Liam Bailey

On 15 September 2026 at Manchester Academy, Liam Bailey brings his soul-forward songwriting to Manchester. Raised in Nottingham and shaped by soul, reggae, blues and a lean strain of rock, he writes with a direct pen and sings with a grainy tone that fits both stripped arrangements and more rhythmic backlines. He first appeared in the early 2010s on Amy Winehouse’s Lioness Records, then moved between acoustic formats, contemporary soul production and the UK bass orbit. Along the way he teamed up with Chase & Status on Blind Faith and Big Man, linked with Shy FX on Soon Come, and collaborated with Delilah, DJ Fresh and later Joe Armon-Jones, always keeping the song and the voice at the centre.

After his debut album Definitely Now (2014), Bailey refined a lo-fi soul palette with Jamaican inflections, folk-rock shades and understated, melancholic melodies. That line runs through Ekundayo (2020) with Leon Michels, followed by Enfant Terrible (2023) with St Francis Hotel, then Zero Grace (2024) alongside Leon Michels and El Michels Affair. On stage, he gravitates toward organic, introspective material rooted in British soul and reggae traditions.