It’s very humbling being alongside such amazing songwriters and, particularly, great guitarists. Blair’s guitar playing is incredible, he’s got a really good ear for what works and for structuring a song. You get swept up by the choruses of Blair’s songs and his lyrics are great. I always marvel at the length of the words and how many syllables he can get into a line.

“I haven’t seen Luke play before. Because he was next to me, I got his monitor and was blown away by the sound of his voice, so velvety. I found that really interesting, because you only ever hear your own monitor when you’re playing. You never hear what other people can hear and I got a glimpse of what he hears of himself. His rubber bridge guitar was amazing, it was a really mellow and bubbly sound that worked so well with his voice, because he’s also got a very mellow voice. The pairing was gorgeous. It makes me want to try one and see what it’s like.

“Eva was really great. Her playing and singing was so well-formed. It was so mature considering she’s at uni still, I really loved hearing her music. I definitely seem to write different types of songs to them, and you’ve got to lean into those differences. In that context, it’s all about variety.”

It sounds like you took some learnings from the performances, including your own?

“For myself, for my new songs, yeah, 100%. That one particular song, I’ve got lots of work to do on it, and it perhaps it wasn’t ready to be shown. But, I enjoyed playing it, partly because it was written about glow worms, which sounds like a funny thing to write a song about, but my good friend was in the audience, who inspired that song. My husband was there as well, and the night before we got engaged, we saw a glowworm. It was a really poignant song for me. Regardless of the guitar being a bit crap, it was still nice to play.”

And the others?

“I love the way Luke is on stage, he’s so authentically himself. When I go on stage, I am upbeat and chatty and descriptive. I don’t leave an awful lot of mystery. Luke, he leaves long pauses, muses… he might slip in a funny anecdote. He’s quite spontaneous, and I really enjoyed the way he delivered his songs as well.

“Blair, I’ve seen play so many times, I’ve already learned a lot from the way he performs. I’m always amazed at the prolific nature of his songwriting. He writes and writes and writes, which is incredible. I love hearing the new songs, always. He’s so joyous and infectious to be around, the audience really feed off that.

“I definitely learned from the other people there, and I remembered how lovely it is to do it, and how nice it is to be in a room with people that are listening and connect with you over the things you’ve written songs about. It’s so lovely when you have an interval and someone comes up to you and says, ‘That particular song made me think of this…’ Or, ‘That really resonated with me because of this…’”

Eva Parfitt: “Didn’t really know what to expect going into it, and it was a very unusual format, but I really liked it.” Photo: Jack Whitcombe

Eva Parfitt

instagram.com/evaparfittmusic

Did you enjoy that?

“It was great. I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, and it was a very unusual format, but I really liked it.”

Did watching the first half make you more nervous?

“I think it was good to see the format before I was in the format.”

From a performance point of view, what are the challenges of that format?

“Having people who are really good at what they do sat on stage, and they’re looking right at you… Also, I didn’t really know what to do with myself when the other people were playing, being like, ‘Oh, I should be visually enjoying it,’ because I’ll really enjoy a piece of music, but I’ll just be sat there, so yeah, that was another thing.”

What were your impressions of the other three?

“They were all really great. I think it was nice, because we all sat in the same world. But their process and what their songs are about was really interesting. The last song that Luke played [Santa Fe], I really liked that, it was really sad and Kitty had one about an eel [**Glass Eel] that she did. I really liked as well.”

Is there anything that you’ll take away from the night that might prompt/inspire your own songwriting?

“I think taking inspiration from like, ‘How do I word this?’ They all have really interesting things that they write about that I’m like, ‘Wow, I would never think to write a song about that.’ Especially Blair, some of his songs are about things that I would never think to write about, but it ends up being a really cool song. So, I guess it’s taking inspiration from things that I wouldn’t usually take inspiration from.”

And how did you find performing together for the encore?

“It was so nice. We literally ran through the song [Who Knows Where The Time Goes by Fairport Convention] twice in soundcheck, but luckily, they’re all really good, so it just sounded great straight away, and the harmonies felt really good. It was a lovely song to sing. I didn’t know it before.”

Where can people hear more of your stuff?

“I released my first single, Mute The Alarm, a few weeks ago, and that’s out everywhere.”

The Bristol Song Circle returns to Rough Trade Bristol on 23 August with a lineup of James Walsh (Starsailor), Little Boots, Melody Pool, and Thaime. Tickets can be purchased at headfirstbristol.co.uk and follow @bristolsongcircle on Instagram for more information.

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