KATE NASH confirmed for Sound City 2026
Kate Nash confirmed for Sound City as over 30 new, established and emerging artists commit to May’s festival of new music
Outspoken singer-songwriter, actor and activist, Kate Nash is confirmed to play a full set and offer a conference Q&A weeks after telling British MPs “I sell pictures of my bum” to fund touring
Now Confirmed for Sound City 2026: Charlie Noordeweir / Dovegate / The Lags / The Way Off / The Kasms / The Days / Korova / Michael Aldag / Marina Josephina / SSJ / Wrkhouse / Mercy Girl / Martha May & The Mondays / Acolyte / CUSP / Cowboy Hunters / James Emmanuel / Kate Nash / The New Cut / Courting / Permanent(Joy) / The Rosettis / Bones / Green's Dining Room / The Catalouge / Danny Griffiths / Jasper Hodges / Loose Content / East Exchange / The Solaas / Fool Nelson / The Sick Fix / Garage Flower / Michael Robert Murphy
Sound City 2026 - The UK’s Inner-City New Music Discovery Festival
Liverpool City Centre, Sat 2 – Sun 3 May 2026
Sound City+ Conference Fri 1 May 2026
BPI x Bowers & Wilkins Insight Sessions Thu 30 April 2026
Weekend & Day Tickets On Sale Now! www.soundcity.uk.com
Bringing two-decades of songs and tirelessly promoting the rights of artists, Kate Nash is announced for Sound City 2026, the UK’s inner-city festival of new music discovery and the first event of Liverpool Music Month, taking place throughout Liverpool City Centre between Sat 2 – Sun 3 May 2026. Heading a newly revealed list of over 30 bands and artists, Nash arrives on Merseyside to perform and speak in a special in-peon Q&A at the Sound City+ Conference.
Hit- maker and headline-grabber, Nash adds her name to the list of female artists featured as part of the lead festival for Keychange, the global movement focused on the restructuring of the music industry to achieve gender equality. Nash’s notable contributions to the fight for improved access to the arts and grassroots music and marginalised artists has included her Butts For Tour Buses protest and releasing her “feminist and trans ally anthem” GERM in 2025.
Opening the weekend on Fri 1 May 2026, the Sound City+ conference welcomes Nash to the stage to explore her journey through music and more. She is the second artist to be revealed as a contributing guest, with singer, songwriter and guitarist of No.1 charting indie success story, Jamie Boyle of The K’s, appearing at a special, weekend-opening BPI x Bowers & Wilkins Insight Sessions event on Thu 30 April 2026 to discuss his band’s fan powered rise to headline success story.
Sound City’s latest festival weekend announcement brings no fewer than 34 further bands and solo artists to multiple city centre venues, including neo-soul rising star, Marina Josephina, visiting as one of BBC Introducing’s Ones to Watch 2025, and Chicago indie five-piece, CUSP, whose previous tours of the UK include performing in the company of DMA’s with their latest album, What I Want Doesn’t Want Me Back, grabbing rave critical reviews. Glasgow’s Mercy Girl take a distinct route to music lovers’ hearts with their electronic darkwave offer, as demonstrated on their most recent single, Closer. They arrive to play over the May Bank Holiday Weekend as the reigning Scottish Alternative Music Awards Best Newcomers.
Liverpool’s own Courting return home after the long year of touring which has followed the release of their third album, Lust for Life, Or: How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story in March 2025. Recently touring with legendary Wakefield punks, The Cribs, the four-piece renowned for breakthrough tracks including Tennis and Popshop! head home for the first time since playing BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend in Sefton Park last spring.
Other star names confirmed include local light, Michael Aldag, whose 2023 breakthrough Girlfriends confirmed him as a social media-borne phenomenon, followed by two years of growth to become a singular songwriting presence and releasing relatable pop gems including 2025’s emotive single, Hell. Charlie Noordeweir joins Aldag on the Sound City bill having emerged from Devon with intimate, fireside folk tales such as Little Miss Sunshine, grabbing enough early attention to open for Sam Fender at his 30,000-capacity Manchester show last summer.
All eyes, however, will be on Nash, whose hits include the iconic early-00’s smash, Foundations, and controversial efforts to fund her own tours include establishing an Only Fans account, which led her to tell British MPs last month that “I sell pictures of my bum on the internet” just to stay on the road.
Sound City's Managing Director, Becky Ayres, says: “We are thrilled to have Kate join us at Sound City, as one of the UK’s era-defining artists as well as someone who leads from the front on issues of gender equality, diversity and making careers in music sustainable, addressing injustice at every stage of her incredible career. Being discovered at the start of a digitised music era, signing a major label deal, enjoying chart success, pursuing a successful acting career in ‘Glow’ and continuing to write, record and perform, she is an inspiration.
“Her set at Sound City will be unmissable for the songs and to witness an iconic British, female artist at the height of her powers.”
Charlie Noordeweir - Little Miss Sunshine
Sound City has announced other major names to headline the festival including Westside Cowboy, Jalen Ngonda and Keo, with notable artists including Brooke Combe and The Molotovs also joining the line-up. Taking place over Sat 2 – Sun 3 May 2026. Following early bird tickets selling out a year in advance, limited remaining tickets can be found at www.soundcity.uk.com
In addition to uncovering emergent talent that have become household names, the Sound City+ Conference has also become one of the British music industry’s major meeting points. Just last month The BPI, the representative body for the UK's recorded music sector, announced that it would return for the second-year running, bringing its acclaimed In Tune With Tomorrow event back to the city.
Confirmed speakers to date, alongside The K’s front man, Bowers, for In Tune With Tomorrow’s BPI x Bowers & Wilkins Insight Sessions include Becky Ayres (Sound City) Conrad Murray (SJM), Alfie Skelly (Modern Sky), Mark Orr (LAB Records), David Cameron-Pryde (LAMA Management), Lisa Meyer (Capsule) and Alyx Holcombe (BBC Introducing). That stellar line up gathers for an invite-only weekend opener on Thu 30 April 2026 at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall for The Long Play: UK Rock in the Age of Streaming. The discussion and Q&A will go deep into the forces shaping one of the UK’s most enduringly successful and evolving genres, dealing with chart-topping success, youth culture and the future of fandom.
Examining how the music industry can nurture creative talent and support long-term career development and pathways into the music ecosystem, attendees from over 20 leading British and international music companies have also been confirmed for Sound City+. Those organisations announced so far include Audoo, Beatport, Believe, Better Noise, Big Machine Label Group, Blackstar, ClicknClear, Generator, Hoopr, HQ Recording Ltd, Keychange, LabelRadar, Music Industry Mentor, Partisan Records, PPL, PRS For Music, Scruff of the Neck, SESAC, TuneCore and Wasserman.
For both Sound City and the recently announced Liverpool Music Month, the city’s artist-led music publishing success story, Sentric, will celebrate their 20th anniversary over the same weekend with a series of promised events they confidently describe as ‘unmissable’.
The full Sound City+ programme, supported by The BPI alongside PRS, PPL, PRSF, AIM and UK Music, will be published in the coming weeks at www.soundcity.uk.com/conference.
Sound City and Sound City + will once again go ahead with the support of main festival, conference, training, talent development and community engagement funder Arts Council England, thanks to National Lottery players. Sound City is also grateful for the support and partnership of CAPLL alongside the event’s Principal Creative Education Partners, SAE Institute and The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP).
Leeds Conservatoire and the Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMA) have joined as partners for 2026, alongside Off Axis, the not-for-profit gig swap and live music touring network, which enables artists to tour the UK and Ireland independently whilst retaining 100% of the ticket profits. SESAC also remains one of the festival’s valued contributors for 2026, returning to present a live showcase. The festival’s stage at The Shipping Forecast venue will be named in honour of their influential Vice President, John Sweeney, who passed away in June 2025.
To get ahead of future public announcements from Sound City, connect with the festival online at:
www.soundcity.uk.com
www.instagram.com/liverpoolsoundcity
www.tiktok.com/@liverpoolsoundcity
www.facebook.com/liverpoolsoundcity
www.x.com/SoundCity
